Coinbase and CoinJar are two powerful, yet user-friendly crypto trading platforms.
Coinbase is a popular choice for anyone that wants a simple way to trade crypto and access to a slew of crypto-related features. But it’s not as cheap as CoinJar – which offers much lower trading fees when buying cryptocurrencies with a UK bank transfer or a debit card.
But which crypto platform is the overall better choice?
In this Coinbase vs CoinJar match-up, I’ll compare the advantages and disadvantages of both companies side-by-side.
Let’s get to it.
Quick Comparison
| Coinbase | CoinJar | |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | New investors that don’t mind paying more for access to extra crypto-related features | UK and Australian crypto investors that want lower trading fees |
| Supported Cryptocurrencies | 250+ | 50+ |
| Payment Methods | UK bank transfer (via FPS) SWIFT bank transfer SEPA bank transfer Debit and credit card Crypto deposit PayPal | UK bank transfer (via FPS) SPEA bank transfer Debit and credit card Crypto transfer |
| Instant Buy Trading Fees | Under £200: 0.50% spread + £0.99–£2.99 trading fee Over £200: 0.50% spread + 1.49% trading fee | 1% |
| Exchange Trading Fees | 0.60% or less | 0.10% or less |
| Deposit Fees | UK bank transfer (via FPS): Free SWIFT bank transfer: Free SEPA bank transfer: €0.15 Debit and credit card: 3.99% Crypto deposit: Free PayPal: Not Available | UK bank transfer (via FPS): Free SPEA bank transfer: Free Debit and credit card: 2% Crypto deposit: Free |
| Withdrawal Fees | UK bank transfer (via FPS): Free SWIFT bank transfer: £1 SEPA bank transfer: €0.15 Debit and credit card: 2% Crypto withdrawal: Varies PayPal: 2% | UK bank transfer (via FPS): Free SEPA bank transfer: Free Crypto deposit: Free |
| Security Features | Two-factor authentication | Two-factor authentication |
Overview: Coinbase vs CoinJar
CoinJar and Coinbase are popular crypto trading platforms. Let’s take a quick look at each company to start our head-to-head match-up.
What is Coinbase?
Coinbase is one of the world’s largest crypto trading platforms. The company was founded in 2012 and operates as a remote-first exchange with no official headquarters. Coinbase claims to have more than 110 million verified traders in more than 100 countries (including the UK).
Coinbase’s primary feature is its beginner-friendly crypto brokerage service that lets you instantly buy and sell dozens of top coins. It also offers an advanced crypto exchange and many other crypto investing tools. Coinbase’s primary advantage over CoinJar is its plethora of extra features.
What is CoinJar?
Founded in 2013, CoinJar is an Australian company that’s fully registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK as a cryptoasset firm. The company currently only supports investors in the UK and Australia, but it has more than 600,000 active users.
With CoinJar, traders get a streamlined crypto investing platform with competitive fees. The firm offers both a broker service and an advanced crypto exchange. When compared to Coinbase, CoinJar’s main advantage is its simplicity and lower trading fees.
Key Features
Although Coinbase and CoinJar are both crypto trading platforms, each offers unique features for investors.
With Coinbase, you can place quick instant buy-type trades through the firm’s broker service, or you can toggle a more advanced trading terminal. CoinJar also offers instant buy trades and a crypto exchange too.
However, Coinbase gives account holders access to a number of additional services, including:
- Coinbase Earn: With Coinbase Earn, investors can earn free crypto just for watching educational videos.
- Coinbase Pay: Coinbase Pay is an easy way to send or receive crypto from other Coinbase account holders.
- Coinbase Card: The Coinbase Card is a Visa debit card that lets you use crypto to pay for goods and services. Check out my Coinbase Card review to learn more.
- Coinbase Staking: Investors with Coinbase can stake supported cryptocurrencies directly from their Coinbase account. Note that the advertised rewards rate includes a variable commission fee.
You can learn more about these features and more in my detailed Coinbase review.
CoinJar doesn’t offer as many extra features as Coinbase:
- CoinJar Rewards: This is a loyalty programme that gives you points for every transaction you make on the platform, or when using the CoinJar Card. You can unlock fee discounts, gifts cards, and more in this store.
- CoinJar Bundles: With CoinJar Bundles, you can purchase a set of different cryptocurrencies at once to quickly diversify your portfolio. For example, you can invest in the CoinJar Universe bundle, which lets you buy an equal amount of each of CoinJar’s 50+ supported cryptocurrencies with the push of a button.
- CoinJar Card: The CoinJar Card is a crypto-backed Mastercard debit card that lets you use your crypto balance to pay for goods and services. It’s a lot like the Coinbase Card – but cheaper and better. You can find out more in my CoinJar Card review.
To learn more about these features, check out my complete CoinJar review.
Crypto Exchanges
Both CoinJar and Coinbase offer crypto exchanges in addition to their popular brokerage services.
Coinbase’s exchange is called Coinbase Advanced.
The primary benefits of Coinbase Pro are its lower fees, high trading volume, advanced order types (market, limit, and stop), API access, price charts, and depth charts. Coinbase Pro is also available in a mobile app, so you can place trades on the go.
The CoinJar Exchange has many of the same benefits as Coinbase Advanced.
A notable advantage of CoinJar Exchange is that you’ll pay lower trading fees. CoinJar Exchange’s price charts are a bit more sophisticated than Coinbase Advanced, too.
On top of that, the CoinJar Exchange supports a wider array of order types than you get with Coinbase Advanced, including Good til Cancel, Maker or Cancel, and Immediate or Cancel.
The downside?
CoinJar’s exchange isn’t available on the firm’s mobile app. There’s also less trading volume on CoinJar’s exchange than with Coinbase Advanced, which could lead to higher-than-market prices for certain trades.
