Kraken App Review 2026: Fees, Safety & Features Explained

Before you download this 5M+ install exchange app, you should check out the fees, security and stock + crypto trading features of the Kraken app review 2026.

When you’re considering where to purchase your initial Bitcoin (or 50th), you are often faced with one question: can you trust the app with your money? Kraken has been on the scene since 2011, and its mobile app has amassed over 5 million downloads and a 4.2-star rating on the Play Store with more than 53,000 reviews. This Kraken app review will dissect its fees, security track record, and offerings to help you determine whether it’s the ideal exchange for you.

What Is Kraken?

Kraken, one of the oldest online exchanges in the industry, was established in San Francisco in 2011 by Jesse Powell.Kraken is a crypto currency exchange that was founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell of San Francisco, and is older than Coinbase, Binance and most other platforms you will recognise. It’s known as Payward, Inc, and has evolved from a mere bitcoin exchange to a diverse-asset platform that provides:

1. Over 500 cryptocurrencies
2. Trade U.S. stocks and ETFs (11,000+ tickers) without paying a commission
3. A professional trading terminal (Kraken Pro)
4. A standalone crypto wallet and payments app
5. Positional trading and futures/margin trading for expert traders

Kraken operates in over 190 countries, including a few states in the US, namely New York, Washington, and Maine, and some countries are not permitted.

Kraken App Features

The mobile app is designed to be simple, not charting like, and does a decent job of covering the basics:

• Instant buy/sell: Indexing an asset, displaying the exact price before you buy, sell in just a few taps.
• Custom buy (dollar cost averaging) — make regular purchases at the same dollar levels, do not attempt timing the market.
• Send cryptocurrencies or cash to any Kraken user around the world in exchange for no fees — with a personal @kraktag instead of a wallet address.
• Kraken+ subscription ($4.99/month) — eliminates trading fees on up to $10,000 monthly and provides enhanced rewards (promised up to approximately 4%+APR) on the USDG stablecoin.
• Trade stocks and ETFs listed in the United States alongside your cryptocurrencies.Directly trade stocks and ETFs listed in the United States alongside cryptocurrencies.
• A support ticket integrated into the app that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Is Kraken Safe?

The question that most people search before downloading is ‘Yes, by industry standards.’ Kraken stores approximately 95% of users’ funds in multi-signature cold storage with multiple approvals before any funds can be withdrawn, and they are kept in air-gapped cold storage across multiple secure facilities. It is also one of the first exchanges to issue cryptographic Proof of Reserves to allow users to independently check that the balance is backed.

To the account-security end, Kraken offers two-factor authentication, physical FIDO2 security keys such as the YubiKey, and a Global Settings Lock that locks account changes for a time window — even if account details are ever breached. The exchange operates under various regulations, such as the MiCA license for the European Union and licenses in the UK, Canada, Cyprus and Argentina.

Kraken’s data safety disclosure on the Google Play Store says the app doesn’t share any user information with third parties and protects data transmitted via encryption, but it does keep location and personal information for identity verification purposes.

Unlike many exchanges, Kraken is a platform that has not lost any customer crypto to hack since its inception in 2011. Notably, the company did report a security event in 2024, which was related to the company’s treasury function, but customer money was not involved. Like any exchange, keep in mind that the holdings in crypto aren’t FDIC or SIPC insured like a bank deposit would be, while the stock-trading side of Kraken, as a company offered by Kraken Securities LLC, is FINRA/SIPC member-covered, but not covered for digital assets.

Kraken Fees Explained

Kraken effectively runs two fee structures depending on which app you use:

This is seen over and over in the Play Store reviews for the app: Instant Buy is indeed convenient, but is also a bit costly and when traders upgrade to Kraken Pro or the Kraken+ subscription, they pay significantly less over time.

Kraken Pros and Cons

Pros

• Not a single customer funds lost to hacks since inception more than 10 years ago.
• Independent and verifiable security (cold storage, Proof of Reserves)
• Extensive asset diversity – 500+ cryptocurrencies and 11,000+ United States equities/ETFs.
• No problem, there’s a feature for that!So there’s a function so that’s no problem!
• Kraken Pro offers competitive fees for active traders. Kraken Pro has competitive fees for traders who have active trading activity.

Cons

• The instant Buy charges are significantly higher than Kraken Pro charges.
• High volume users may be frustrated by weekly limits on the amount they can deposit to their accounts at the weekly level (typically reported as approximately $3,000 per week).
• It increases the learning curve for the beginning user when using a separate Basic and Pro app.

In some cases, not available to residents in New York, Washington and Maine, and prohibited in a few approved countries

Getting started with Kraken is very easy.

1. Use the Kraken application to register using an email address.
2. Full identity verification (Full KYC) – before a deposit or transaction is made.
3. Deposit funds using bank transfer/ACH or debit card, or deposit crypto.
4. Purchasing cryptocurrency instantly, establishing a Customized Buy and making your first stock trade.

However, if you are trading regularly, you may want to upgrade to Kraken Pro or subscribe to Kraken+ to reduce the fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kraken legit?

Yes. Kraken is a platform that has been around for since 2011, is regulated in many countries, including the EU under MiCA, and has never been hacked or compromised, with regular Proof of Reserves audits.

Does Kraken offer any sites in Pakistan?

For Pakistani users, Kraken’s crypto services are available for account creation and crypto trading, with some rails that transfer to and from Pakistani banks, as well as support for PKR, but most prefer to fund accounts with an international card or crypto deposits instead of a local bank transfer.

What is the reason for the higher than anticipated fees on Kraken?

These are the prices of Instant Buy, which will be visible to most new users, and comes with a built-in spread of about 1.5%–3%. For the regular trader, switching to Kraken Pro or Kraken+ significantly reduces the costs.

Are it possible to make trades with stocks on the same Kraken application as cryptocurrencies?

Yes. Commission-free US stock and ETF trading is added directly inside Kraken’s primary application, allowing for both asset types to be managed from a single portfolio view (US users only, not NY or ME).

Conclusion

While it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of other cryptocurrency exchanges, the most important thing about Kraken is its ability to have been making successful transactions without losing any funds for over ten years now, and more than that, its ability to prove it with Proof of Reserves and serious account-security tools.

The downside is that while it’s easy to use Instant Buy is more expensive than the Pro option, and some minor aspects of its functionality get in the way for active traders — such as the ACH limits — early on. If you’re looking for a secure exchange where you can now trade stocks in addition to crypto, Kraken is one of the safest platforms to trade from — but be sure to upgrade to Kraken Pro or Kraken+ when you start trading beyond the occasional small buy.