MEXC is our pick within this comparison for active traders outside the EEA and Japan: 0% spot maker against Gate's 0.1%, 0.010% and 0.040% on standard perpetuals against 0.015% to 0.02% and 0.05%, and day-one listings.
Gate is the better choice for EEA and Japanese readers, and for anyone who wants zero-fee US stocks or a deep Earn menu.
Key Takeaways
MEXC is our top pick in this comparison for active non-EEA traders: 0% maker and 0.05% taker on spot against Gate's 0.1% both ways at VIP 0, as of 3 September 2026.
Gate holds licences MEXC does not in the EEA and Japan, with a MiCA authorisation passported from Malta and a Japan FSA registration.
On coin count the two are in the same league at 1,633 against 1,561 on CoinGecko, so the difference is speed, with 65% of MEXC's 135 March 2026 listings platform-first.
Both sell real US shares in USDT from the main account, and Gate Stocks currently covers 10,000 plus tickers at zero trading fee against 7,000 plus on MEXC RealStocks.
A $300,000 a month perpetual taker pays $1,800 a year on Gate against $1,440 on a standard MEXC pair and $720 on BTCUSDT.
Gate wins on Earn, options, CFDs and stock breadth; MEXC wins on a single flat fee schedule and on being first to list.
Gate, the exchange formerly branded Gate.io, is the closest competitor MEXC has on listing breadth, so this comparison is not decided by who has more coins.
It is decided by what each coin costs to trade, how early it appears, and which platform is licensed where you live, and the third point goes to Gate in Europe and Japan before the first two are counted.
Number one is the fee gap.
Gate's help centre example of 30 July 2026 puts the VIP 0 spot taker fee at 0.1%, trackers agree the VIP 0 maker fee is also 0.1%, and paying in GT trims both to 0.09%.
MEXC charges 0.0000% maker and 0.0500% taker on spot, with a 20% MX deduction that takes the taker rate to 0.0400% on eligible pairs, and 0.010% maker and 0.040% taker on standard USDT-M perpetuals (mexc.com/fee, retrieved 2 September 2026). BTCUSDT on MEXC carries a pair-specific Special Rate of 0.000% maker and 0.020% taker, while Gate's entry-tier perpetual rate is 0.015% to 0.02% maker and 0.05% taker.
Number two is listing pace.
MEXC's listing analysis recorded 135 new spot listings in March 2026, 65% of them platform-first, meaning the token was not yet available on Gate or any other tracked exchange when MEXC listed it.
CoinGecko's 2026 perpetuals report counted 879 new MEXC perpetual contracts between January 2025 and April 2026, about 55 a month and the most of any major centralised exchange in that window. Number three is the shape of the fee schedule.
Gate runs seventeen VIP levels reached through 30-day volume, 14-day GT holdings or account asset value, with perpetual maker fees reaching 0% only from VIP 11 upward, per Gate's February 2025 announcement.
MEXC publishes one rate and reaches 0% maker at the first trade.
Here is what the gap means in cash.
A trader who buys $50,000 of altcoins a month with market orders pays $600 a year on Gate, $540 paying in GT, $300 at MEXC's taker rate, $240 with the MX deduction, and nothing at all as a maker.
On $300,000 of monthly perpetual notional filled as taker, Gate costs $1,800 a year, a standard MEXC pair costs $1,440, and BTCUSDT on MEXC costs $720.
Those savings only matter if MEXC is open to you, so the caveat comes before the button: MEXC holds no licence in the EEA, Japan, the US, the UK or Canada, and Gate is licensed or registered in the first two.
If you live in the EEA or Japan, the rest of this article is information rather than a recommendation, and Gate is the licensed option of the two.
We publish MEXC Learn, so read this section as the interested party speaking in the first person.
We scored this comparison on the same six dimensions we use across our exchange reviews: fees, listings, derivatives, security, fiat access and regulation, plus Earn products and US stock access because Gate is unusually strong in both.
Gate beats us on four of those eight, which is more than any exchange in this series so far, and we would rather write that here than have you discover it from its licences page.
Its Malta MiCA authorisation is passported across the EEA and its Japanese subsidiary is registered with the FSA, two markets where we are not licensed and, in the EEA, no longer serve users.
Its Earn menu, from Simple Earn and GUSD treasury yield to Dual Investment and Idle Earn, is broader than ours.
Its Gate Stocks product covers 10,000 plus US stocks and ETFs with zero trading fees since 31 July 2026, plus Hong Kong, Korean and Japanese stocks, against our 7,000 plus US tickers.
Its self-reported reserve ratio of 115% with zero-knowledge proofs is a stronger public number than our monthly reports, even if we count both as self-reported.
We also accept the most common complaint against us: risk-control reviews that delay withdrawals, which is why the switching steps below tell you to test a withdrawal before you move size.
What would change our verdict is where you live: in the EEA or Japan, choose Gate, and no fee table should talk you out of that.
Everywhere else, for a trader who places many orders and wants tokens on day one, the numbers above are the case for MEXC, and every one of them carries the date on which we checked it.
