Is Coinbase One Worth It? (Expert Review 2025)

What is Coinbase One?

Coinbase One is a premium subscription service offered by Coinbase. It offers benefits like zero-fee trading, boosted interest rewards, and priority customer support! 

Currently, Coinbase One has three tiers: Basic ($4.99 a month), Preferred ($29.99 a month), and Premium ($299.99 a month).

Is Coinbase One worth it?

When is Coinbase One worth it?: Coinbase One could pay for itself if you’re an active trader and take full advantage of Coinbase One’s features, including: 

• No fees on the standard platform: Zero trading fees on the standard platform (you will still pay fees on Coinbase Advanced). 
• Rebates on trading fees: Earn up to $100 monthly in fee rebates on Coinbase Advanced. 
• Insurance: Coinbase One offers insurance protection: $1,000 on Basic, $10,000 on Preferred, $250,000 on Premium. This can provide reassurance if you hold a large amount of crypto on the platform.
• Exclusive sweepstakes: Gain access to members-only sweepstakes like the chance to win 1 free BTC! 
• Boosted rewards: Get rewards up to 4% on your USDC and enhanced staking rewards. 
• Priority support: Get connected with a live customer support representative in minutes (for Preferred and Up). 
• Form 8949: Coinbase One subscribers get a pre-filled Form 8949 that can be used to report your crypto taxes! 
• Coinbase One Card: Earn up to 4% in BTC cashback rewards with the Coinbase One Card.

Some users complain that Coinbase One may not be worth the price of the subscription in all cases, especially because Coinbase also offers Coinbase Advanced, a platform for experienced traders that offers low fees.

However, Coinbase One can be a great choice if you hold a significant amount of money on Coinbase and/or use Coinbase frequently, and believe you will take full advantage of these features. The membership can easily pay for itself through fee discounts, USDC rewards, and credit card cashback rewards.

When is Coinbase One not worth it?: If you’re a casual trader and don’t think you’ll take full advantage of these benefits, you may want to use Coinbase Advanced for free or explore Coinbase alternatives like Kraken Pro and Gemini ActiveTrader that offer low fees without subscription costs. 

Drawbacks of Coinbase One

Let’s walk through some of the drawbacks of Coinbase One. 

• Cost may outweigh benefits: If you’re not trading frequently or maximizing rewards, the monthly fee may not be worth it. 
• Not all trades are fee-free: Transactions on Coinbase Advanced are still subject to fees (though you do qualify for fee rebates). ‍
• Insurance only in certain instances: Coinbase One’s Account Protection insurance does not cover transactions you authorized as a result of being deceived by a third party, transactions made by mistake, or fraudulent activities.

What’s the difference between Coinbase Advanced and Coinbase One? 

Coinbase Advanced is a free trading platform that you can access within your Coinbase account. Coinbase Advanced is designed for intermediate traders and comes with lower transaction fees. 

Coinbase Advanced offers fees between 0-0.60%, which is significantly lower than the standard platform. However, it does not come with the other benefits that Coinbase One offers such as account protection, priority customer support, and boosted interest rewards. 

Coinbase Advanced can be a good choice for users who are only interested in low fees and not the other features that Coinbase One offers. 

What are alternatives to Coinbase One? 

Here are two Coinbase One alternatives you should consider:

Kraken+ 

Kraken+ is a $4.99 a month subscription service that offers zero fees for up to $10,000 worth of trades, 5% APR on USDG (more than double the standard rate), priority support, and access to early airdrops. While it does not offer many of the same benefits that Coinbase offers, it’s a great choice for investors who like Kraken’s interface and are primarily interested in fee reductions.

Gemini ActiveTrader

Gemini ActiveTrader is known for offering low fees (0-0.40%) to users, and does not require a monthly subscription. The platform is known for its commitment to regulatory compliance and is one of the few exchanges available in New York. However, the platform has been criticized for not offering live support to users.

How valuable is priority support? 

Coinbase One (for Preferred and Premium) offers 24/7 priority support for subscribers. Coinbase One users typically get connected with English native-speaking customer representatives in minutes,  which can be beneficial in urgent situations. 

Priority support can be great to have during periods where prices are moving quickly, or if you have security concerns about your account.

Does Coinbase One help with taxes?

As noted earlier, Coinbase One provides pre-filled Form 8949 to help with tax reporting.

However, this Form 8949 can be inaccurate if you transferred crypto into or out of the platform. Consider the following example. 

In this case, Bill should have a capital gain of $1,000. However, Coinbase does not have records of his original purchase because it took place on a different platform. If Bill hasn't kept records of his original purchase, he may be forced to recognize his entire $5,000 sale as a capital gain. 

If you find yourself in this situation, crypto tax software like CoinLedger can help. CoinLedger can automatically import your transactions across hundreds of wallets and exchanges and generate a complete crypto tax report in minutes. 

In conclusion 

If you’re a frequent crypto trader looking for zero fees, boosted interest rewards, and peace of mind when it comes to customer support, Coinbase One can be a great choice.