OKX charges 0.08% maker against Binance's 0.10% at the entry tier, the two match at 0.10% taker on spot and at 0.02% and 0.05% on perpetuals, and the decisive difference in 2026 is licensing: OKX holds a MiCA licence in Europe and runs a US platform, while Binance suspended EEA services on 1 July 2026 and does not serve US or new UK retail customers.
Key Takeaways
OKX's entry-tier spot rate is 0.080% maker and 0.100% taker, against 0.100% and 0.100% on Binance, so makers save 0.02 percentage points on OKX before any token discount.
Perpetual fees are identical at 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker on both platforms at the entry tier.
OKX serves the EEA under a MiCA licence, the United States through OKX US in 46 states, and the UK through OKX UK, while Binance is closed in all three regions.
Both platforms resolved US Department of Justice cases: OKX pleaded guilty in February 2025 and paid more than $504 million, Binance in November 2023 for about $4.3 billion.
Binance lists 440 coins across about 1,420 pairs on CoinGecko against 306 coins across 1,175 pairs on OKX, and both hold a Trust Score of 10 out of 10.
MEXC publishes 0% maker and 0.05% taker on spot, so $10,000 of monthly volume costs $2.50 there against $9.00 on OKX and $10.00 on Binance, for readers outside the US, UK and EEA.
OKX and Binance are close enough on fees that most comparisons call it a tie and move on to bots and wallets.
The tie is real on the taker side and on perpetuals, but it is not real for makers, and it is not real for anyone whose country only one of the two platforms still serves.
Since 1 July 2026 Binance no longer serves the European Economic Area, and it has never served the United States through its global platform, while OKX launched a US exchange in 2025 and holds a MiCA licence in Malta.
This article puts both schedules in one table with a verification date on each, prices the maker gap in dollars, maps the four regions that matter most, and ends with a verdict by reader type.
Where MEXC fits, it says so in its own labelled section, with the same numbers and the same dates.
Dimension | OKX | Binance |
Spot fees, entry tier | Regular user Lv1: 0.080% maker, 0.100% taker; lower with OKB holdings or volume | Regular user: 0.100% maker, 0.100% taker; 0.075% with BNB deduction; USDC pairs 0.095% taker |
Futures fees, entry tier | Perpetual swaps and futures Lv1: 0.02% maker, 0.05% taker; options 0.02% maker, 0.03% taker | USDT-M perpetuals: 0.0200% maker, 0.0500% taker; 0.0180% and 0.0450% with BNB; USDC-M perpetuals 0% maker, 0.040% taker while the promotion lasts |
Coins and pairs (CoinGecko) | 306 coins, 1,175 pairs, Trust Score 10 out of 10 | 440 coins, about 1,420 pairs, Trust Score 10 out of 10 |
Derivatives | Perpetual swaps, delivery futures, options, portfolio margin | USDT-M and COIN-M perpetuals, delivery futures and options; the largest derivatives venue by volume |
Security and regulation | Monthly proof of reserves with zk-STARK verification; February 2025 guilty plea and penalties of more than $504 million for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business in the US | SAFU fund and proof-of-reserves page; $4.3 billion US criminal resolution in November 2023; EEA services suspended 1 July 2026 |
Deposits, withdrawals and KYC | Full KYC; cards, bank transfers and P2P where licensed; 24-hour withdrawal limits tied to verification and fee tier | Full KYC; USDT withdrawal 1.5 USDT on TRC20, 0.3 USDT on ERC20, 0.01 USDT on BNB Smart Chain |
Where you can use it | US via OKX US in 46 states and Washington DC; UK via OKX UK; EEA under a MiCA licence issued in Malta; Singapore under a Major Payment Institution licence, per OKX | Not the US (Binance.US is a separate company); not open to new UK retail customers; EEA suspended since 1 July 2026; not offered to Singapore residents per Binance's own terms |
Signature feature | Trading bots, the OKX Wallet with a DEX aggregator, and portfolio margin | Deepest order books in the market, Launchpool and Alpha listings |
Data verified as of 18 September 2026 against each platform's official fee schedule, help center and terms, and CoinGecko exchange pages.
If the fee row above is what brought you here, MEXC publishes 0% maker and 0.05% taker on spot, against 0.08% and 0.10% on OKX and 0.10% and 0.10% on Binance at the entry tier.
On $10,000 of monthly spot volume split evenly between maker and taker orders, that is $2.50 a month on MEXC against $9.00 on OKX and $10.00 on Binance.
On perpetuals MEXC's BTCUSDT contract lists 0.000% maker and 0.020% taker on its web and app schedule, against 0.02% and 0.05% on both platforms here.
