Two checks — cost and trust
Coinbase vs KuCoin.
Top score today:KuCoin74— updated 2026-10-04
Lowest: Coinbase 68/100, updated 2026-10-04 — 2 exchanges scored.
Cheaper right now:KuCoin8.77 USDT— 1,000 USDT buy, measured 2026-10-04 14:48 UTC
Coinbase 12.50 USDT — 3.73 USDT more for the same buy.
Moments and sizes change the answer — the live comparison recomputes for your exact trade.
Coinbase
- Published fee (maker / taker)
- 0.60% / 1.20%
- Reliability Score
- 68 / 100
- Measured cost · 1,000 USDT BTC buy
- 12.50 USDT
- You get
- 0.01160193 BTC
- Of which hidden spread
- 0.50 USDT
- BTC withdrawal
- not published — excluded
live orderbook · 47s old at measurement · via USDT
Open Coinbase ↗neutral link
KuCoin
- Published fee (maker / taker)
- 0.10% / 0.10%
- Reliability Score
- 74 / 100
- Measured cost · 1,000 USDT BTC buy
- 8.77 USDT
- You get
- 0.01164562 BTC
- Of which hidden spread
- 0.11 USDT
- BTC withdrawal
- 7.66 USDT (0.00009 BTC)
live orderbook · 51s old at measurement · via USDT
Open KuCoin ↗neutral link
Sources & method
- Cost = live public orderbook walked for the exact 1,000 USDT order + published base-tier fee + published withdrawal fee; ranked by what you receive.
- Reliability Score: sourced and dated, never part of the cost ranking; affiliate links never influence either.
- Cost method → · Score method → · Coinbase record → · KuCoin record →
Questions, answered
Is Coinbase or KuCoin cheaper for buying Bitcoin?
At 2026-10-04 14:48 UTC, a 1,000 USDT Bitcoin buy cost 8.77 USDT all-in on KuCoin versus 12.50 USDT on Coinbase — fee plus measured spread.
Is Coinbase or KuCoin safer?
No safety verdicts — on Skontro's sourced Reliability Score, Coinbase 68/100 (updated 2026-10-04) and KuCoin 74/100 (updated 2026-10-04) — KuCoin scores higher.
More comparisons
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Not investment advice. Skontro is not a CASP under MiCAR. Reliability Scores are information, not recommendations: every negative datapoint is dated and sourced, the methodology is public, and no exchange can pay to change a score.