Coinbase vs Robinhood
Pick Coinbase if you are beginners in the US, UK or EU who want a regulated, KYC'd on-ramp with bank funding, and who can trade onchain Base/Solana tokens in the same app. Pick Robinhood if you are uS users who already invest with Robinhood and want a simple way to buy major coins and listed memecoins (DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, BONK, WIF, TRUMP) without a separate exchange account.
Checked 2026-10-17 · both venues' fee pagesCoinbase is a US-listed (Nasdaq: COIN) custodial crypto exchange and broker. Simple buys and sells carry a spread plus a Coinbase fee, Coinbase Advanced is a maker/taker order book, and since 2025 the app has offered DEX trading of onchain Base and Solana tokens through an integrated self-custody wallet.
Robinhood is a US brokerage app whose crypto unit (Robinhood Crypto, LLC) began live trading in February 2018 and now sells ~90 coins, including memecoins such as DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, BONK, WIF and TRUMP. Default trades have no explicit fee: Robinhood is paid inside the spread, keeping 0.95% of notional from its market makers as of June 2026. Optional exchange routing instead charges 0.00%-0.95% fee tiers. A separate non-custodial Robinhood Wallet app charges a 0.80% swap fee.
Side by side
| Coinbase | Robinhood | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Exchange | Exchange |
| Status | live | live |
| Chains | Base, Solana | Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Dogecoin, Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism, BNB Chain, Base, Robinhood Chain |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web, ios, android, desktop |
| Custody | custodial | custodial |
| KYC | required | required |
| Platform fee, round trip | — | 1.9% |
| $1,000 round trip | — | $19.00 |
| Sign-up perk | Varies by country and program. With the Coinbase Advanced referral link, the invitee earns $5 (>$100), $20 (>$5K) or $50 (>$10K) based on 14-day Advanced volume. | A separate sign-up stock reward after opening an eligible account and linking a bank or debit card |
| Perps taker / maker | — | — |
| United States | Available | Available |
| United Kingdom | Available | Available |
| European Union | Available | Available |
| Launched | 2012-06 | 2018-02 |
| Reported incidents | 3 | 3 |
Features
| Feature | Coinbase | Robinhood |
|---|---|---|
| simple buy/sell | ✓ | — |
| convert | ✓ | — |
| limit orders | ✓ | — |
| coinbase advanced order book | ✓ | — |
| perpetual futures | ✓ | — |
| dex trading (base, solana) | ✓ | — |
| self-custody wallet in app | ✓ | — |
| staking | ✓ | ✓ |
| coinbase one subscription | ✓ | — |
| coinbase card | ✓ | — |
| usdc rewards | ✓ | — |
| mobile app | ✓ | — |
| commission-free crypto (spread) | — | ✓ |
| exchange routing fee tiers | — | ✓ |
| maker/taker limit orders | — | ✓ |
| robinhood legend desktop | — | ✓ |
| crypto trading api | — | ✓ |
| crypto transfers | — | ✓ |
"—" means the feature was not in the sources we checked, not proof it's missing.
Coinbase: watch out for
- Simple trades combine a variable spread with a variable Coinbase fee, and no fixed % is published.
- Simple limit orders carry an extra 1% execution fee, which Coinbase One does not waive.
- DEX trades can add a separate service fee, which Coinbase One does not cover.
Robinhood: watch out for
- The default route's spread includes 0.95% per side that goes to Robinhood (as of June 2026), about 1.9% round trip.
- Robinhood Crypto received integration fees for listing some assets, such as FLOKI, ONDO, ENA, SUI and ZORA.
- The Robinhood Wallet swap fee (0.80% same-chain) is high compared with many DEX aggregators.
FAQ
Is Coinbase better than Robinhood?
Pick Coinbase if you are beginners in the US, UK or EU who want a regulated, KYC'd on-ramp with bank funding, and who can trade onchain Base/Solana tokens in the same app. Pick Robinhood if you are uS users who already invest with Robinhood and want a simple way to buy major coins and listed memecoins (DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, BONK, WIF, TRUMP) without a separate exchange account.
Which is cheaper, Coinbase or Robinhood?
We could not compare published fees for both.
Can I use Coinbase or Robinhood in the US?
Coinbase: available. Robinhood: available. Based on each venue's own terms.
Sources
Last checked . Fees and terms change often; the venue's own page wins if it disagrees with ours.
- Coinbase pricing and fees disclosures - crypto — checked 2026-10-16
- Coinbase Advanced fees (help) — checked 2026-10-16
- Coinbase UK - Advanced (<=0.4% maker, <=0.6% taker) — checked 2026-10-16
- Coinbase One plans and pricing — checked 2026-10-16
- Coinbase blog - Coinbase unlocks millions of assets with DEX trading (Aug 8, 2025; update Oct 8, 2025) — checked 2026-10-16
- Coinbase blog - DEX trading in Brazil — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood - Crypto order routing (0.95% market-maker payment, spread example) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood - Crypto fee tiers (0.00%-0.95%) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood - Crypto fee tiers promo terms (range 0.85%-0.03% in Nov 2025) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood - Crypto availability (supported coins, NY/TX restrictions, integration fees) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood Wallet - Send, receive, and swap crypto (swap fees) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood Wallet FAQ — checked 2026-10-16