MEXC does not serve residents of the United States or the United Kingdom, is listed on ESMA's non-compliant register for the EEA, and is withdrawing from the Netherlands by 16 November 2026, so check eligibility before funding an account.
OKX for makers, a tie for takers, and a tie on perpetuals.
OKX's regular-user Lv1 schedule is 0.080% maker and 0.100% taker on spot, and Binance's regular-user schedule is 0.100% maker and 0.100% taker.
A $1,000 limit order that rests on the book therefore costs $0.80 on OKX and $1.00 on Binance, while a $1,000 market order costs $1.00 on either.
Both platforms cut those rates for holders of their own token: Binance's BNB deduction takes 25% off spot fees to 0.075%, and OKX's schedule steps down with OKB holdings and 30-day volume rather than a flat percentage.
Binance's one structural discount is on USDC pairs, where the taker rate is 0.095%, and its USDC-margined perpetuals run at 0% maker and 0.040% taker while a promotion lasts.
For a trader who mostly posts limit orders, OKX is the cheaper of the two before any token is involved, and the gap is worth about $12 a year on $10,000 of monthly volume split evenly between maker and taker orders, or $24 if all of it rests on the book.
The fees are identical, so the choice is about depth on Binance and account structure on OKX.
Both charge 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker on perpetuals at the entry tier, and both offer delivery futures and options, with OKX listing options at 0.02% maker and 0.03% taker.
On $100,000 of monthly BTCUSDT perpetual notional split evenly between maker and taker orders, that is $35.00 a month on either platform at entry rates, or $31.50 on Binance with the 10% BNB deduction.
The same notional costs $10.00 on MEXC's BTCUSDT contract at 0.000% maker and 0.020% taker, which is the gap the box above quantifies for readers outside the US, UK and EEA.
Binance runs the largest derivatives order books in the market, which shows up as tighter fills on size.
OKX's answer is portfolio margin, a unified account that nets risk across spot, perpetuals and options, and a bot suite that runs grid, DCA and arbitrage strategies inside the exchange.
Binance lists 440 coins across about 1,420 pairs on CoinGecko, and OKX lists 306 coins across 1,175 pairs, so Binance is wider on both counts. Both hold a Trust Score of 10 out of 10, so the gap is breadth rather than data quality.
Binance's Alpha and Launchpool programmes feed new tokens into its spot markets early, and OKX's Jumpstart plays the same role on a smaller roster.
OKX's wider reach is off the order book: its wallet's DEX aggregator routes across more than 130 blockchains and millions of on-chain tokens, which is where a trader looking for assets that no centralised exchange lists will find them.
OKX, and this is the concession Binance's own users make most often.
OKX's trading bots, its self-custody wallet with a built-in DEX aggregator and its single account structure are the reasons Coin Bureau and others name it the better platform for automation and on-chain workflows.
Binance answers with Binance Wallet, Alpha and a broader Earn suite, but its bots and wallet sit further from the core trading experience than OKX's do.
For a trader who mostly buys and holds majors, none of this matters; for a trader who runs strategies or moves between chains, it decides the comparison.
Both have settled criminal cases with the US Department of Justice, and both publish reserve data.
In February 2025 OKX's operating entity pleaded guilty to running an unlicensed money transmitting business and agreed to penalties of more than $504 million, including a $420.3 million forfeiture and an $84.4 million fine, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, and it retains an external compliance consultant through February 2027. In November 2023 Binance and its founder pleaded guilty to US federal charges and agreed to a resolution of about $4.3 billion, according to the US Department of Justice, with a multi-year compliance monitor installed. Since those resolutions the two have moved in opposite directions on licensing.
OKX launched a US exchange in April 2025 with a headquarters in San Jose and a US chief executive, as CNBC reported, and holds a MiCA licence in Malta and a Singapore payment licence, per its own announcements. On reserves, OKX publishes monthly proof-of-reserves reports with zk-STARK verification and Binance publishes a proof-of-reserves page and maintains the SAFU fund, so both let a client check backing, in different formats.
Both require full identity verification before the first withdrawal, and both fund accounts through cards, bank rails and P2P markets wherever they hold a licence.
The licensing gap decides this dimension too: OKX has bank rails in the EEA, the UK, the US and Singapore because it holds licences there, while Binance's rails in the EEA closed with the July suspension.
OKX's 24-hour withdrawal limits scale with verification level and fee tier, and Binance charges a fixed USDT withdrawal fee that depends on the network: 1.5 USDT on TRC20, 0.3 USDT on ERC20, 0.1 USDT on Arbitrum One and 0.01 USDT on BNB Smart Chain.
