Fees · Reviewed Aug 19, 2026 · 7 min read
The Spread: How Zero-Commission Crypto Apps Get Paid
No commission does not mean no cost. The spread is where quote-driven apps make their money.
Reviewed by CryptoExID Editorial · Aug 19, 2026 · Editorial policy · how we make money
What the spread actually is
The spread is the gap between the best price to buy and the best price to sell at the same moment. On an order book exchange it is set by competing traders and on a liquid pair like BTC/USDT it is often a fraction of a basis point. On a quote-driven app, the company sets both prices itself, and the gap is whatever it decides to charge.
That second model is how "zero commission" works. Robinhood lists 0% commission on crypto. eToro charges no ticket fee either. Neither is running a charity. The cost moved from a visible fee line into the buy and sell prices you are quoted, where most users never look.
The numbers on quote-driven venues
On our dataset eToro takes roughly 1% per side through the spread. Revolut charges 0.99% and Uphold about 0.9%. Buy $1,000 of Bitcoin on eToro and roughly $10 disappears at the moment of purchase. Sell later and another $10 goes on the way out. A round trip costs about $20.
Compare that with an order book. A $1,000 taker order on Binance at 0.10% costs $1.00, plus a spread that on major pairs is usually pennies. Even Coinbase at 0.60% taker, the most expensive order book schedule we track, runs $6.00, still well under the quote-driven round trip.
Why the models diverge
An order book venue is a marketplace. Thousands of participants compete to offer the best bid and ask, and competition compresses the spread toward zero on liquid pairs. The exchange earns its money from the explicit fee, which it has to publish and defend.
A quote-driven app is a dealer. It buys from you at one price and sells to you at another, pocketing the difference. There is no competition inside the app, so the spread stays wherever the dealer sets it. Convenience is real, and so is the markup that pays for it.
Why people still use spread-based apps
Fairness requires saying it: these apps are genuinely easier. Card on file, two taps, no order types, no withdrawal addresses to get wrong. For a one-time $100 purchase, the difference between $1 and $2 of cost is not worth learning a trading interface for.
The math flips as size and frequency grow. Someone buying $500 of crypto every month on a 1% spread venue pays about $60 a year on entry alone. The same flow through a 0.10% order book venue costs $6. Over five years that gap compounds into real money.
How to see the spread before it hits you
The test is simple. Open the app and note the price to buy one unit, then the price to sell the same unit at the same moment. The percentage gap between them, divided by two, is roughly what one transaction costs you. On a fair order book pair the gap is near zero. On a 1% spread app it is glaring once you look.
We do not publish live spreads because they change second by second and any table we printed would mislead. We list the schedules venues themselves disclose, checked on the dataset date printed on each page, and we flag every venue where the spread is the primary revenue model.
FAQ
Is the spread a scam?
No, it is a business model. Dealers everywhere earn the spread, from currency booths to bond desks. The problem is not the spread itself but the "zero fee" framing that hides it from casual users.
How much does eToro really charge?
Roughly 1% per side through the spread on our dataset. There is no separate trading commission, so the spread is the whole trading cost. A $1,000 buy costs about $10 at execution.
Does Robinhood have a spread too?
Yes. Robinhood charges 0% commission and earns from the execution price instead. The effective cost is usually lower than eToro or Revolut, but it is not zero, and it is not published as a fixed number.
Do order book exchanges have spreads as well?
Yes, every market does. The difference is size. On liquid pairs at major order book venues the spread is typically a few hundredths of a percent, set by competition rather than by the house.
How do I compare a 1% spread with a 0.5% fee?
Add each venue's fee and its typical spread into one round-trip number. A 1% spread with no fee costs about 2% round trip. A 0.5% fee with a tight spread costs about 1%. The all-in figure is the only fair comparison.