Kraken Fees 2026: Instant Buy, Kraken Pro Tiers and Kraken+

Kraken charges 1% on instant and recurring buys in its app, plus a spread built into the price, while Kraken Pro starts at 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker. Custom orders in the app cost 1.5%. Kraken+, at $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, waives the app trading fee on up to $10,000 of monthly volume, though the spread and card fees still apply.

Every Kraken figure here was read on October 21, 2026 on Kraken's fee schedule, the Kraken+ page, its fee tier change notice and the help articles linked in each section. The short version: Kraken has two price lists, and the one most new buyers see first is the expensive one, with a fee more than twice Kraken Pro's entry maker rate before the spread is counted.

Every Kraken fee at a glance

Fee	Rate	Applies to
Instant and recurring buys, sells, converts	1% trading fee plus a spread in the price	Kraken app and Kraken.com Buy, Sell, Convert
Custom orders in the app	1.5% trading fee plus a spread	Price-target orders on the simple side
Kraken+	$4.99 a month (app) or $49.99 a year	Waives the 1% and 1.5% fees up to a monthly volume cap
Kraken Pro spot, Tier 1	0.40% maker, 0.80% taker	Under $2,500 of 30-day volume
Kraken Pro spot, Tier 3	0.22% maker, 0.38% taker	Enough 30-day volume or assets held (see the tier table)
Stablecoin and FX pairs	0.20% maker and taker at entry	USDT/USD, EUR/USD and similar pairs
Convert Small Balances	Fixed 3%	Amounts below the minimum order size
Debit card deposit (USD)	$0.25 plus 3.75%	Card funding in the US
ACH deposit and withdrawal	Free	US bank transfers
US stocks and ETFs	No commission; regulatory fees may pass through	Kraken stock trading, US only

What Kraken charges on an app buy

The app route costs 1% plus a spread you cannot see as a number. Kraken's fee schedule says buying, selling or converting through Instant Buy carries a 1% trading fee, and custom orders carry 1.5%. On top, the price you are shown includes a spread, the gap between the market rate and your rate. Kraken says it may keep any excess spread, and that the spread varies with volatility, asset, order size and type, VIP status and account activity.

That makes the app hard to compare from a fee table. On an instant buy the trading fee is fixed at 1%, but the true cost is that fee plus whatever spread sits in the quote that day. The only place to see the full amount is the confirmation screen.

Card buys stack a payment fee on top. US customers can use debit cards only, from $10 per purchase, with a weekly limit Kraken lists at $1,000 to $5,000. The card purchase fee shows on the final confirmation page. Kraken's cash deposit table prices a USD debit card deposit at $0.25 plus 3.75%, which on a $500 deposit is $19 by our arithmetic, almost four times the 1% trading fee on the same amount. Card buys and PayPal also trigger a 72-hour withdrawal hold.

App volume does not count toward Pro discounts. Kraken's fee schedule notes that Instant Buy volume is excluded from the 30-day volume that sets your Kraken Pro tier. A buyer who spends heavily in the app gets no credit for it on the cheaper side.

Kraken Pro fees: maker, taker and the new holdings test

Kraken Pro trades against the order book, so there is no built-in spread; you pay a maker or taker fee. A taker order fills at once against resting orders. A maker order rests on the book, such as a limit buy below the current price, and pays the lower rate when it fills.

Since July 9, 2026, your tier is set by volume or by assets held, whichever is better. Kraken's notice says the tier now uses the best of your 30-day spot volume or your Assets on Platform (AoP), the dollar value of crypto, cash and staked assets you hold on Kraken. AoP is measured point in time, so a market drop or a withdrawal can drop your tier immediately.

Tier	30-day spot volume	Or assets held	Maker	Taker
Tier 1	$0+	Not available	0.40%	0.80%
Tier 2	$2,500+	Not available	0.30%	0.60%
Tier 3	$10,000+	$20,000	0.22%	0.38%
Tier 4	$25,000+	$50,000	0.20%	0.35%
Tier 5	$50,000+	$100,000	0.15%	0.30%
Tier 6	$100,000+	$200,000	0.12%	0.25%
Tier 9	$1M+	$1M	0.06%	0.18%
Tier 12	$10M+	$10M	0%	0.10%
Pro 5	$500M+	$100M	0%	0.05%

Tiers 7, 8, 10, 11 and Pro 1 to Pro 4 sit between those rows on the same schedule. The holdings test is the real change for long-term holders. An investor with $20,000 of crypto parked on Kraken now trades at Tier 3 without any volume, which more than halves the taker rate a new account pays. The catch is custody: the discount rewards keeping coins on the exchange rather than in your own wallet, such as MetaMask, so weigh the fee saving against exchange risk.

