If you’re investing in cryptocurrencies, one of the most important things you can do is find a good tool or service that helps you stay on top of your tax obligations. Without one, you could end up paying more than you need to – or not filing at all.
And when you’re managing a portfolio as volatile as cryptocurrencies can be, that’s something that could not only hurt your bottom line but also leave you open to trouble with the IRS.
Luckily, there are several crypto tax reporting software out there that can help you stay tax compliant easily. And if you’ve been in the game for a while, you’re probably familiar with Koinly and CoinTracker.
These two apps are the most popular options on the market for managing your portfolio across multiple exchanges and wallets. Both are easy to use and offer a way to track all your investment history in one place, as well as generate tax reports that you can submit to the IRS or your accountant.
But which one is better?
In this article, we’ll compare the two platforms side-by-side and discuss their pros and cons to help you decide which one is best for your needs.
Koinly vs CoinTracker: Introduction
What is Koinly?
Founded in 2018, Koinly is a software solution that has been helping accountants and crypto and NFT investors around the world deal with the increasingly complicated process of filing taxes. It currently has 9,200 users in more than 20 countries.
Koinly’s goal is to simplify the tax process by doing all the calculations for you. You just have to upload your portfolio and within 20 minutes you’ll have a filled-in tax report with all the information you need.
That includes your capital gains and losses, which deductions you can claim, and how much tax you need to pay.
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What is CoinTracker?
CoinTracker is a crypto portfolio and tax manager that helps you stay on top of your investments. However, unlike Koinly, it’s been around since 2017, and it’s used by over one million people who are tracking over $20 billion in cryptocurrency.
CoinTracker is also a portfolio assistant, so you can link your crypto assets to its platform and track all your transactions for each coin in one place.
When you need to file your taxes, the app automatically imports your history into its reporting tool and lets you check your profit per coin and calculate how much money you owe. It also shows you the exchange rate between your local currency and cryptocurrency.
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Koinly vs CoinTracker: Sign Up
Koinly
Koinly’s sign-up process is pretty easy, and you can be up and running in less than a minute.
To create an account:
- Navigate to Koinly.io
- Click on“Sign up” in the top right corner of your screen.
- Next, you can either fill out the form on Koinly’s website with your name, email address, and password (and hit “Create an account”) or sign up through your Coinbase or Google account.
- You’ll then be redirected to a page where you have to choose your base currency and country of residence.
- After that, you’ll have to add your wallets, blockchains, or exchanges to the platform.
- Once you’re done, you can log in and start monitoring your investments and generating tax reports.
CoinTracker
Getting started with CoinTracker is as fast and easy as signing up for Koinly.
To create an account:
- Navigate to Cointracker.io
- Click on the “Try it free” blue button in the top right corner.
- Fill out the form with your information or sign up with your Google, Coinbase, or Apple account.
- Next, you’ll need to enter a code and confirm your email address by clicking on a link that they send you.
- After that, you’ll be taken directly to your dashboard. Once it loads, you’ll be able to start uploading your portfolio!
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Koinly vs CoinTracker: Dashboard
Koinly
Koinly’s dashboard has just the right amount of information and a very simple and minimalist design that makes it easy to understand where everything is located.
On the left side of the screen, you’ll see a white box with all kinds of values – the total value of your portfolio, your cost basis (the price at which you bought each investment), and unrealized gains.
On the right is a calendar that shows all of your transactions, so you can easily track how much you’ve made or lost on any given day. If you click on one of the transactions, you’ll be taken to a breakdown of all the fees and details associated with each transaction.
Right below, there’s even a summary of your holdings. Everything you need to see is right there in front of you, so no need to switch between pages or tabs.
CoinTracker
CoinTracker’s dashboard is also a fully responsive, single-page website that’s really easy to navigate.
You can view your portfolio in real-time and analyze your performance over time. By default, it shows the value of your cryptos in USD, but you can also see them in Bitcoin or Ethereum (ETH).
The top right corner of the dashboard shows you the current balance of your CoinTracker account, as well as how much money you have to pay in taxes. Below, you’ll see another box with all your transactions, assets, and holdings.
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Koinly vs CoinTracker: User Interface and Ease of Use
Koinly
Koinly’s interface is very simple and intuitive. It doesn’t take much time for users to get used to it.
It’s divided into five sections: Dashboard, Wallets, Transactions, Tax Reports, and Settings. Each tab has its own icon on the main screen menu bar at the top of the screen, so it’s easy to switch between them.
The Wallet page lists all of your wallets and lets you add new ones with just a few clicks. On “Transactions”, you’ll find all your recent transactions including the date and the amount received or spent.
All of these are very easy to read and understand without needing any technical knowledge. There are also filters that allow you to narrow down results based on whether they were received or sent from another wallet address or had fees attached, such as when you send funds out of an exchange account.
The Tax Report section breaks down your income by category and shows you how much tax was paid on each transaction. Finally, you’ll be able to change your password and email address as well as enable two-step authentication for increased security from the Settings page.
