International Crypto Exchange Fee Comparison 2026: Maker/Taker, Invitation Code Fee Discounts, VIP Thresholds and USDT Withdrawal Fees

For the same 10,000 USDT trade, a regular user pays anywhere from 0 to 20 USDT in fees depending on the exchange. This article puts the official fees of 14 international exchanges in one table: spot and futures maker and taker fees, the actual rates after an invitation code fee discount, VIP 1 thresholds, platform token discounts, and USDT withdrawal fees on each network.

The short version: on 8 October 2026, most exchanges charged regular users 0.1% on spot and 0.05% to 0.06% taker on USDT perpetual futures. The lowest spot fees were at Bitfinex and Ourbit (0%) and MEXC (0% maker, 0.05% taker); the highest were at XT.COM and HTX (0.2%). Fees are only part of the cost. Order book depth, past incidents and reserve transparency matter too, and How We Rate Exchanges explains how I score them.

This article is a compilation of information, not investment advice. Fees change; every figure in the tables was taken from the exchange’s official fee page or official API on the date shown, so check the exchange’s current page before you rely on it. This site does not give advice on futures or leverage trading; futures fees are listed only so readers can compare costs.

How exchange fees are calculated

Exchanges charge trading fees as a percentage of the trade value:

Fee = trade value × fee rate

For example, with a 0.1% spot taker fee, buying 1,000 USDT of BTC costs 1 USDT in fees.

Maker and taker

• Maker: your limit order does not fill immediately. It sits in the order book until someone else trades against it, adding depth to the market.
• Taker: your order fills against an existing order in the book, for example a market order, or a limit order priced so that it fills immediately.

At most exchanges the taker fee is higher than the maker fee. On spot the two are often the same (0.1%/0.1%); on futures the gap is wider, for example 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker. Most people buy and sell with market orders and pay the taker fee, so the comparison below focuses on taker fees.

Spot and futures are charged separately

Spot means buying and selling the coins themselves; futures are contracts on price movements. Each has its own fee schedule. “Futures” below means USDT-margined perpetual futures, which every exchange here offers and which are the easiest to compare.

Regular-user fees compared: 14 international exchanges

The table below shows each exchange’s official fees for regular users (VIP 0) and the official fee discount you get by signing up with this site’s invitation code, sorted from lowest to highest spot taker fee after the discount. Every row links to its official source; click the date to open it.

Data checked: 2026-10-08

A few things to note:

• MEXC futures fees vary by contract: the table shows 0%/0.02% for major contracts such as BTC/USDT; other contracts are commonly 0.01%/0.04%.
• KuCoin splits spot coins into classes A, B and C: the table shows class A; classes B and C are 2 times and 3 times that.
• Bybit’s invitation code gives a sign-up offer, not a fee discount, so its discounted rate is the same as the official rate.

How the invitation code fee discount is calculated

When you sign up with an invitation code, the exchange waives part of your fees under its official rules:

Actual rate = official rate × (1 − fee discount)

For example, with an official spot taker fee of 0.1% and a 20% fee discount, the actual rate is 0.1% × 0.8 = 0.08%.

Some exchanges give different discounts on spot and futures, for example “fee discount: futures 60%, spot 35%”. In that case, calculate futures and spot separately. Each exchange supplies its own discount figures, and this site syncs them every day. The table and the invitation code boxes in every article use the same data, so they never contradict each other.

Example: fees on 10,000 USDT of trading a month

Suppose you buy and sell a combined 10,000 USDT of spot each month with market orders, at an official taker fee of 0.1%:

The bigger your volume, the more the rate difference shows. If you only buy a little now and then and hold it, the exchanges differ by a few dozen USDT a year at most, and what you should compare is safety and how easy it is to move money in and out.

VIP thresholds and platform token discounts

Once your trading volume or assets reach a threshold, you move up to VIP and the fees drop further. Some exchanges also give a discount when you pay fees with their own platform token.

Sources are each exchange’s official fee page (8 October 2026), linked in the source column of the comparison table above. To use a platform token discount you must hold the token first, and its price moves, so factor that cost in yourself.

