What's the difference between maker and taker orders?

A Maker refers to a trader who places an order that is added to the order book, either partially or fully. Subsequent trades resulting from this order are considered maker trades. These orders contribute to the volume and liquidity of the market, hence the term "maker." It's important to note that even a limit order, set as "good till canceled" (GTC), can act as both a maker and a taker, depending on the trading scenario. A Taker, on the other hand, is a trader who places an order that is executed immediately, before being added to the order book. Whether the order fulfills partially or completely, if it's executed immediately, it falls under the category of a taker. Market orders always fall under the taker category since they bypass the order book and execute immediately, thereby "taking" volume from the order book. Additionally, limit orders designated as "immediate or cancel" (IOC) or "fill or kill" (FOK) also operate as taker orders. To put it even more simply, say that there's a coin you want to buy which costs $10. You put in a limit order at $9, this is added to the order book, and will only fill is asset's price reaches $9. This is considered a limit order, and will take a maker fee. Instead, if an asset's price is $10 and you want to but it immediately for any market price, you can place a market order. This will be a taker order.

What are funding fees?

Funding fees are paid on a scheduled interval for all open positions in derivatives. Simply put, if there are more traders longing an asset, the funding is likely positive and they need to pay fees to traders who are short. In case there are more shorters and funding is negative, traders who opened long positions will receive funding fees instead of paying them. Funding fees are constantly changing, and depend on the ratio of shorts and longs. Most exchanges will take or distribute funding fees once every 8 hours. To reduce your funding fee costs you can sometimes use exchange's native token to pay for fees. Do note that maker and taker fees are charged when opening or closing a position. Funding fees are separate, and paid (typically) every 8 hours.

Are there exchanges with no fees?

Trading fees are every exchange's main source of income. This is why you will never find an exchange that has zero fees permanently and on all trades. However, many exchanges run promotions during prolonged bear markets with zero maker fees for both spot and futures. This is typically only temporary. A few exchanges have no maker fees for VIPs - high volume traders with millions in monthly volume. In addition to volume, this often requires a large amount of native tokens in the person's account.

Do I need to pay fees for holding spot positions?

A few exchanges do exist that will occasionally charge you dormant account fees. We do not list any of those on our website. Most of these exchanges are old-school payment processors such as Skrill and others. While these do allow you to buy crypto, they are not considered exchanges suitable for frequent trading. They are also likely to charge exorbitant trading fees as well, significantly higher than industry standard.

Do fees matter if I just want to invest long-term?

You will want to cash out eventually. If you buy $1,000 today, and your portfolio is worth $10,000 in a few years, you could be looking at a few hundred dollars difference for converting your crypto into fiat. It can be a large difference between paying 0.1% and 0.5% or higher fees. Don't forget you will pay fees when first buying your crypto, and then again when selling. Additionally, you will likely have to pay a small fee for withdrawal too. Finding an exchange with low fees is also important for recurring buys. Finding an excellent and reliable exchange does not mean you need to pay high trading fees - in fact it's often the opposite.

Low Fee Crypto Exchanges

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 20%

: $10,000

#1 OKX

4.7/5

One of the largest exchanges – Reliable and safe – Top tier Web3 wallet – Inscriptions & NFT marketplace – Good APY for flexible staking – Low fees – Up to $10,000 welcome rewards

: 300+

: 2017

: ₿ 28,892

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

Demo trading

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.08%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.1%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.01%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.05%

Additional 20% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $10,000 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

Visa/Mastercard: 1.50% to 2.49%
EUR: No fee
SWIFT: No fee

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2017

Number of users: 18 million

Proof of Reserves

Highly regulated

Considered very safe

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 300

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 28,892

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 10%

: $30,000

#2 Bybit

4.7/5

Cheap fiat deposits and withdrawals – Beginner friendly with quick purchase and convert – Solid amount of quality mid-cap altcoins – $30,000 in signup bonuses – Reliable and trusted since 2018

: 700+

: 2018

: ₿ 28,312

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

Demo trading

Crypto ATM cards

Recurring & scheduled buy

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Stocks, Commodities & Forex

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.1%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.1%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.055%

Additional 10% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $30,000 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

Visa/Mastercard: 1.10% EU, 2.70%-3.05% Non-EU
EUR: 0.19% (€1 min.)
SWIFT: 0.51% (min. €15)

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2018

Number of users: 50 million

Licenses & registrations: 6

Proof of Reserves

Highly regulated

Considered very safe

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 700

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 28,312

High trading volume

High liquidity

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 10%

: $100

#3 Binance

4.8/5

World’s biggest exchange by volume – High liquidity on all trading pairs – Trading fee discounts with native token – Cheap fiat deposits – Reliable and trusted

: 400+

: 2017

: ₿ 185,258

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

Demo trading

Recurring & scheduled buy

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.1%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.1%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.05%

Additional 10% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $100 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

Visa/Mastercard: 2%
USD: $1 (US only)
EUR: €0.3 to max. €1
SWIFT: Min. €0.5, max. 1.2%

