Fee comparison at a glance
| Feature | Robinhood | Coinbase |
|---|---|---|
| Simple trading fees | Robinhood makes money from a price spread and rebates from market makers, rather than charging a direct commission. This means you may receive slightly less crypto for your dollar compared to the market rate. | The basic version of Coinbase charges a spread fee of about 0.5% and a higher base fee based on the transaction size and payment method. Fees can be as high as 4% for small debit card purchases. |
| Advanced trading fees | Not applicable. Robinhood offers only one interface for crypto trading. | Coinbase Advanced offers a tiered, maker-taker fee structure that rewards higher-volume traders with lower costs. For example, the highest-volume traders pay as little as 0.00% maker and 0.05% taker fees. |
| Hidden fees | While advertised as "commission-free," Robinhood's use of payment for order flow can result in less-favorable trade execution prices compared to platforms with direct access to exchanges. | The price spread fee is not always transparent to new users. You must check the preview screen before executing a trade to see the total cost. |