CoinTracker
CoinTracker’s user interface has a minimalistic design and a simple navigation bar on the top of the screen that you can use to switch between different sections of the platform.
Like Koinly, it has a page called “Wallets” that contains various tools that allow you to analyze your investments in greater detail.
There are also two more tools available: “Portfolio” and “Taxes”.
If you access the Portfolio section, you’ll be able to get an overview of how much your assets have grown or decreased in value over time periods ranging from one year all the way up until ten years. You can also filter for more detailed information about each investment.
However, while this page is easy to navigate and full of useful information for crypto investors, there are a few things that might confuse you if you’re new to the game.
This Portfolio section works like an online portfolio assistant, so you won’t only be able to check your asset’s performance, but there are also many features aimed at helping you get useful insights about your investments and help you make smarter decisions.
For example, there’s a big pie chart that shows you how your portfolio is divided among various currencies and assets. And underneath the pie chart, you’ll find two smaller charts showing the performance of your top 10 cryptocurrencies in a week-by-market cap and year-to-date (YTD) basis.
Finally, the Taxes page is where you can get all of the information that you need to file your taxes. The platform will automatically calculate everything for you, and once you’re done, you’ll be able to download a fully-compliant crypto tax report in just one click.
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Koinly vs CoinTracker: Tax Report Software
Koinly
Koinly offers excellent crypto tax reporting software. You can start using the tool once you create an account and import your trades from different exchanges, wallets, or any other service that supports exporting transactions to CSV files.
After importing your trades for the past year, it will ask you to enter some information about yourself. It will then determine which gains and losses are taxable according to your local laws in less than 10 minutes.
Once it’s ready, you’ll be able to download your report as a PDF file, which is great if you need to share it with your accountant.
The reports are nicely designed and they include all the information you need for filing taxes: how much profit or loss did you make on each trade, how much were your expenses (such as exchange fees), how much was gained or lost due to fluctuations in cryptocurrency prices during the period covered by each report, and more.
The customization options are also amazing: you can create reports that include data from all transactions, specific dates, or even specific exchanges.
CoinTracker
CoinTracker’s tax report software is more fairly straightforward than Koinly’s.
You just have to log in with your email address and password (or connect your crypto exchange accounts), then add your tax information by entering your wallet addresses and transactions into the fields provided on the page.
From there, all of your transaction histories will be automatically imported into the program and layout out in a beautiful report you can review. The reports are also easy to download and they give you all the information you need to file your taxes correctly.
It shows all your trades from exchanges, including how much you spent on fees, which can be helpful when calculating your overall gains or losses and the money you’ll have to pay.
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Koinly vs CoinTracker: Mobile Application
Koinly
Koinly has a mobile app compatible with both Android and iOS devices, but it’s still a beta version so there are some issues with it.
In fact, many users have reported having problems accessing the app or using it properly.
CoinTracker
Unlike Koinly, CoinTracker has a fully-functioning mobile app, so you can track your investments on the go.
It’s available both in the Google Play Store and Apple Store, and it’s really simple to use, with a clean interface that allows you to quickly view your current holdings and value changes over time.
You can also add transactions manually if you want to keep an eye on specific purchases or transfers, which makes it easy to track how much money you’re spending on cryptocurrency.
Koinly vs CoinTracker: Customer Support
Koinly
Koinly has a great customer support team, who are always responsive to your questions and concerns.
If you need help, you can reach out to them directly by using the chatbot window in the bottom left corner of your dashboard, and they’re very prompt to respond – usually within a day.
They also offer quick links to their “Getting Started” documentation right from the live chat box. And if you have more a complex request, you can always email them (you’ll find their email address on the Contact page)
CoinTracker
Unlike Koinly, CoinTracker doesn’t offer any live chat options.
If you need help with a specific transaction, or if you’re experiencing any issues accessing your account, you can ask them for help by filling out their Contact Form. They will get back to you within 24-48 hours.
But if what you need is a general overview of the platform’s features, you can contact them through Twitter. They usually reply faster over there.
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Koinly vs CoinTracker: Third-party integrations
Koinly
Koinly provides more than 6,500 integrations with a wide range of exchanges, wallets, blockchains, and NFT services.
These include:
- Coinbase
- Binance
- Kraken
- IDEX
- Gate.io
- Cosmostation
- KeepKey Wallet
- Electrum
- Exodus
- Trezor
- Binance Chain (BNB)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Ripple (XRP)
- Moonriver (MOVR)
- AQRU
- Compound Finance
- Lending Block
- And more
CoinTracker
CoinTracker doesn’t have as many integrations with blockchains and NFT services as Koinly, but it offers 300+ exchanges to import your crypto portfolio from.
