Koinly vs Quaderno
Side-by-side comparison — pricing, features, ratings, use cases. Find which Tax Software fits you best.
🔍 Independently researched ·
📊 Data-driven
59/100
Free tier
Crypto traders and investors in supported countries who need reliable, automated capital gains and income tax reports an
💰 Pricing
🆓 Free tier available
Free plan includes up to 10,000 transactions with unlimited tax reports, but only for hobby users with limited support.
Starting at $99 (tiered_fee)
Fee notes:
- Paid plans are annual only, but charged in a single payment for the year.
- Discounted packages available for professional use (e.g., accountants).
- Additional fee for multi-user or CPA-specific features.
- Some countries have tax-specific add-ons (e.g., UK property income) at extra cost.
⚠ Watch for:
- No hidden fees, but pricing is per tax year, not subscription monthly; you must pay full annual fee even if you sign up midway.
- If you exceed transaction limits, you must upgrade to a higher tier or pay for additional transaction packs (cost varies).
- International payment fees may apply depending on your bank or card.
🔧 Features
✓ Crypto Focus✓ 400 Exchanges✓ 20 Countries✓ Capital Gains✓ Tax Reports✓ Free Tier
📋 Assessment
💪 Strengths
- Auto-import from 400+ exchanges and wallets: Koinly's ability to automatically pull transaction data from a vast array of sources is its standout feature. This includes major exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, as well as hardware wallets like Ledger and software wallets like MetaMask. For users with a long trading history across multiple platforms, this saves dozens of hours of manual CSV export and formatting, making the initial setup significantly faster and less error-prone.
- Country-specific tax reports: Koinly generates tax reports tailored to the tax authorities of over 20 countries, including the US (IRS Form 8949/Schedule D), UK (SA108), Germany, and Australia (ATO). This is a major advantage for international users who need accurate, locally compliant reports. The software automatically applies correct cost basis methods (FIFO, LIFO, etc.) based on the country's regulations, reducing the risk of underreporting or penalties.
- Accurate handling of complex transaction types: Koinly correctly categorizes and calculates tax for various crypto events beyond simple trades, such as airdrops, hard forks, staking rewards, and mining income. This is crucial in a landscape where such activities are common and often overlooked by manual calculation. The platform also handles loans and margin trading, classifying them appropriately as income or capital gains, which is a nuanced area many competitors oversimplify.
- Tax-loss harvesting support: Koinly includes a tax-loss harvesting feature that identifies losing trades to offset capital gains, potentially reducing your tax liability. This is a valuable planning tool that sets it apart from some basic calculators, allowing users to minimize taxes legally. It also provides a clear overview of unrealized and realized gains, making it easier to strategize during the year.
- Free plan for tracking: While the free plan doesn't allow you to download tax reports, it does let you sync your transactions and view your portfolio's estimated gains and losses. This is useful for getting a high-level view of your tax situation without paying, and it can help you decide if the platform is right for you before committing to a paid plan.
⚠ Watch out for
- Cost escalates with transaction count: Koinly's pricing is based on the number of transactions, with the paid plans starting at $49/year for up to 1,000 transactions. For active traders with thousands of trades, the cost can quickly rise to $99/year (up to 10,000 transactions) or $199/year (up to 25,000 transactions). High-volume traders may find this pricing model expensive compared to some competitors that offer flat-rate subscriptions, though the automation often justifies the cost in saved time.
- Free plan lacks downloadable reports: The free plan only provides a summary of your portfolio performance; you cannot download the actual tax report forms needed for filing. This means you must upgrade to a paid plan to get your tax documents, which can be a disappointment for users who just want to estimate their taxes or have a small number of transactions.
- Manual adjustments for complex DeFi: While Koinly supports many DeFi protocols, some complex smart contract interactions—such as yield farming, liquidity provision, or multi-step swaps—may not be automatically recognized and could lead to incorrect calculations. Users may need to manually edit or categorize these transactions, which requires a learning curve and can be time-consuming. In some edge cases, the auto-import might even classify a transaction incorrectly, leading to a need for careful review.
- Limited customer support on lower tiers: Koinly's customer support is primarily via email and live chat, but live chat is only available on higher-tier plans. Free users and those on the Hobby plan may have to wait longer for email responses, and some users report slow resolution times for complex queries. The knowledge base is extensive, but if you're stuck, the premium support might feel like an additional cost to consider.