Kraken also runs a separate schedule on some lower-liquidity pairs where makers pay slightly less, 0.38% at Tier 1 and a small rebate at the top. Stablecoin and FX pairs have their own flat schedule starting at 0.20% for both sides, and that volume does not count toward your crypto tier. Margin adds opening and rollover fees, mostly 0.02% to 0.04% per four hours, and a forced liquidation costs 2%.

What a $1,000 purchase costs, route by route

Finpresso data: our analysis costs one $1,000 bitcoin purchase on each Kraken route using only the rates Kraken prints, as of October 21, 2026, with Coinbase Advanced's US entry tier for reference. Dollar figures are our arithmetic and exclude spreads, network fees and price movement.

Route	Trading fee on $1,000	What else applies
Kraken Pro, maker, Tier 3 (volume or $20,000 held)	$2.20	Nothing else at the fee level
Kraken Pro, maker, Tier 1	$4.00	Nothing else at the fee level
Kraken Pro, taker, Tier 1	$8.00	Nothing else at the fee level
Kraken app, instant buy	$10.00	Plus the spread in the quote
Kraken app, custom order	$15.00	Plus the spread in the quote
Kraken app with Kraken+, inside the $10,000 allowance	$0	Spread and card fees still apply
Coinbase Advanced, US entry tier, taker	$9.00	0.90% taker, Coinbase's US rate since September 16, 2026

The cheapest printed route on Kraken is a patient limit order on Kraken Pro. A Tier 1 maker order costs less than half the app's trading fee before the spread is counted. At the entry tier, Kraken Pro also undercuts the rates Coinbase set for US Advanced traders in its September 16, 2026 fee update on both sides of the book, so a US trader choosing between the two order books pays less per order on Kraken until volume tiers come into play. Our Coinbase fees breakdown runs the same test on Coinbase's own routes.

Selling costs the same again: a buy and a later sell of that amount as Tier 1 taker orders is $16 in fees, and the same round trip through the app is $20 plus two spreads.

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Is Kraken+ worth it?

Kraken+ is a subscription that removes the 1% and 1.5% trading fees on Buy, Sell and Convert in the Kraken app and on Kraken.com, up to a monthly volume allowance. It does not touch Kraken Pro, futures, API or OTC trades, and the spread and payment processing fees still apply. Members also get boosted stablecoin rewards, which Kraken says vary by country, faster support and access to Kraken's curated airdrops.

Billing decides the price. Monthly billing and the free 30-day trial are offered only in the Kraken mobile app; Kraken.com sells the annual plan only, at $49.99. Twelve monthly charges come to $59.88 by our arithmetic, so the annual plan saves $9.89 a year.

The break-even is about $417 of app buys a month on annual billing. At 1%, $49.99 a year equals the trading fee on $4,999 of instant or recurring buys, or about $417 a month, by our arithmetic. On monthly billing, one charge matches the fee on $499 of buys that month. A $500 monthly recurring buy pays $5 a month in trading fees, $60 over a year, so Kraken+ on annual billing comes out slightly ahead before spreads.

The better comparison is Kraken Pro. The same $500 placed as a Tier 1 maker order costs $2, or $24 a year, with no subscription. Kraken+ suits someone who wants the simple app and a set-and-forget recurring buy; a buyer willing to place limit orders saves more on Pro.

Funding, withdrawals and staking

Bank transfers are the cheap way in and out. Kraken's cash deposit table lists free ACH via Plaid and free FedWire deposits for US customers, with ACH deposits held from withdrawal for seven days. The cash withdrawal table lists:

• ACH withdrawal: free, 0 to 2 business days.
• FedWire withdrawal: $4, 0 to 1 business days.
• RTP instant withdrawal: 1.50%, capped at $50, if your bank supports it.
• SWIFT withdrawal: $14.

