Tradefeely Methodology: How We Compare

How we compare trading costs

Last updated 2026-06-18. We track 6 providers. Informational only, not investment advice.

This page explains how Tradefeely compares crypto exchanges and forex brokers, so you can judge our work and check it yourself. In short: we use each provider's published fee schedule, record the date we checked it, re-check periodically, and rank by total cost to trade rather than by commission alone.

Our sources: published, dated, re-checked

Every fee and spread figure we publish comes from the provider's own published fee schedule or official documentation. We do not invent numbers, and we do not claim to have personally tested or traded on each platform.

We record the date each figure was checked. Fees and spreads change often, so a dated figure tells you how current it is, and we re-check on a regular cadence.

Because fees vary by tier, volume, asset, account type and region, we treat our figures as a starting point. We ask readers to verify the current fees on the provider's site before acting, and we say so on every page.

We rank by total cost, not commission

Many comparisons quote a single number — a commission or a headline spread. We think that misleads, because the real cost of trading is the combination of maker/taker fees, the spread you cross, and deposit/withdrawal costs.

So we rank by estimated total cost to trade for a defined scenario, and we keep simple-buy products separate from advanced order-book products because their costs differ so much.

We avoid "best" superlatives presented as fact. Where we highlight a provider, we frame it as "lowest published fees for X" with the caveat that figures change and depend on your situation.

Independence and our limits

Tradefeely may earn affiliate commissions (CPA or revenue share) when readers open accounts through some of our links, at no extra cost to the reader. This never changes the published fees we show and does not influence our cost-based rankings. We disclose this relationship.

We cannot account for everything: live prices, slippage, your exact account tier, taxes, and provider changes between our checks all affect your real cost. Regulation, custody and security matter beyond fees, and we encourage you to weigh them.

Nothing on Tradefeely is investment, legal or tax advice. Check your local regulations and whether a provider serves your country, and consider professional advice for your situation.

What we could not fully verify

In the spirit of honesty, here are the figures we deliberately left as ranges or notes rather than hard numbers:

Kraken 'Instant Buy' exact simple-buy markup % — left as an approximate (~1.5%) note rather than a hard figure; not confirmable to a single published number (varies by asset/payment method).
Coinbase simple-buy markup is a RANGE (~0.5%-0.6% spread plus separate fees), not a single number; left as a note, no single fabricated value used.
Binance global maker/taker (0.10%/0.10%) and 25% BNB discount confirmed via aggregated reporting of the official schedule; the official /en/fee/schedule page requires login for full personalized view. Binance.US 0%/0.02% confirmed via binance.us/fees reporting.
Forex EUR/USD 'typical' spreads are INDICATIVE and vary by session/liquidity/entity; values shown (Vantage Std ~1.18, XM Std ~1.6, FBS Std ~0.9) are representative figures from broker/review sources, not guaranteed live quotes.
Vantage Raw ECN spread (~0.0-0.1 pip raw) and commission shown as $6 round-turn ($3/side); XM Zero $7 round-turn ($3.50/side); FBS ECN ~$6/lot — per-side vs round-turn conventions differ across sources, confirm on official pages.
Binance 'founded' = 2017 (company founding); HQ is intentionally listed as Global because Binance Holdings has no single declared HQ — Binance.US is a separate US entity.
FBS regulator footprint and current Tier-1 retail availability should be re-confirmed on the official site, as FBS has changed its regulated-entity offering over time.

Frequently asked questions

Do you test the platforms yourselves?: No. We do not make "we tested" or "we traded" claims. Our figures come from each provider's published fee schedule and official documentation, recorded with the date we checked them. Always verify the current fees on the provider's own site, as they change and vary by region.
Does affiliate income affect your rankings?: No. We may earn affiliate commissions when readers sign up through some links, at no extra cost to them, and we disclose this. It does not change the published fees we show and does not influence how we rank providers by total cost to trade.
How current are your figures?: We date every figure and re-check periodically, but fees and spreads change frequently and vary by tier, volume, asset and region. Treat our numbers as a starting point and verify current fees on the provider's site. This is informational only, not advice.