🎯 Best for
Crypto traders and investors in supported countries who need reliable, automated capital gains and income tax reports and want to import data from many exchanges without manual entry.
🚫 Who should skip
Users who only trade on centralized exchanges with simple buy/sell activity and want a completely free tax report, or those needing tax-loss harvesting optimization and investment advice.
📚 Learning curve
Minimal — import data, review flagged transactions, and generate reports; the interface is straightforward, though understanding tax rules and fixing every invalid transaction may take time.
🧑⚖️ Verdict
Koinly is a robust, user-friendly crypto tax calculator that excels at automation and international tax compliance. It's ideal for traders with multiple exchanges who want to save time and are willing to pay for ready-to-file reports. However, if you're a high-volume DeFi user or on a tight budget,
71/100
Free tier
Digital-first businesses (SaaS, e-books, online courses) that sell globally and need automated VAT/sales tax compliance
★ Best
💰 Pricing
🆓 Free tier available
Up to 50 transactions per month, 1 user, no API access, no custom reports, limited to basic EU VAT/US sales tax calculations.
Starting at $29 (tiered_subscription)
Fee notes:
- Annual billing saves ~20% vs monthly (e.g., Starter is $29/month monthly or $24/month billed annually, total $288/year).
- Overage fees: Starter/Business charge $0.05 per extra transaction beyond plan limit, capped at $10/month (Starter) or $30/month (Business). Enterprise overages are custom.
- No per-filing fees for tax reports; EU VAT OSS filing is an add-on available on Business and Enterprise plans, priced from $15 per filing per country.
- Quaderno does not differentiate pricing by self-employed vs limited company; all plans are based on transaction volume.
- Payroll, corporation tax, and Canadian GST registration are not included. US sales tax and EU VAT calculations are included in all plans.
⚠ Watch for:
- Automatic overage charges are triggered if you exceed your transaction limit without upgrading.
- Annual plans are billed upfront; cancelling mid-cycle may not be prorated unless agreed otherwise.
- EU VAT filing add-on fees apply per country and per filing period — can add up quickly for multi-country sellers.
- Enterprise plan requires annual commitment; monthly billing is not available for Enterprise.
🔧 Features
✓ Digital Business✓ Instant Receipts✓ Eu Vat✓ Us Sales Tax✓ Spanish Origin✓ Free Tier
📋 Assessment
💪 Strengths
- Quaderno automatically calculates EU VAT, US sales tax, and Canadian GST/HST based on the buyer's location and your nexus thresholds. This is a major time-saver for businesses selling globally. For example, if you sell a $100 subscription to a customer in Germany, Quaderno applies the correct German VAT rate (19%) without you having to look it up. It also monitors your economic nexus in each US state, so you know when you're legally required to collect sales tax in a new state—a huge relief for growing SaaS companies.
- It generates tax-compliant receipts and invoices instantly after each transaction. These receipts are not only legally compliant (showing the correct tax breakdown and your VAT number), but they also look professional and polished. This improves the customer experience—especially in B2B where clients need proper invoices for their own accounting—and reduces chargeback risks by providing clear proof of purchase. You can also brand the receipts with your logo and colors.
- Quaderno integrates natively with Stripe, PayPal, and Braintree, which means it automatically pulls all your transaction data. No manual CSV uploads or API debugging required. This integration is a core strength because it eliminates the pain of exporting transaction data and importing it into a tax tool. Once connected, Quaderno syncs every payment, cancellation, and refund in real time, so your tax records are always up to date.
- The dashboard provides real-time insights into your tax liability and sales activity. You can see at a glance which countries you're selling to, your tax due by jurisdiction, and which states you've crossed nexus thresholds in. This granular view helps you plan your expansion—if you see a spike in sales from Australia, you know to start planning for Australian GST compliance.
- Quaderno offers a robust API and webhooks for businesses that need custom integrations. While the native integrations cover most users, developers can use the API to connect Quaderno to custom platforms or ERPs. This flexibility is a safety net for companies that outgrow the out-of-the-box integrations.
⚠ Watch out for
- Pricing is based on transaction volume, so if your business scales up and you're processing thousands of transactions a month, the monthly cost can become steep. For example, a business with 10,000 transactions per month would pay well over $200/month. This is significantly higher than flat-rate alternatives like Avalara or TaxJar, which may offer unlimited transactions for a fixed fee, depending on the plan. For budget-conscious startups, this can be a dealbreaker.