USDT withdrawal fees compared

When you move USDT off an exchange, the exchange charges a withdrawal fee, and it varies a lot by network. The table below shows USDT withdrawal fees on 7 commonly used networks, taken from each exchange’s public data (in USDT; a dash means not supported or not found):

Data checked: 2026-10-08

• BEP20 is the cheapest but not every exchange has it: BEP20 costs 0.01 USDT at Binance, Bitget, MEXC, HTX and Ourbit, but OKX and Bitfinex do not support BEP20.
• TRC20 is generally 1 to 1.5 USDT, and ERC20 ranges from under 0.1 to 5.5 USDT.
• OKX’s figures are minimum fees; the actual fee adjusts with network conditions.
• Pionex’s figures come from its app’s withdrawal page (screenshot of 8 October 2026). It also lists Plasma at 0.011 and Avalanche C-Chain at 0.081 USDT, which are not among the 7 networks in the table.
• Bybit, BingX and Gate are not in the table: we could not retrieve verifiable figures from their official withdrawal fee pages from our server.

Before any transfer, make sure the receiving side supports the same network. If you pick the wrong network, you may not get the funds back. If a deposit to an exchange gets stuck, see What to Do When a USDT Deposit Is Delayed.

Trading costs beyond fees: slippage

The fee is a fixed percentage of the trade value. Slippage is the gap between your average fill price and the price on screen when a large market order works its way through the order book. The thinner the order book, the larger the slippage:

• For small trades (a few hundred to a few thousand USDT) on major pairs, slippage is usually smaller than the fee, so comparing fees is enough.
• For large trades, slippage on an exchange with a shallow order book can outweigh the fees you save. Each exchange’s BTC and ETH order book depth is under “Volume and depth” in How We Rate Exchanges.
• To save on both fees and slippage, use a limit order: you pay the maker fee and choose your own fill price. The trade-off is that it may not fill.

A real example: selling 100,000 USDT into the bids for US dollars on Bitfinex gave an average fill slightly below the last price. The calculation is in Bitfinex USDT to USD.

How to check what you actually paid

Before you trade you look at the fee schedule; after you trade you check your trade history. At most exchanges, “Orders → Trade history” lists the fee and the fee currency for each trade. At exchanges where an invitation code gives you a fee discount, the discount is sometimes built into the rate and sometimes paid back to your funding account later (OKX, for example, returns the discounted amount to the funding account every day; see the OKX review), so check both places when you reconcile.

What to look at besides fees

Fees save you small amounts; when an exchange fails, you lose principal. When I choose an exchange, I weigh safety and reserves, past incidents and how they were handled, and order book depth above fees. The weights and scoring are in How We Rate Exchanges. Detailed write-ups on individual exchanges:

• OKX review: publishes a proof of reserves every month, and VIPs can have idle trading-account funds earn interest automatically.
• Bitfinex USDT to USD: what to watch for in the quote and slippage when converting, now that all Bitfinex trading fees are 0%.

Invitation codes by exchange

These are the international exchanges in the table that offer an invitation code. The fee discounts come from the same data as the comparison table above.

How the fee discount is calculated and how to check it applies is in What is a crypto exchange fee discount; what to look at besides fees when choosing an exchange is in How to choose a crypto exchange.

More exchange reviews and comparisons are on the crypto topic page.

FAQ

Which international exchange has the lowest spot trading fees?

In the official fee schedules of 8 October 2026, Bitfinex and Ourbit charge 0% maker and 0% taker on spot, and MEXC charges 0% maker and 0.05% taker. Most exchanges charge regular users 0.1% on spot; XT.COM and HTX charge 0.2%.

What is the difference between maker and taker?

A maker places an order that does not fill immediately, adding an order to the book. A taker fills against an existing order, for example with a market order. At most exchanges the taker fee is higher than the maker fee, and the gap is usually wider on futures than on spot.

How is an invitation code fee discount calculated?

Actual rate = official rate × (1 − fee discount). For example, an official taker fee of 0.1% with a 20% fee discount works out to 0.08%. When the spot and futures discounts differ, calculate them separately.

How much in assets or trading volume do I need for VIP 1?

It varies. OKX and Bybit require US$100,000 in assets or US$1 million in 30-day spot volume. Binance spot VIP 1 requires US$1 million in 30-day volume and holding 5 BNB. XT.COM and HTX have lower thresholds, but their regular-user fees are also higher.

Which network is cheapest for USDT withdrawals?

It depends on the exchange. BEP20 costs 0.01 USDT at Binance, Bitget, MEXC, HTX and Ourbit, but OKX and Bitfinex do not support BEP20. TRC20 is mostly 1 to 1.5 USDT. Before withdrawing, confirm that the receiving side supports the same network.