These include:
- CoinSpot
- Binance
- Coinjar
- FTX
- Cryptagon
- Coinbase
- IDEX
- Gemini
- HitBTC
- Liquid
- KuCoin
- Uphold
- ShakePay
- Cash App
- YoBit
- Poloniex
- Zebpay
- And more
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Koinly vs CoinTracker: Pricing
Koinly
Koinly’s free plan is great for people who just want software to manage and track their crypto portfolio. However, if you want to use it to file your taxes, you’ll need to upgrade to one of its three paid plans – Newbie, Holder, and Trader.
The Newbie plan costs $49/per tax year. You can use it for 100 transactions (which is less than the 10,000 limit of the free version) but comes with full access to all the reporting tools of the platform, such as integration with TurboTax and TaxACT software, form 8949, and audit reports.
The Holder subscription costs $99 per year, and offers the same range of features but allows 1,000 transactions.
Finally, the Trader option is priced at $179/per tax year and provides email support and a limit of 10,000 transactions.
These prices may vary, so check Koinly’s website for the latest rates.
CoinTracker
Like Koinly, CoinTracker also offers a limited free version.
However, the limitation is not on the number of transactions you can make, but on the number of wallets you can use. In this free plan, you can import data from up to five wallets.
If you want to upgrade, you can choose from three plans: Enthusiast ($14/month, up to 30 wallets), Pro ($99/month, up to 100 wallets), and Custom, which is priced individually according to your needs and allows up to 1,000 wallets.
These prices are also subject to changes, so check CoinTracker’s website for updates.
Koinly vs CoinTracker: Help Center
Koinly
Koinly has a lot of documentation and resources, including FAQs and tutorials.
The articles cover everything from getting started managing your portfolio, to how to import data or tag your assets for generating tax reports. The tutorials are helpful if you’re new to the software, but they also have some advanced tips and tricks if you’ve been using Koinly for a while.
You can use the search bar to look up a specific issue or browse by category/topic. They even have an active community forum where users can discuss everything, from usage questions to suggestions for new features.
CoinTracker
CoinTracker’s help center, while not as extensive as Koinly’s, contains tons of resources, guides, and articles that can help you if you have any doubts or problems. Plus, it’s structured in an intuitive manner and will allow you to find what you need quickly and easily.
It offers thorough step-by-step guides on how to use the software to its full potential, a FAQ section with a variety of questions and answers, and a blog for more information on how they can help you with your tax reports.
It also has a section for veteran users who want to learn about more advanced options such as tax reporting, customizing the dashboard, and adding advanced charts.
Koinly vs Cointracker: Pros & Cons
Koinly
Pros
- It lets you generate tax reports for more than 20 countries.
- It has a free plan.
- It supports more than 6,000 cryptocurrencies and 350+ exchanges and wallets.
- It has an easy-to-use interface.
- The process of generating tax reports is intuitive and simple.
- It offers annual pricing plans, making it less of an expense to you.
Cons
- You can’t get tax forms with a free plan.
- The cost will vary depending on your transaction volume.
CoinTracker
Pros
- It lets you import more than 10,000 different currencies.
- It also allows you to track and manage NFTs.
- It offers a free tier.
- It lets you see updates and synchronizations with major exchanges in real time.
- It has a functional mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.
- It allows you to choose from a variety of methods for preparing your tax returns, including Adjusted Cost Base (ACB), First In First Out (FIFO), and Last In First Out (LIFO).
- The process of creating tax reports is simple and straightforward.
- It’s compatible with many tax regulations, including the US tax laws, the German Income Tax Act, Capital Gains, and Form 8949, Schedule D.
Cons
- Its free plan is limited, and you can’t use it to generate tax reports.
- It’s expensive if you have a large crypto portfolio and need to pay taxes on your trades.
- It offers many tools to manage your portfolio and gain insights, but many of them can be overwhelming for crypto newbies.
Similarities & Differences
| Koinly | CoinTracker | |
| Free Version | ✔ | ✔ |
| Tax Reporting Software | ✔ | ✔ |
| Intuitive Dashboard | ✔ | ✔ |
| Customer Support | ✔ | ✔ |
| Help Center | ✔ | ✔ |
| Portfolio Assistant | ✔ | |
| Mobile Application | ✔ Beta version | ✔ |
| Third-party Integrations | ✔ | ✔ |
Verdict: Koinly vs CoinTracker – Which is Better?
Koinly and CoinTracker are both powerful cryptocurrency portfolio management tools that allow you to import your transactions from exchanges, wallets, and other sources, get alerts on your trades, check the value of your coins over time, and generate law-compliant tax reports.
However, CoinTracker is a much better option than Koinly for a few reasons.
First, CoinTracker has a much more robust interface and a ton of features that will make your life easier when it comes to tracking your investments. It has more options for sorting and filtering your portfolio and provides you with valuable insights into your asset’s performance.
Second, it has a mobile app compatible with both Android and iOS devices that enables you to manage your investments on the go, which is helpful due to the volatility of the crypto market.
Finally, it’s much easier to use than Koinly. The process of generating a tax report is straightforward and supports all major tax files, so you can focus on your investments instead of having to worry about inputting data or fixing errors.
