Coinbase vs Scalable Capital Comparison

The Coinbase savings plan targets investors who want to buy regularly and automatically rather than trying to time an entry. The barrier is as low as it gets at a one euro minimum, the range covers more than 400 crypto assets, and execution runs without further intervention: weekly, on the 1st and 15th of the month or monthly. The first purchase is executed as soon as the plan is set up; amount and frequency cannot be changed later, so you cancel the plan and create a new one.

On regulation Coinbase stands well in Europe: it was the first company to hold a BaFin crypto custody licence, and deficiencies identified in 2022 have been remedied according to the company. Crypto services are now provided by Coinbase Luxembourg S.A., licensed under MiCA since 20 June 2025 and supervised by Luxembourg's financial regulator CSSF; the licence covers 30 EEA countries. Payment routes include SEPA transfer, card, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay, an unusually broad selection for the European market. Not every payment method works for the savings plan, the app shows which ones do; instalments can also be paid from the euro balance in the account.

What changed in 2026: Customers in the EEA can no longer buy stablecoins without MiCA authorisation such as USDT, DAI or PYUSD on Coinbase, so they are no longer available for a savings plan either. According to Coinbase, balances still held on the cut-off date of 30 October 2026 are converted once into USDC at the market rate. On 22 October 2026 the Central Bank of Ireland announced a fine of €3.25 million against Coinbase Ireland Limited, which holds euro balances for Coinbase customers: between November 2020 and August 2025 client funds were not adequately safeguarded. The regulator does not allege any loss of client money, and the sanction takes effect once confirmed by the Irish High Court. Details in our Coinbase review.

The sore point is price: up to 1.875% per purchase, depending on the payment method, is high in this comparison, so up to 18.75 euro on 1,000 euro. Across a savings plan with many small instalments that compounds noticeably over the years. Investors who value convenience and regulatory footing above the last fraction of a percent are well served; anyone watching costs should weigh the fees against cheaper savings plan providers.

Scalable Capital has made a name for itself in the DACH region primarily as a robo-advisor and ETF broker and has also offered crypto since December 2021. Since September 2025 the company has been a full bank: Scalable Capital Bank GmbH in Munich received the ECB licence for deposit and lending business and is supervised by BaFin and the Deutsche Bundesbank. Since March 2026 it has also been listed in ESMA's MiCA register with a notification for advice on crypto-assets. According to its September 2026 fact sheet, Scalable serves more than one million customers with over €60 billion in assets.

The crypto offering covers 32 cryptocurrencies, which are not traded as coins but through crypto ETPs on regulated exchanges. No wallet or private keys are needed; in return, holdings cannot be moved to your own wallet, and trading is limited to exchange hours. Savings plans from €1 make for a particularly low-threshold entry, and some ETPs add staking rewards. Besides the €0.99 order fee there is a 0.99% spread markup, or 0.69% with the PRIME+ subscription at €4.99 a month. Since September 2026, orders via Xetra and gettex have cost a flat €1.99.

For investors who mainly put money into stocks and ETFs and want to hold crypto as an addition in the same securities account, Scalable Capital is a practical solution. Anyone who wants to hold actual coins, move them to their own wallet or trade around the clock is better served by a crypto exchange.