Shakepay vs. Wealthsimple Crypto

We put over 50 apps to the test to find the best Canadian crypto exchanges in 2023. Explore the results below to find the best platform for your needs.

Updated September 2022   |  Affiliate Disclosure

Shakepay and Wealthsimple Crypto are both beginner friendly apps for Canadians. However, they're very different when it comes to fees, features, coins offered and more. In this comparison, I collected 40+ data points on each platform so you can see how they verse each other. Read on to see my review and which one is best for you.

The Bottom Line

Both platforms can be good choices for Canadians depending how you use them. Shakepay is better for earning free rewards and buying crypto since it has low fees. Wealthsimple is better for altcoins, trading stocks, and accessing more features overall.

Shakepay's total fee to buy Bitcoin was 1.03% and the spread was 2.26%. Wealthsimple Crypto had a total fee of 2.94% and spread of 3.17%. Shakepay is cheaper overall and has 2 coins but Wealthsimple has 40+ coins and more features.

Summary:

  • Both platforms are beginner-friendly and have 1% cash back visa cards
  • Shakepay is much cheaper and has better funding/withdrawal methods
  • Wealthsimple has more features: 40+ coins, stock trading and more
Shakepay

About Shakepay

Shakpay is the best beginner crypto exchange in Canada. It's very easy to use, has 2 coins (BTC and ETH), a Bitcoin Visa card, free deposit and withdrawals, and fair spreads.

Pros & Cons

  • Best platform for beginners. No experience required
  • Free crypto withdrawals and free CAD deposits and withdrawals
  • Free Bitcoin Visa card gives you 1%-2% cash back on all purchases
  • Earn free Bitcoin daily with ShakingSats (shake your phone for free Bitcoin) 
  • Fast verification (get instantly verified in under 10 minutes)
  • Only has 2 coins (BTC and ETH)
  • No advanced features (it's built for beginners only)
  • Less features than Wealthsimple
Wealthsimple

About Wealthsimple

Wealthsimple Crypto is inside the Wealthsimple Trade app. They are a fintech app with stock trading, crypto trading, a Visa Card and more. It's beginner-friendly and owned by a publicly traded company.

Pros & Cons

  • 40+ coins, much more than Shakepay
  • Great security and reputation (publicly traded, $200m cold storage insurance, FINTRAC regulated and more)
  • Crypto, stocks and more all in one place
  • Very expensive (1.50% operations fee, 2.94% total purchase fee on Bitcoin, 3.17% spread)
  • No e-transfers and low limits for instant deposits

Overview

How We Tested

To collect this info, we used real, KYC-verified accounts. We then broke it down into 5 categories: Fees, Features, Deposit & Withdrawals, Security and Ease of Use.

RankFi tracks dozens of crypto products. Lean more about our methodology here.

Coins Offered

2 (BTC and ETH)

40+

Total BTC Purchase Fee

1.03%

2.94%

Total BTC Selling Fee

1.21%

3.20%

CAD Trading Pairs?

CAD Deposit Fees

Free

Free

Interac e-Transfer?

🚫

Beginner Friendly

Advanced Trading

🚫

🚫

BTC Withdrawal Fee

0 BTC (Free)

Dynamic (network fees)

Headquarters

Montreal, Canada

Toronto, Canada

💰 Promotion

$30 free when you trade $100

$50 free when you trade $100

Sign Up

Features

Best Features Overall

Cell

✅ Winner

Number of Features

5-10

10+

Coins

2 (BTC and ETH)

40+

Mobile App

Web App

Beginner Trading

Advanced Trading

🚫

🚫

Staking

🚫

🚫

Lending/Borrowing

🚫

🚫

Other Rewards

🚫

Crypto Credit Card

✅ (Review)

✅ (Review)

Margin Trading

🚫

🚫

Futures

🚫

🚫

OTC

Native Token

🚫

🚫

Affiliate Program

24/7 Support

🚫

🚫

Sign Up

Fees & Spread

More Information

Both platforms were tested on Mar 2, 2022 at the same time and numbers are subject to change.

  • Total BTC Purchase Fee = CAD Deposit Fee + Trading Fee + Buy Reference Price Difference
  • Total BTC Selling Fee = CAD Withdrawal Fee + Trading Fee + Sell Reference Price Difference

Best Fees Overall

✅ Winner

Cell

*Total BTC Purchase Fee

1.03%

2.94%

*Total BTC Selling Fee

1.21%

3.20%

CAD Deposit Fee

Free

Free

CAD Withdrawal Fee

Free

Free

Trading Fee

Free

1.50% "operations fee"

Spread (BTC)

2.26%

3.17%

Ref. Price Difference

Buy: +1.03%

Sell: -1.21%

Buy: +1.44%

Sell: -1.70%

BTC Buy Price

$56,351

$56,578

BTC Sell Price

$55,108

$54,839

Reference Price (Google)

$55,774

$55,774

Sign Up

Deposits & Withdrawals

Best Overall

✅ Winner

Cell

$CAD Funding Options

E-Transfer

Free

Instant


Wire Transfer

Free

1-2 days


Shakepay A Friend

Free

Instant

Direct Bank Transfer

Free

$1500 instantly then up to 5 days


Direct Bank Transfer (Plus Subscription)

$10/month

$5000 instantly then up to 5 days


$CAD Withdrawal Options

E-Transfer

Free

Instant


Wire Transfer

Free

1-2 days


Shakepay A Friend

Free

Instant

Direct Bank Transfer

Free

1-3 days

BTC Withdrawal Fee

0 BTC (Free)

Dynamic (network fees)

ETH Withdrawal Fee

0 ETH (Free)

Dynamic (network fees)

Security

Best Security Overall

Cell

✅ Winner

Year Founded

2015

2014

Uses Cold Storage?

FINTRAC Regulated

Insurance Policy

✅ (Coinbase's)

✅ ($200m)

Any Hacks or Incidents?

🚫

🚫

2FA

Address Whitelisting

🚫

🚫

View Login History

🚫

🚫

Crypto Withdrawals Allowed

🚫 (Not all coins)

KYC

Publicly Traded

🚫

✅ (PWF)

Headquarters

Montreal, Canada

Toronto, Canada

User Interface

Shakepay

Shakepay App Home
Shakepay App Charts
Shakepay Trading Page

Wealthsimple Trade

Wealthsimple Crypto Mobile App Cryptocurrencies
Wealthsimple Crypto Mobile App Bitcoin Charts
Wealthsimple Crypto Mobile App Market Buy

Shakepay or Wealthsimple Trade?

Both platforms are beginner-friendly and have a great user-interface. Overall, Shakepay has 2 coins, lower spreads and is cheaper. Wealthsimple has 40+ coins, stocks, and more features than Shakepay, but it comes with higher spreads and fees.

When To Use Shakepay

  • If you only want to trade Bitcoin or ETH
  • If you want lower spreads and fees than Wealthsimple Crypto
  • If you want a 1% cash back Bitcoin visa

When To Use Wealthsimple Trade

  • You want to trade stocks and crypto all in one place
  • If you want Bitcoin or Ethereum ETFs in your TFSA
  • If you want 40+ cryptocurrencies to trade

Sign Up:

Shakepay

Get $30 free when you trade $100

Wealthsimple

Get $50 free when you trade $100

🔎 Compare More Crypto Exchanges

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RankFinance

Author

Alex

Alex is the owner of RankFi.com, where he covers all things finance, Web3, and cryptocurrency. He has been investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies since 2017.


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