Coinbase Vs Coinbase Pro – Crypto Exchanges Difference

Cryptocurrency is becoming more and more popular every day. Lots of people are learning about it and it’s on the way to one day being a household name. Some of you have probably acted as if you knew what cryptocurrency was when you were talking to your friend who knows all about it, but all of us have been in that situation in some point in our lives.

Don’t feel bad, just sit back and relax as you learn about 2 important elements of cryptocurrency. There are many elements involved with cryptocurrency, but let’s focus on Coinbase and Coinbase Pro. These terms might just sound like the free version and full version of a phone app, but hopefully, you’ll have a good understanding of what these 2 things are and how they differ by the end of this discussion. Let’s get started.

What Is Coinbase?

Coinbase (From the site of Coinbase) is the easiest and most trusted place to buy, sell, and manage your digital currency.

A great thing about Coinbase is the easy and simple signup process. You signup for free with your email, name, choose a password and you’re in. You can then link your bank to start buying and selling online.

The site provides plenty of information about their numbers, features, and practices so there is no sketchy kind of worry for those of you who are skeptical when it comes to these sort of things.

Easy To Use

The regular Coinbase that is being discussed is the one that is easy to use. We all like to learn new things, figure stuff out, and feel great when we accomplish a complicated task, but a lot of us like things that are easy to use and easy to look at. This is exactly what the regular Coinbase is. It’s for those of you who would rather buy and sell cryptocurrency without all the extra stuff. There will be no graphs, numbers that look like the matrix, nothing that requires you to learn a lot. There is also a mobile app and I know for a fact that some of you are already downloading it right now.


You are limited with the regular version of Coinbase when it comes to exchanging the cryptocurrency. You cannot exchange it for whatever currency you want. You can only exchange it for the currency you come from. This isn’t the worst thing, but it’s one of those perks that could end up being bad to have. This is one less negative if this isn’t something that concerns you.


An important thing to know is that the simplicity does cost. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Higher fees are charged because of how simple it is to use the platform. This is something that is a minor negative when compared to some of the other things involving digital currency as a whole, but it is also expected. There are cars that drive themselves, but they cost a lot more than a lot of the ones that you drive yourself. If possible, try to think about the time and effort you would be saving by paying higher fees instead of getting too caught up into the money side of things.

What is Coinbase Pro (formerly GDAX)

Coinbase pro is obviously the better version of Coinbase. Let’s look at the actual differences between the 2 though. First, Coinbase and Coinbase Pro are 2 different things, but they share some of the same elements. Coinbase pro is still free and easy to signup for though. Now off to the differences we go.

A Little Harder To Use

The difficulty of Coinbase Pro depends on the user. You might not have much to worry about if you are the type of person to be a bit overwhelmed in the beginning stage of learning something, but then you can adjust within hours or days. If you get frustrated with things of this nature easily, don’t have time, or just can’t go this route for whatever reason then it would be better for you to get the regular version.


You are not limited with the pro version of coinbase when it comes to exchanging your cryptocurrency. USD, EUR, and GPB are all available to you with the pro version. Once again, this isn’t the most important factor, but it is one thing that should be considered somewhat.


The harder time using this platform does come with lower fees though. Coinbase pro does not include debit/credit card buys so you will have to keep that in mind.

Similarities Between Coinbase and Coinbase Pro

Coinbase and Coinbase Pro share the same level of security and speed. The security is good, but it might not be something you want to do long-term with bigger amounts of cryptocurrency. There are better options out there for storing your cryptocurrency, but this something you will need to determine is or is not important to you.

The money within your Coinbase or Coinbase Pro will be able to move around fast, but not when it comes to making withdrawals and the time it takes for bank account transfers. You can’t escape this, but it is a normal part of many of the other things we do in life that involve withdrawals and transfers.

Summary – Coinbase VS Coinbase PRO

There are quite a few things to consider when deciding whether to use Coinbase or Coinbase Pro. You could even start out with the regular version then switch to the pro version. The opposite of that could possibly benefit you as well. It would be very nice to download all of the information about this topic onto a USB then stick the USB in your head and move the files into your brain, but that’s not the case, unfortunately.

Visit the Coinbase site and continue your research. You should be able to figure out what direction you want to head in after looking at things like speed, security, fees, ease of use, trading details, data availability, buying & selling, and more.

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