Crypto withdrawals carry a fixed fee per coin. Kraken's crypto withdrawal table lists 0.000015 BTC on the bitcoin network, 0.1% for bitcoin over Lightning, 0.00013 ETH for ether and 0.005 SOL for Solana. Kraken says these fees can change and that the confirmation screen shows the final amount. Batch your withdrawals; each one pays the fee again.

Staking has no transaction fee, but Kraken keeps part of the rewards. Its staking help article sets bonded staking commission by balance, 25% up to $1M staked, falling to 20% from $1M to $5M. The same article puts flexible staking and Auto Earn at 30%, while the fee schedule page lists flexible staking at 20%, so check the rate shown in your account before you stake. Staking availability depends on where you live.

Stocks and ETFs trade without commission for US customers, with regulatory fees passed through. Tokenized xStocks bought with USD or USDG carry no trading fee, while buying them with other assets takes the standard 1% instant fee.

How to pay less on Kraken

1. Use Kraken Pro for any order you can wait on. A maker order at Tier 1 is the lowest printed rate for a new account.
2. Check whether your holdings already lift your tier. The Tier 3 holdings threshold cuts a taker order to less than half the Tier 1 rate.
3. Fund by ACH, not debit card. The card deposit fee costs several times the trading fee on the same amount.
4. Buy Kraken+ on the annual plan, or skip it. It pays only above roughly $417 a month of app buys, and Pro beats it for limit orders.
5. Withdraw in batches. Every crypto withdrawal pays its own fixed fee.

For taxes on every sale and staking reward, our best crypto tax software ranking and Koinly review cover tools that import exchange history; CoinLedger is another option in that group. Investors weighing Kraken against brokers that sell crypto should read the Coinbase review, the Robinhood review, Robinhood Gold cost and Webull vs Robinhood. Active traders can compare costs in our best day trading platforms list, and Kraken's corporate news is in our report on its parent Payward.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Kraken charge in fees in 2026?

Kraken charges 1% on instant and recurring buys, sells and converts in its app, plus a spread built into the price, and 1.5% on custom orders. Kraken Pro starts at 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker and falls with volume or with assets held on Kraken. Kraken+ waives the app fee on up to $10,000 a month.

Is Kraken Pro cheaper than the Kraken app?

Yes, for nearly every order. A maker order at Kraken Pro's entry tier costs well under half the app's 1% fee, and the app adds a spread on top. Even a taker order on Pro costs less than the app's 1% fee, and Pro has no built-in spread.

What is Kraken+ and how much does it cost?

Kraken+ is Kraken's subscription: $4.99 a month in the mobile app or $49.99 a year, with a free 30-day trial in the app. It removes the app trading fee on up to $10,000 of monthly buys, sells and converts, but spreads and card fees still apply and Kraken Pro trades are excluded.

How do Kraken's fee tiers work now?

Since July 9, 2026, your Kraken Pro tier is the better of your 30-day spot volume or the dollar value of assets you hold on Kraken. Holding $20,000 reaches Tier 3, at 0.22% maker and 0.38% taker. Holdings are measured point in time, so a price drop or a withdrawal can lower your tier at once.

Does Kraken charge to withdraw?

ACH withdrawals in US dollars are free, FedWire costs $4 and SWIFT $14. Crypto withdrawals carry a fixed fee per coin, such as 0.000015 BTC on the bitcoin network, and the final amount appears on the confirmation screen.

Is Kraken cheaper than Coinbase?

On the advanced platforms' US entry tiers, Kraken Pro's taker rate is 0.80% against 0.90% on Coinbase Advanced, while Kraken's 0.40% maker rate is below Coinbase's 0.50%. Both simple apps add spreads that neither publishes as a fixed rate, so compare the confirmation totals for app buys.

Sources and method

We read Kraken's fee schedule, Kraken+ page, fee tier change notice, card purchase article, cash deposit, cash withdrawal, crypto withdrawal and staking help articles on October 21, 2026, along with Coinbase's announcement of its Advanced fees. Dollar costs multiply the printed rates by the trade size; they exclude spreads, network fees and price movement, because Kraken does not publish its spread as a rate. Publishing rules for this site are on the Finpresso about page. Kraken says fees can change and shows the final fee before each transaction.

This page is general information, not personalized financial advice. Confirm current fees, tiers and Kraken+ terms with Kraken before you trade or subscribe.

Cite this: Finpresso, "Kraken Fees 2026: Instant Buy, Kraken Pro Tiers and Kraken+", November 2026.

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