Kraken vs KuCoin: Actual Fee Comparison

See the actual fees for Kraken and KuCoin, including referral discounts and the real effective trading cost.

Referral code
Officialswqcgp79
Referral code
up to30%lifetimefee discount
OfficialREFTABLE
1218WIN

Quick Summary

A market-by-market summary of which exchange has the edge based on discounted taker fees.

This tier calculation uses only 30-day trading volume as a naive assumption. Other tier conditions such as API volume share, asset balance, or token balance are not reflected here.
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Recommendations by trading style

This quick summary turns the fee table into plain-language guidance so you can see which exchange has the edge on which metric first.

If you mostly use limit orders

Kraken

3/6

Kraken has the edge on maker fee, leading in 3 of 6 comparable segments. The biggest edge is Spot · maker fee.

On the biggest gap, you save about 4,200 USDT per month versus KuCoin

Currently based on a 30-day trading volume of 10,000,000 USDT.

If you often use market orders

KuCoin

3/6

KuCoin has the edge on taker fee, leading in 3 of 6 comparable segments. The biggest edge is Spot · taker fee.

On the biggest gap, you save about 4,960 USDT per month versus Kraken

Currently based on a 30-day trading volume of 10,000,000 USDT.

Key comparison preview

This section highlights the comparisons with the biggest gaps first.

Spot

Kraken

Fee-free
SpotSpot (Standard)Maker

On maker fee, Kraken is 0.042% lower than KuCoin. At Kraken, trading is fee-free.

You save about 4,200 USDT per month versus KuCoin

Kraken0%
KuCoin0.042%
Spot

Kraken

Fee-free
SpotSpot (USDT)Maker

On maker fee, Kraken is 0.042% lower than KuCoin. At Kraken, trading is fee-free.

You save about 4,200 USDT per month versus KuCoin

Kraken0%
KuCoin0.042%
Spot

Kraken

Fee-free
SpotSpot (USDC)Maker

On maker fee, Kraken is 0.042% lower than KuCoin. At Kraken, trading is fee-free.

You save about 4,200 USDT per month versus KuCoin

Kraken0%
KuCoin0.042%
Spot

KuCoin

Only 1/2 of the fee
SpotSpot (Standard)Taker

On taker fee, KuCoin is 0.0496% lower than Kraken. At KuCoin, you pay only 1/2 of the fee.

You save about 4,960 USDT per month versus Kraken

KuCoin0.0504%
Kraken0.1%
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Spot

KuCoin

Only 1/2 of the fee
SpotSpot (USDT)Taker

On taker fee, KuCoin is 0.0496% lower than Kraken. At KuCoin, you pay only 1/2 of the fee.

You save about 4,960 USDT per month versus Kraken

KuCoin0.0504%
Kraken0.1%
Spot

KuCoin

Only 1/2 of the fee
SpotSpot (USDC)Taker

On taker fee, KuCoin is 0.0496% lower than Kraken. At KuCoin, you pay only 1/2 of the fee.

You save about 4,960 USDT per month versus Kraken

KuCoin0.0504%
Kraken0.1%
Perpetual

KuCoin

Only 1/1.4 of the fee
PerpetualPerpetual (USDT-M)Maker

On maker fee, KuCoin is 0.0045% lower than Kraken. At KuCoin, you pay only 1/1.4 of the fee.

You save about 450 USDT per month versus Kraken

KuCoin0.0105%
Kraken0.015%
Perpetual

KuCoin

Only 1/1.4 of the fee
PerpetualPerpetual (USDC-M)Maker

On maker fee, KuCoin is 0.0045% lower than Kraken. At KuCoin, you pay only 1/1.4 of the fee.

You save about 450 USDT per month versus Kraken

KuCoin0.0105%
Kraken0.015%
Perpetual

KuCoin

Only 1/1.4 of the fee
PerpetualPerpetual (COIN-M)Maker

On maker fee, KuCoin is 0.0045% lower than Kraken. At KuCoin, you pay only 1/1.4 of the fee.

You save about 450 USDT per month versus Kraken

KuCoin0.0105%
Kraken0.015%
Perpetual

Kraken

Only 1/1.1 of the fee
PerpetualPerpetual (USDT-M)Taker

On taker fee, Kraken is 0.002% lower than KuCoin. At Kraken, you pay only 1/1.1 of the fee.

You save about 200 USDT per month versus KuCoin

Kraken0.04%
KuCoin0.042%
Perpetual

Kraken

Only 1/1.1 of the fee
PerpetualPerpetual (USDC-M)Taker

On taker fee, Kraken is 0.002% lower than KuCoin. At Kraken, you pay only 1/1.1 of the fee.

You save about 200 USDT per month versus KuCoin

Kraken0.04%
KuCoin0.042%
Perpetual

Kraken

Only 1/1.1 of the fee
PerpetualPerpetual (COIN-M)Taker

On taker fee, Kraken is 0.002% lower than KuCoin. At Kraken, you pay only 1/1.1 of the fee.

You save about 200 USDT per month versus KuCoin

Kraken0.04%
KuCoin0.042%

Detailed comparison by market

Base fees, exchange-token discounts, discounted fees, and referral discounts are organized under the same columns.

LOSE
24
Spot (Standard)
WIN
Tier 9TierVIP 3
0.0000%Maker base fee0.0750%
0.1000%Taker base fee0.0900%
0.0000%Discounted maker fee0.0420%
0.1000%Discounted taker fee0.0504%
-Exchange token discount20%
-Referral discount30%
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
LOSE
24
Spot (USDT)
WIN
Tier 9TierVIP 3
0.0000%Maker base fee0.0750%
0.1000%Taker base fee0.0900%
0.0000%Discounted maker fee0.0420%
0.1000%Discounted taker fee0.0504%
-Exchange token discount20%
-Referral discount30%
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
LOSE
24
Spot (USDC)
WIN
Tier 9TierVIP 3
0.0000%Maker base fee0.0750%
0.1000%Taker base fee0.0900%
0.0000%Discounted maker fee0.0420%
0.1000%Discounted taker fee0.0504%
-Exchange token discount20%
-Referral discount30%
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
TIE
22
Perpetual (USDT-M)
TIE
Tier 2TierVIP 2
0.0150%Maker base fee0.0150%
0.0400%Taker base fee0.0600%
0.0150%Discounted maker fee0.0105%
0.0400%Discounted taker fee0.0420%
-Exchange token discount-
-Referral discount30%
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
TIE
22
Perpetual (USDC-M)
TIE
Tier 2TierVIP 2
0.0150%Maker base fee0.0150%
0.0400%Taker base fee0.0600%
0.0150%Discounted maker fee0.0105%
0.0400%Discounted taker fee0.0420%
-Exchange token discount-
-Referral discount30%
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
TIE
22
Perpetual (COIN-M)
TIE
Tier 2TierVIP 2
0.0150%Maker base fee0.0150%
0.0400%Taker base fee0.0600%
0.0150%Discounted maker fee0.0105%
0.0400%Discounted taker fee0.0420%
-Exchange token discount-
-Referral discount30%
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗
Checked 2026-03-11 · Official fee policy ↗

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