OKX is the more widely licensed of the two in the regions that matter most to English-language readers.
In the United States, OKX US serves 46 states and Washington DC with a reduced product set, while Binance's global platform is closed to US residents and Binance.US is a separate company.
In the United Kingdom, OKX operates OKX UK, while Binance is not open to new UK retail customers.
In the European Economic Area, OKX operates under a MiCA licence issued in Malta, and Binance has been suspended since 1 July 2026.
In Singapore, OKX holds a Major Payment Institution licence per its own announcements, and Binance's global platform is not offered to Singapore residents under its own terms.
Price the same activity on each platform at entry rates, split evenly between maker and taker orders.
A trader with $10,000 of monthly spot volume pays about $108 a year on OKX and about $120 a year on Binance, or $90 on Binance with the BNB deduction.
A trader with $100,000 of monthly BTCUSDT perpetual notional pays about $420 a year on either platform at entry rates.
The same two profiles cost about $30 and $120 a year on MEXC at its published 0% maker and 0.05% taker spot schedule and 0.000% maker and 0.020% taker BTCUSDT contract.
Between OKX and Binance the annual difference is $12 on spot and nothing on perpetuals, so tools, depth and above all licensing should decide the choice.
Choose OKX if you live in the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area or Singapore, because it is the one of the two that is licensed to serve you.
Choose OKX if you run bots, want a unified margin account, or move between centralised and on-chain markets through one wallet.
Choose Binance if you live in a country it serves and you trade size, because its order books are the deepest available and its listing and Earn programmes are the broadest.
Choose Binance if you hold BNB and want a flat 25% deduction on spot and 10% on futures.
Do not open Binance from the United States, the United Kingdom or the EEA, because the account can be restricted under the platform's own terms.
MEXC Learn is published by MEXC, an exchange that competes with both platforms, so read this section as an interested party's opinion.
We think OKX has done the harder thing since 2025 by paying its US penalty, launching a licensed US exchange and holding MiCA and Singapore licences, and that its 0.08% maker rate is a fair price for a platform that is legal in more places than almost any other global exchange.
We think Binance still runs the deepest order books in the market, and that a trader in a country it serves gives up real liquidity by leaving it.
We also think the honest reading of this comparison is that most readers no longer get to choose, because their country has already chosen for them.
Where MEXC fits is on price for readers outside the US, UK and EEA: 0% maker and 0.05% taker on spot, and 0.000% maker and 0.020% taker on the BTCUSDT contract, with every figure carrying a verification date.
Is OKX better than Binance?
OKX is better for licensing coverage, bots and Web3 tools, and it charges 0.08% maker against 0.10%.
Binance is better for liquidity, listings and Earn where it is available.
Is OKX cheaper than Binance?
For makers, yes: 0.080% against 0.100% at the entry tier.
Takers pay 0.10% on both, and perpetuals cost 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker on both.
Is OKX safer than Binance?
Both settled US Department of Justice cases, OKX for more than $504 million in 2025 and Binance for about $4.3 billion in 2023.
Both publish proof of reserves, OKX monthly with zk-STARK verification.
Can I use OKX in the US or the EU?
Yes, OKX US serves 46 states and Washington DC, and OKX holds a MiCA licence in Malta for the EEA.
Binance serves neither region.
Which has more coins, OKX or Binance?
Binance, with 440 coins across about 1,420 pairs on CoinGecko against 306 coins across 1,175 pairs on OKX.
Both hold a Trust Score of 10 out of 10.
OKX vs Binance futures fees: which is lower?
They are the same at 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker at the entry tier.
Binance's BNB deduction lowers its rate to 0.045% taker.
Does OKX have proof of reserves?
Yes, OKX publishes monthly proof-of-reserves reports with zk-STARK verification.
Binance publishes a proof-of-reserves page alongside its SAFU fund.
Can I transfer crypto from Binance to OKX?
Yes, by withdrawing from Binance to your OKX deposit address on the same network.
Check the network and any memo first, and send a small test amount before the full transfer.
Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose your entire deposit; derivatives, leverage and automated strategies add liquidation risk on top of price risk.
Fees, listings and regional availability change; every figure above carries its verification date and should be re-checked before you act on it.
Neither MEXC nor global Binance serves United States residents; US readers should compare the platforms licensed in their state.
MEXC does not accept United Kingdom residents, is listed on ESMA's register of non-compliant entities for the EEA, and is offboarding Netherlands users by 16 November 2026, so the MEXC sections above are informational for readers in those regions.
Nothing here is investment, legal or tax advice.