- Quaderno is not designed for physical goods. If you sell products that require shipping, customs, or import duties, you'll quickly hit its limitations. The platform is built around digital products and services, so it doesn't handle complex scenarios like varying tax rates for different product categories, exemptions for certain types of goods (e.g., food or medical supplies in some jurisdictions), or cross-border shipping complexities. This makes it a poor fit for e-commerce stores selling physical items.
- Integrations are mainly limited to payment platforms and e-commerce tools like Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, Shopify, and WooCommerce. If you use an advanced ERP system like SAP or NetSuite, you'll need to rely on the API, which requires technical expertise. The lower-tier plans may not include API access (the API is only available on the highest two plans), so you may need to upgrade just to get the custom integration you need.
- The user interface, while clean, can be overwhelming for beginners who aren't familiar with tax jargon. Terms like "economic nexus" and "OSS VAT scheme" are used prominently, and while Quaderno does provide explanations, the learning curve is steeper than some competitors that offer more guided onboarding. A small business owner with no tax background may find the dashboard confusing at first.
🎯 Best for
Digital-first businesses (SaaS, e-books, online courses) that sell globally and need automated VAT/sales tax compliance plus tax filing without manual effort.
🚫 Who should skip
Small businesses selling only physical goods in one jurisdiction (e.g., local craft sellers) or those with very low transaction volume who can use simpler flat-rate tax tools or payment-provider built-in tax services.
📚 Learning curve
Moderate — the interface is clean and integrations simplify setup, but understanding how nexus and OSS rules affect your business requires some tax knowledge.
🧑⚖️ Verdict
Quaderno is an excellent choice for digital businesses and SaaS companies selling globally, especially those using Stripe, PayPal, or Braintree, because it automates the tedious tax calculations and generates compliant receipts. However, if you sell physical goods, have very high transaction volume,
📊 Use Case Suitability
Higher score = better fit. Scores from editorial review.
Use CaseKoinlyQuaderno
US Tax Filing (IRS)95—
Koinly supports US tax laws, generates IRS-compatible reports, and integrates wi
UK Tax Reporting (HMRC)92—
Koinly provides HMRC-compatible capital gains and income tax reports, including
High-Volume Exchange Auto-Import90—
With 400+ exchange integrations and API auto-import, Koinly reduces manual data
DeFi and Staking Income Reporting88—
Koinly handles staking rewards, airdrops, and DeFi income as taxable events, mak
Non-Resident Crypto Tax Reporting85—
Koinly supports tax laws for over 20 countries, making it useful for expats or f
Selling digital products globally—95
Quaderno automatically applies the correct VAT/sales tax based on buyer location
Subscription-based SaaS businesses—92
It handles recurring billing transactions, integrates with Stripe/PayPal, and se
Online courses and digital downloads—88
Course creators using multiple payment gateways (e.g., Stripe plus PayPal) can c
🧭 Which One Should You Pick?
Choose Koinly if...
- You are: Crypto traders and investors in supported countries who need reliable, automated capital gains and income tax reports an
- 👍 Auto-imports transactions from 400+ exchanges and wallets, saving hours of manual CSV work.
- 👍 Supports tax reporting for 20+ countries with country-specific forms and calculations.
- 👍 Accurately handles capital gains, income tax, and various transaction types including forks, airdrop
- 💰 From $99/mo
- ⚠ Trade-off: The free plan does not include downloadable tax reports, so you must pay to actu
Choose Quaderno if...
- You are: Digital-first businesses (SaaS, e-books, online courses) that sell globally and need automated VAT/sales tax compliance
- 👍 Automatically calculates and applies EU VAT, US sales tax, and Canadian GST/HST based on buyer locat
- 👍 Generates beautiful, tax-compliant receipts and invoices instantly after each transaction, which imp
- 👍 Native integrations with Stripe, PayPal, and Braintree pull transaction data automatically, eliminat
- 💰 From $29/mo
- ⚠ Trade-off: Pricing is based on transaction volume, so businesses with high sales volume may
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Koinly cost?
Koinly offers a free plan with limited features and paid plans starting around $49 for tax reports, with pricing depending on the number of transactions and plan tier. The exact price varies by country and transaction volume, so you'll need to check the website for current quotes.
What are the limitations of Koinly's free plan?
The free plan lets you track transactions and see preliminary totals but does not include exportable tax reports. You need a paid plan to access full capital gains and income tax reports.
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