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Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Which Crypto Exchange Is Right for You?

Updated
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Author: Matt Frankel, CFP®
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Matt Frankel, CFP®
Writer, Analyst

Matt is a Certified Financial Planner™ and investment advisor based in Columbia, South Carolina. He writes personal finance and investment advice for Motley Fool Money and its parent company The Motley Fool, with more than 4,500 published articles and a 2017 SABEW Best in Business award. Matt writes a weekly investment column for the Motley Fool ("Ask a Fool") that is syndicated in USA Today, and his work with Motley Fool Money has also been syndicated to MSN and Yahoo! Finance. He has been regularly featured on Fox Business and many other major outlets. He’s a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Nova Southeastern University, and holds a graduate certificate in financial planning from Florida State University.

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Two of the most popular places for U.S. investors to trade cryptocurrencies are Coinbase and Robinhood. Coinbase is a leading digital currency exchange, and Robinhood is an innovative investing app that pioneered zero-commission trading.

These two platforms are much different, and each one has its pros and cons. In this Coinbase vs. Robinhood breakdown, we'll go over how they compare in the ways that matter most to investors.

Coinbase vs. Robinhood: At a glance

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Robinhood

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4.50/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
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Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars.
4.50/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
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Commissions
Variable fees (Coinbase), 0%-1.20% (Coinbase Advanced Trade), $29.99 monthly (Coinbase One)
$0 for stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies
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Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Fees

Coinbase and Robinhood are practically opposites in their approaches to fees. Coinbase is overly complicated, whereas Robinhood keeps it simple with zero commissions, although it makes money on the spread between the buy and sell prices. Overall, Robinhood tends to be the better deal.

On Coinbase, there's a simple trade and an advanced trade option. Fees are different based on the option you choose. Advanced trades cost much less, so it's best to always use that trading tool and save money on fees.

Advanced trades on Coinbase have a tiered fee structure where the amount you pay depends on your trading volume. It also uses a maker-taker model. If your trade is filled immediately, you pay a taker fee. If not, you're charged a maker fee. Here's Coinbase's fee structure for advanced trades:

30-DAY TRADING VOLUME IN U.S. DOLLARS TAKER FEE MAKER FEE
Up to $10,000 0.60% 0.40%
$10,000 to $50,000 0.40% 0.25%
$50,000 to $100,000 0.25% 0.15%
$100,000 to $1,000,000 0.20% 0.10%
$1,000,000 to $20,000,000 0.18% 0.08%
$20,000,000 to $100,000,000 0.15% 0.05%
$100,000,000 to $300,000,000 0.10% 0.02%
$300,000,000 to $500,000,000 0.08% 0.00%
Over $500,000,000 0.05% 0.00%
Data source: Coinbase

Ironically, simple trades actually have a more complex fee structure. There's no published fee structure, but you're charged either a flat fee or a variable percentage fee depending on the order amount. On simple trades of $205 or more, you're charged a percentage fee of almost 1.5%. Smaller trade amounts have the following flat fees:

  • Up to $10: $0.99
  • Up to $25: $1.49
  • Up to $50: $1.99
  • Up to $205: $2.99

So, which platform is cheaper overall? We can't compare them on fees, because Robinhood doesn't have any. The most accurate option is to look at the amount of crypto you'd get for your money with each one.

To find out, I previewed multiple orders of different coins on both Coinbase and Robinhood. Robinhood consistently offered the most cryptocurrency, but Coinbase wasn't that far behind when using its advanced trading tool.

Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Cryptos available

When it comes to crypto selection, there's no comparison. Coinbase has one of the largest rosters you'll find among the big cryptocurrency apps, with well over 150 cryptocurrencies. Robinhood has listed more than 10 cryptocurrencies, so its selection is much smaller.

If you just want to invest in a few big names, you can do that on either platform. Coinbase and Robinhood both offer several market leaders, including:

However, if having access to a variety of cryptocurrencies is important to you, then you'll want to go with Coinbase. It has several popular cryptos that Robinhood doesn't, including Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (DOT). It's also much better for smaller tokens, and it adds new cryptos frequently.

It's worth pointing out that cryptocurrency trading is just one part of Robinhood. It's also one of the more popular stock brokers and options trading platforms. That makes it a smart choice for investors who want to buy cryptocurrencies and stocks in one place.

Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Wallets

Coinbase and Robinhood offer custodial wallets, a type of wallet that's controlled by a third party. They both allow you to store, send, and receive cryptocurrency. If you don't want to leave your funds in a custodial wallet, you can withdraw them to your own non-custodial wallet.

Coinbase also offers Coinbase Wallet, a non-custodial wallet available as an app for smartphones and Google Chrome. It's free to use, and you don't need to be a Coinbase client to download it.

Coinbase vs. Robinhood: Security

Both Coinbase and Robinhood are safe places to buy and sell cryptocurrency. They use many of the same industry-leading security methods, so they're about equal for protecting your crypto. They also have FDIC insurance, which covers cash deposits up to $250,000 per account.

Security for cryptocurrency starts with how it's stored. Coinbase and Robinhood each keep the majority of their clients' crypto funds in cold storage, meaning offline storage that's not vulnerable to hacking. Coinbase puts over 98% of deposits in cold storage facilities. Robinhood doesn't provide a specific percentage but reports that the majority of its crypto is in cold storage.

They also carry crime insurance to protect a portion of the digital assets held across their storage systems. It's worth noting that crime insurance protects against losses that are the platform's fault, not yours. If someone gains unauthorized access to your Coinbase or Robinhood account, crime insurance most likely wouldn't cover that.

To prevent unauthorized access to accounts, both platforms require two factor authentication (2FA). 2FA requires you to enter your password and provide another form of authentication, typically a code sent to your mobile device, to log in. This makes it much harder for anyone to hack your account, since they'd also need to hack or steal your phone.

Final take

Because Coinbase and Robinhood are completely different platforms, the right choice depends on what your goals are with cryptocurrency investing.

Coinbase is clearly the better crypto exchange in the sense that it has far more cryptocurrencies, features, and educational content. If you're looking to take a deep dive into crypto, Coinbase is one of the best options.

Robinhood is a stock broker that also lets you buy and sell cryptocurrency. It's more limited in terms of crypto offerings, but it makes up for that by offering other types of investments. If you're looking for a one-stop investment platform where you can add some of the larger cryptocurrencies to your portfolio, then Robinhood should fit your needs well.

Motley Fool Money's best cryptocurrency apps

There are hundreds of platforms around the world that are waiting to give you access to thousands of cryptocurrencies. And to find the one that's right for you, you'll need to decide the features that matter most to you.

To help you get started, our independent experts have sifted through the options to bring you some of our best cryptocurrency exchanges for 2022. Check out the list and get started on your crypto journey, today.

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