Supported Cryptocurrencies
Coinbase currently supports more than 250 cryptocurrencies, including major coins like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and more. Check out Coinbase’s list of supported cryptocurrencies for more information.
With CoinJar, you can also buy and sell more than 50 cryptocurrencies. This includes all of the top coins, such as Bitcoin (BTC), and an extensive list of ERC-20 tokens, like Axie Infinity (AXS) and Chiliz (CHZ). Head to CoinJar’s full list of support cryptocurrencies to learn more.
Payment Options
On Coinbase, UK-based users can fund their account using the following payment methods:
- UK bank transfer (via FPS)
- SEPA bank transfer (for EUR)
- SWIFT bank transfer
- Debit and credit card
- Crypto transfer
With CoinJar, you can only buy Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in the UK using:
- UK bank transfer (via FPS)
- SPEA bank transfer
- Debit and credit card
- Crypto transfer
For UK traders, the main difference between Coinbase and CoinJar is that Coinbase also lets you use SWIFT transfers to fund your account.
Fees
One of the biggest differences between CoinJar and Coinbase are the fees that you’re charged on each platform.
Instant Buy & Sell Fees
When you place a trade with Coinbase’s instant buy service, you’re charged a 0.50% spread fee, plus a transaction fee. The transaction fees are:
| Trade Value | Fees |
|---|---|
| < £30 | £0.99 |
| £10 to £25 | £1.49 |
| £25 to £50 | £1.99 |
| £50 to £200 | £2.99 |
| > £200 | 1.49% |
With CoinJar, you’re charged a 1% fee on all trades placed through the firm’s brokerage service. This ends up being much cheaper than what you get at Coinbase.
Exchange Fees
Coinbase and CoinJar both use a maker/taker fee schedule for their respective exchanges.
Coinbase’s exchange fee schedule is as follows:
| Monthly Trading Volume | Taker Fee | Maker Fee |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 or less | 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 million | 0.20% | 0.10% |
| $1 million to $15 million | 0.18% | 0.08% |
| $15 million to $75 million | 0.16% | 0.06% |
| $75 million to $250 million | 0.12% | 0.03% |
| $250 million to $400 million | 0.08% | Free |
| $400 million or more | 0.05% | Free |
CoinJar uses the following fee schedule for GBP-crypto trades placed on its exchange:
| 30-Day Trading Volume | Taker | Maker |
|---|---|---|
| < £60,000 | 0.10% | 0.10% |
| £60,000 to £600,000 | 0.10% | 0.08% |
| £600,000 to £6 million | 0.08% | 0.04% |
| > £6 million | 0.06% | 0.02% |
For all crypto-crypto trading pairs, ConJar’s exchange is free for market takers and it costs just 0.05% for market makers.
Overall, CoinJar’s exchange is substantially cheaper than Coinbase’s.
Deposit & Withdrawal Fees
Coinbase and CoinJar charge similar deposit and withdrawal fees.
The most important deposit and withdrawal fees for UK-based investors are:
| Coinbase | CoinJar | |
|---|---|---|
| UK Bank Transfer (via FPS) | Free | Free |
| Credit & Debit Card | 3.99% | 2% |
| Crypto Deposits | Free | Free |
| SWIFT Bank Transfer | Free | N/A |
| SEPA Bank Transfer | €0.15 | Free |
| PayPal (Withdrawal Only) | 2% | N/A |
The only major difference between the two is in their credit and debit card fees. CoinJar is substantially cheaper than Coinbase in this regard, making it one of the best places to buy crypto with a credit or debit card in the UK.
Limits
CoinJar and Coinbase have relatively few account limits.
For Coinbase, your account is subject to various trading limits based on your verification level. But if you complete photo ID verification, your only major limits are as follows:
- Daily Fiat Withdrawal: £100,000
- Daily UK Bank Transfer Deposit: £250,000
CoinJar also has account limits, but these vary from trader to trader.
One notable limit is that CoinJar only lets most traders buy about £10,000 worth of crypto each day. But you need to double-check your CoinJar account to learn more about your specific trading limits.
Security
Coinbase and CoinJar both offer similar security features for investors.
Both companies let you use 2-factor authentication through an authenticator app or SMS to secure your account. One notable difference here is that Coinbase also supports physical security keys for 2-factor authentication – while CoinJar doesn’t.
Coinbase and CoinJar also both store the bulk of client assets in cold storage units to protect them from hackers.
Additionally, Coinbase states that it has an insurance policy to reimburse client assets lost during a security breach. CoinJar says that it has an insurance policy for client assets that’s provided by its custodian, BitGo. Neither company mentions how much their insurance policies cover.
The Bottom Line: Coinbase vs CoinJar
So, which one comes out ahead?
In truth, Coinbase and CoinJar are very similar platforms – each of which is trying to make it as frictionless as possible to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies.
I think Coinbase is best if you’re:
- Interested in extra features beyond crypto trading.
- Okay with paying more in fees for added functionality.
- Looking to deposit cash with a SWIFT or use PayPal withdrawals.
But CoinJar might make more sense if you’re:
- Keen to keep your crypto trading fees as low as possible.
- Looking for a cheap way to buy crypto using a debit or credit card.
- Not really interested in extra features beyond a crypto trading platform.
If I had to choose, my personal preference is CoinJar.
That’s because it’s simpler to use (as it’s not bundled with extra features like Coinbase) and works out cheaper – especially for smaller purchases.
Check out my in-depth reviews of both these platforms to find out more:
Any Questions?
Thanks for checking out this Coinbase vs CoinJar comparison!
Got a question about either of these places?
Let me know in the comments below!