Crypto Exchange Fees and Spreads Explained (Australia)
The headline fee an exchange advertises is rarely what you actually pay. Between maker/taker fees, spreads, deposit methods and network costs, the real number can be several times higher — or, if you know what you’re doing, close to zero. Here’s how it all works. For a like-for-like view of where the market sits, see our Australian Crypto Exchange Fee Index, which averages the trading fee across every exchange we review.
Maker vs taker fees
On the trading (or “pro”) screen, exchanges charge based on how your order interacts with the market:
- A maker order adds liquidity — a limit order that sits on the order book waiting to be filled
- A taker order removes liquidity — it fills immediately against existing orders
Takers usually pay slightly more than makers. On Australian exchanges these fees are low — for example around 0.1% on CoinSpot’s market orders, or roughly 0.6% on Swyftx (tapering toward 0.1% at very high volume). You can compare them across every exchange on our lowest-fee ranking.
The spread — the cost most people miss
The spread is the gap between the buy price and the sell price, and it’s where the real cost of convenience hides. The “instant buy” button bakes most of your cost into the spread, on top of any headline fee.
A worked example: CoinSpot’s instant buy is around a 1% fee plus a ~1–2% spread — roughly 2–3% all-in — whereas its market order is about 0.1%. Same exchange, very different cost. Using the market/“pro” order screen instead of instant-buy is the single biggest fee saving on most Australian platforms.
Deposit fees
How you fund your account matters:
- PayID / Osko / bank transfer — usually free on the major AU exchanges
- POLi / BPAY — often around 0.9%
- Debit / credit card — typically 1.5–2% or more
- Cash — the most expensive, sometimes ~2.5%
Free PayID or bank transfer is almost always the cheapest on-ramp.
Withdrawal and network fees
- AUD bank withdrawals are typically free on major Australian exchanges
- Crypto withdrawals incur a network (blockchain) fee — paid to the network, not the exchange — which varies with the coin and congestion. It’s cheap on networks like Solana or Ethereum layer-2s, and can be expensive on Ethereum mainnet at busy times. Better exchanges pass this through at cost; some add a markup.
Network fees are unavoidable for any on-chain movement, but you can minimise them by choosing cheaper networks where you have the option.
Typical all-in ranges
- Instant-buy / beginner “convenience” products: ~1–3% all-in (fee + spread)
- Market / pro trading: ~0.1–0.6%
How to pay less
Put simply: use market or limit orders instead of instant-buy, fund with free PayID or bank transfer, make fewer and larger trades rather than many small ones, withdraw crypto on cheaper networks, and — most importantly — compare the spread, not just the advertised fee, when you weigh up exchanges. When you’re ready, our exchange reviews and comparison tool break the fees down side by side.
General information only — not financial advice. Fees change often; always check an exchange’s live fee schedule before trading.
General information only — not financial or tax advice. Verified 2026-07-31; details can change.