How we rank exchanges
Ex Index is a research tool. The goal is simple: surface the information that actually matters when picking an exchange, without marketing fluff.
Data sources
Fees, product coverage, fiat deposit rails and KYC levels are collected from each exchange's official pricing and onboarding pages. 24h spot volume is sampled from public aggregators on a recurring schedule. Country availability is sourced from each exchange's published terms of service and restricted-jurisdiction list.
Fees
We publish the standard retail Maker / Taker fee for spot trading — before volume tiers, referral discounts, or native-token rebates. This is the number most users actually pay. We do not factor in promotional rates.
KYC levels
None = full trading without ID. Low = email or phone only, possibly with daily withdrawal limits. Standard = ID verification required before trading. Full = ID + address + proof of funds. Levels can change unilaterally; we update on a rolling basis.
Liquidity
24h USD-equivalent spot volume across all listed markets, normalized. Shown as a relative bar against the most liquid exchange in the set. Used as a proxy for execution quality on market orders.
Country availability
Counts the number of jurisdictions where the exchange accepts sign-ups per its own policy. We highlight when your selected country is on an exchange's restricted list.
Sorting
Default sort is by liquidity, which tends to correlate with execution quality. Users can re-sort by lowest average fee or by breadth of product offering (Spot / Futures / Options / Copy / Earn).
Conflicts of interest
Some links on this site are affiliate links. Rankings are not influenced by affiliate status: no exchange has paid to change its position, and sorting is deterministic based on the underlying data.