Kraken Review 2026: Pros, Cons and How It Compares

Where Kraken shines

Large selection: Kraken lets its customers buy more than 550 different cryptocurrencies, and the service offers hundreds of crypto-to-crypto trading pairs. It also brought back on-chain staking in 2025, now offering 21 coins that earn interest.

Low, transparent fees: Kraken's fees and transparency are a breath of fresh air. In our testing, fees for buying $200 of BTC with USD clearly came out to 1% (technically, 0.989%), and the app displayed this prominently at the purchase screen.

Where Kraken falls short

Withdrawal minimums and fees: The current withdrawal minimum of 0.005 BTC amounts to about $43 today, with a fee of 0.0002 BTC, or $17. Users trying to withdraw relatively small amounts of BTC will see high withdrawal fees when viewed as a percentage. For example, withdrawing only $50 of BTC would still cost the $17 fee. That's 34%. (This is of course one of the highest-fee scenarios, though, and the fee as a percentage of the withdrawal only gets lower as the withdrawal amount rises.)

Not available everywhere: The exchange is not open to people in New York or Washington state.

Kraken is best for:

• Crypto-to-crypto trading.

• Margin trading.

• Advanced traders.

Kraken at a glance

More details about Kraken's ratings

Trading and transaction fees: 5 out of 5 stars

Kraken has taken note of what retail crypto traders want. The company now charges a flat 1% fee on any instant purchase, sell or conversion, and the app can now connect directly to bank accounts. This is Kraken's largest improvement over the last year, and solidifies its place firmly at the top of our ratings list. For beginners looking for safety and convenience, this is about as easy as it gets.

Kraken Pro fees are also extremely competitive, maxing out at 0.40% using a maker-taker model. Those fees gradually fall until they hit 0% for traders whose past 30-day trade volume is over $10 million. These are among the lowest fees of all crypto platforms we review.

Minimum trade: 5 out of 5 stars

The minimum trade depends on the cryptocurrency being traded. Bitcoin’s minimum, for instance, is $1.

Number of cryptocurrencies: 5 out of 5 stars

Kraken offers more than 550 cryptocurrencies.

Crypto-to-crypto trading pairs: 5 out of 5 stars

Kraken has hundreds of trading pairs thanks to the platform's "convert" function, which can essentially convert your holding in one crypto to another. The flat 1% fee also applies to this easy conversion tool.

Staking and rewards: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Kraken was among the many crypto platforms that suspended staking in 2023, but it has since returned. 21 coins are currently available for staking, with APY topping out at 21%..

Customer support options: 5 out of 5 stars

Kraken offers 24/7 live, multi-lingual phone support. It also has a 24-hour web chat option. People who “consistently trade” on Kraken get a personal account representative who “handles your questions and requests, ensuring you can focus on trading, not dealing with headaches.” The company says people who are interested in such services should contact vipdesk@kraken.com.

In our testing, we found that contacting customer support via chat and requesting to speak with a human specialist was very straightforward, and we found a way to directly contact a human by phone as well. However, we were told that due to an increased volume of inquiries that day, there would be a 19-minute wait, and we had the option for Kraken to call us back later, or to wait on the line. All told, this was a pretty standard customer support experience.

Other features you should know

Kraken offers more complex trading for advanced users. This includes low-fee margin trading on crypto, which is a riskier form of investment that can potentially bring higher returns. It also offers futures trading on certain cryptocurrencies. Margin fees vary by cryptocurrency, but top out at 0.02% to open a position, with a rollover fee of 0.02% charged every four hours the position remains open. Fees for Bitcoin, however, are lower than this, at 0.01% to open a position, and 0.01% to roll it over.

Is Kraken right for you?

While Kraken has tools, products, pricing and informational resources geared toward beginning crypto investors, many of its offerings are still targeted toward more seasoned investors.

If you’re comfortable with a more advanced interface and are looking for access to a broad range of investment options, Kraken offers a well-priced experience. And if you're a beginner but plan to continue learning about crypto trading, Kraken definitely offers that room for growth.

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