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2017

Number of users: 266 million

Insurance fund: 1.0 billion USD

Licenses & registrations: 21

Proof of Reserves

Highly regulated

Considered very safe

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 400

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 185,258

High trading volume

High liquidity

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 10%

: $8,201

#4 KuCoin

4.4/5

Easy fiat deposits and withdrawals – Fee discounts for native token holders – Large selection of low-cap altcoins – beginner friendly interface – Savings & staking platform for earning interest on idle spot holdings

: 800+

: 2017

: ₿ 10,393

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

Demo trading

Crypto ATM cards

Recurring & scheduled buy

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.1%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.1%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.06%

Additional 10% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $8,201 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

Visa/Mastercard: 5%
EUR: €1

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2017

Number of users: 38 million

Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 800

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 10,393

High trading volume

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 10%

#5 XT.com

3.7/5

Average volume but good liquidity – Many fiat deposit gateways including cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay – Lots of good small market cap altcoins – Optional KYC – Good staking yields

: 900+

: 2018

: ₿ 11,652

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

No KYC

Demo trading

Crypto ATM cards

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.2%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.2%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.04%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.06%

Additional 10% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2018

Number of users: 3 million

Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 900

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 11,652

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 6%

#6 Bitfinex

3.4/5

Old and reliable – Aimed for professional traders more than beginner investors – Credit/debit card deposits – Bank transfer deposits and withdrawals – Basic staking

: 150+

: 2012

: ₿ 1,012

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P trading

Mobile App

Demo trading

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpools

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.1%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.2%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.065%

Additional 6% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

USD: 0.1% (min. $60)
EUR: €5
GBP: £5

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2012

Proof of Reserves

Highly regulated

Considered very safe

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 150

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 1,012

Read Review

Link bonus:

: $8,000

#7 MEXC

3.7/5

Easy buys with cards or bank transfers – Up to $8,000 in signup bonuses – Frequent large trading competitions – Very low trading fees – No mandatory KYC – Massive selection of low-cap altcoins

: 2,900+

: 2018

: ₿ 25,138

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

No KYC

Demo trading

Crypto ATM cards

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.05%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.05%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.01%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.04%

Additional $8,000 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

Visa/Mastercard: 2%
EUR: €1.25

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2018

Number of users: 30 million

Insurance fund: 470 million USD

Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 2900

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 25,138

Read Review

Link bonus:

: $6,200

#8 Bitget

4.0/5

Lots of interest-earning assets available for staking and savings – Up to $6,200 bonus for new users – Quick convert for beginner traders – Large amount of cheap altcoins not listed on other exchanges

: 800+

: 2018

: ₿ 26,020

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

Demo trading

Crypto ATM cards

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.1%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.1%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.06%

Additional $6,200 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

Visa/Mastercard: 1.8%
EUR: 0% or 0.5%

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2018

Number of users: 45 million

Insurance fund: 640 million USD

Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 800

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 26,020

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 5%

: $5,125

#9 BingX

3.8/5

Over $5,000 bonuses for new users – Trade Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, Tesla and other stocks – Trade SPX, NASDAQ, and other indices – Trade commodities like gold or silver – No crypto withdrawal fees – Great selection of low-cap altcoins – No mandatory KYC

: 850+

: 2018

: ₿ 2,673

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P trading

Mobile App

No KYC

Demo trading

Crypto ATM cards

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Stocks, Commodities & Forex

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpools

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.1%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.1%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.05%

Additional 5% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $5,125 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

Visa/Mastercard: 3.8%
EUR: No fee
SWIFT: No fee

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2018

Number of users: 20 million

Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 850

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 2,673

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 10%

: $100

#10 CoinEx

3.3/5

Quick swap and recurring buys – Many fiat deposit & withdrawal gateways – Large amount of altcoins – Optional identity checks – Very low trading fees

: 1,200+

: 2017

: ₿ 2,149

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

No KYC

Demo trading

Recurring & scheduled buy

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.2%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.2%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.03%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.05%

Additional 10% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $100 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2017

Number of users: 10 million

Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 1200

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 2,149

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 15%

: $75

#11 LBank

3.3/5

Operating since 2015 – Good amount of altcoins – Easy card purchases through 7 different merchants – Deposits with bank transfers, Google Pay and Apple Pay

: 650+

: 2015

: ₿ 17,259

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

No KYC

Demo trading

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.2%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.2%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.06%

Additional 15% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $75 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2015

Number of users: 15 million

No Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 650

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 17,259

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 20%

: $200

#12 CoinW

3.0/5

Prepaid virtual Visa available for nearly all countries – 3rd party fiat deposits and withdrawals – Non-mandatory KYC – Good number of altcoins on spot

: 400+

: 2017

: ₿ 19,329

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P market

Mobile App

No KYC

Demo trading

Crypto ATM cards

Recurring & scheduled buy

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpool

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.2%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.2%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.04%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.06%

Additional 20% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $200 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2017

Number of users: 7 million

Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 400

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 19,329

Read Review

Link bonus:

: $2,126

#13 Pionex

3.1/5

Zero fee bank transfer deposits for EUR, GBP, BRL – 40+ staking assets – Excellent trading interface – Good for beginners – 16 free trading bots – Low trading fees

: 350+

: 2019

: ₿ 27,832

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdraw

P2P trading

Mobile App

No KYC

Demo trading

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading Bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpools

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.05%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.05%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.05%

Additional $2,126 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

Visa/Mastercard: 1.2% EEA, 2.6%-2.8% other countries
EUR: Free

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2019

Number of users: 5 million

No Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 350

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 27,832

Read Review

Link bonus:

: 10%

: $5,500

#14 Bitunix

3.0/5

Good for basic spot and futures trading – Over $5,000 in bonuses for new signups – No fiat deposits or withdrawals – Optional KYC

: 350+

: 2021

: ₿ 8,488

User Friendly

Bank transfer deposits

VISA/Mastercard deposits

Fiat withdrawals

P2P market

Mobile App

No KYC

Demo trading

Decentralized wallet

Features

Spot trading

Futures trading

Margin trading

Options trading

Trading bots

Copytrading

Staking & savings

Crypto loans

Airdrops & Launchpools

Fees

Trading fees:

Spot Maker Fee: 0.08%
Spot Taker Fee: 0.1%
Futures Maker Fee: 0.02%
Futures Taker Fee: 0.06%

Additional 10% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $5,500 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Fiat deposit fees:

View all deposit & withdraw fees

Safety

Exchange launched in 2021

Number of users: 0.6 million

Proof of Reserves

Volume & Altcoins

Number of altcoin pairs: 350

Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 8,488

What's the difference between maker and taker orders?

A Maker refers to a trader who places an order that is added to the order book, either partially or fully. Subsequent trades resulting from this order are considered maker trades. These orders contribute to the volume and liquidity of the market, hence the term "maker."

It's important to note that even a limit order, set as "good till canceled" (GTC), can act as both a maker and a taker, depending on the trading scenario.

A Taker, on the other hand, is a trader who places an order that is executed immediately, before being added to the order book. Whether the order fulfills partially or completely, if it's executed immediately, it falls under the category of a taker.

Market orders always fall under the taker category since they bypass the order book and execute immediately, thereby "taking" volume from the order book. Additionally, limit orders designated as "immediate or cancel" (IOC) or "fill or kill" (FOK) also operate as taker orders.

To put it even more simply, say that there's a coin you want to buy which costs $10. You put in a limit order at $9, this is added to the order book, and will only fill is asset's price reaches $9. This is considered a limit order, and will take a maker fee.

Instead, if an asset's price is $10 and you want to but it immediately for any market price, you can place a market order. This will be a taker order.
What are funding fees?

Funding fees are paid on a scheduled interval for all open positions in derivatives. Simply put, if there are more traders longing an asset, the funding is likely positive and they need to pay fees to traders who are short. In case there are more shorters and funding is negative, traders who opened long positions will receive funding fees instead of paying them.

Funding fees are constantly changing, and depend on the ratio of shorts and longs. Most exchanges will take or distribute funding fees once every 8 hours. To reduce your funding fee costs you can sometimes use exchange's native token to pay for fees.

Do note that maker and taker fees are charged when opening or closing a position. Funding fees are separate, and paid (typically) every 8 hours.
Are there exchanges with no fees?

Trading fees are every exchange's main source of income. This is why you will never find an exchange that has zero fees permanently and on all trades.

However, many exchanges run promotions during prolonged bear markets with zero maker fees for both spot and futures. This is typically only temporary.

A few exchanges have no maker fees for VIPs - high volume traders with millions in monthly volume. In addition to volume, this often requires a large amount of native tokens in the person's account.
Do I need to pay fees for holding spot positions?

A few exchanges do exist that will occasionally charge you dormant account fees. We do not list any of those on our website.

Most of these exchanges are old-school payment processors such as Skrill and others. While these do allow you to buy crypto, they are not considered exchanges suitable for frequent trading. They are also likely to charge exorbitant trading fees as well, significantly higher than industry standard.
Do fees matter if I just want to invest long-term?

You will want to cash out eventually. If you buy $1,000 today, and your portfolio is worth $10,000 in a few years, you could be looking at a few hundred dollars difference for converting your crypto into fiat. It can be a large difference between paying 0.1% and 0.5% or higher fees.

Don't forget you will pay fees when first buying your crypto, and then again when selling. Additionally, you will likely have to pay a small fee for withdrawal too.

Finding an exchange with low fees is also important for recurring buys. Finding an excellent and reliable exchange does not mean you need to pay high trading fees - in fact it's often the opposite.

Low Fee Crypto Exchanges

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#1 OKX

#2 Bybit

#3 Binance

#4 KuCoin

#5 XT.com

#6 Bitfinex

#7 MEXC

#8 Bitget

#9 BingX

#10 CoinEx

#11 LBank

#12 CoinW

#13 Pionex

#14 Bitunix

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