Dimension | MEXC | Gate | Edge within this comparison |
Spot fees (entry tier) | 0.0000% maker, 0.0500% taker; taker 0.0400% with MX deduction on eligible pairs | 0.1% maker, 0.1% taker at VIP 0; 0.09% paid in GT; 17 VIP levels | MEXC |
Futures fees (entry tier) | 0.010% maker, 0.040% taker standard; BTCUSDT 0.000% maker, 0.020% taker; API futures orders 0.060% maker, 0.080% taker | 0.015% to 0.02% maker, 0.05% taker at VIP 0; points cards can offset taker fees | MEXC |
Coins and listing pace | 1,633 coins and 2,021 spot pairs on CoinGecko; 135 spot listings in March 2026, 65% platform-first; 879 new perpetuals January 2025 to April 2026 | 1,561 coins and 1,713 spot pairs on CoinGecko; self-reported 4,900 plus assets across products | Same league on count, MEXC on speed |
Derivatives | More than 1,040 USDT-M perpetuals; leverage set per contract; copy trading and bots | 912 futures pairs on CoinGecko; European-style options; gold and stock CFDs; copy trading and bots | MEXC on perpetual breadth and cost, Gate on product types |
US stock access | RealStocks: real shares, 7,000 plus tickers, USDT in the main account; tokenized pairs and stock futures alongside | Gate Stocks: real shares, 10,000 plus tickers, USDT in the main account, zero trading fee since 31 July 2026; Hong Kong, Korean and Japanese stocks; gStocks tokenized | Gate |
Security and Proof of Reserves | Monthly Proof of Reserves with Hacken-named audits; no recorded custody-level breach | Self-reported 115% reserve ratio with zero-knowledge proofs, $8.18 billion as of 22 June 2026; CoinGecko Trust Score 10 out of 10 | Gate on disclosure, tie on reporting cadence |
Earn and fiat | Card and bank transfer partners plus P2P; Launchpad, Launchpool and Kickstarter | Card, SEPA, P2P and OTC bank transfer; Simple Earn, GUSD treasury yield, Dual Investment, Idle Earn, loans | Gate |
Regulation and availability | Not licensed in the US, UK, EEA, Canada or Japan; on the FCA Warning List and ESMA's non-compliant list; prohibited jurisdictions listed in the User Agreement of 29 May 2025 | MiCA CASP via Malta, Japan FSA registration, Dubai VARA licence, AUSTRAC registration, Bahamas approval, Gibraltar DLT permission; global platform not offered to US residents | Gate |
Data verified as of 3 September 2026 against mexc.com/fee (official screenshot of 2 September 2026), Gate's help centre, fee announcements and licences page, CoinGecko exchange pages and CoinGecko research reports.
MEXC is cheaper on every entry rate, and Gate's discounts have to be earned through volume, GT holdings or account size.
Gate's public fee pages are rendered in the browser and its VIP schedule is not fully readable by a fetch, so our Gate figures come from its help centre example of 30 July 2026, its February 2025 perpetual fee announcement and independent trackers that converge on the same VIP 0 rates.
Those trackers do not fully agree: most show 0.1% maker and taker on spot at VIP 0, some still show 0.2%, and futures maker rates are reported at either 0.015% or 0.02%, so we use the figures least favourable to MEXC in every calculation.
Gate's ladder has seventeen levels from VIP 0 to VIP 16, and a trader climbs it by 30-day trading volume, by average GT holdings over 14 days, or by total account asset value.
Gate's February 2025 announcement shows perpetual maker fees of 0.015% at VIP 8 and 0% from VIP 11, with the taker rate falling to 0.015% at VIP 16.
MEXC's schedule is flat and public: 0.0000% maker and 0.0500% taker on spot, the 20% MX deduction takes the taker rate to 0.0400% on eligible pairs with some pairs excluded, and standard USDT-M perpetuals cost 0.010% maker and 0.040% taker.
Three boundaries stop that being a free lunch.
The Special Rate is pair-specific: BTCUSDT is 0.000% maker and 0.020% taker and ETHUSDT is 0.000% maker and 0.010% taker, but the tag does not apply to every contract.
API futures orders have carried their own schedule of 0.060% maker and 0.080% taker since 1 June 2026, and that schedule overrides web and app rates, promotions and the MX deduction.
Zero-fee promotions on specific pairs, such as XRP/USDT on spot, are campaign pricing and can end.
The mexc vs gate io question on fees therefore has the same answer at every tier we could verify: a maker on MEXC pays nothing on day one, while a maker on Gate reaches 0% only near the top of a seventeen-step ladder.
Scenario | Gate | MEXC |
$50,000 a month of spot market orders, one year | $600 at 0.1%; $540 paid in GT | $300 at 0.05% taker; $240 with MX deduction; $0 as maker |
$300,000 a month of USDT perpetual notional as taker, one year | $1,800 at 0.05% | $1,440 at the standard 0.040%; $720 on BTCUSDT at the 0.020% Special Rate |
$300,000 a month of USDT perpetual notional as maker, one year | $540 at 0.015%, the lowest reported entry rate | $360 at the standard 0.010%; $0 on BTCUSDT at the Special Rate |
Data verified as of 3 September 2026 against mexc.com/fee (official screenshot of 2 September 2026), Gate's help centre example of 30 July 2026 and Gate's perpetual fee announcement of February 2025. Spreads, funding rates, card fees and network fees are excluded; MEXC API futures orders follow the separate 0.060% and 0.080% schedule.
Neither exchange has the bigger catalogue on tracked data, and MEXC's advantage is that its tokens arrive first.
Gate's own figure of 4,900 plus assets counts across products and is not comparable to a tracked spot count, in the same way that MEXC's own marketing totals are not.
Speed is where the two separate.
MEXC's listing analysis for March 2026 recorded 135 new spot listings in that single month, and 88 of them, 65%, were platform-first, meaning no other tracked exchange, Gate included, had the token at that moment.
CoinGecko's 2026 perpetuals report found MEXC added 879 perpetual contracts between January 2025 and April 2026, while six of the eleven largest exchanges added fewer than 20 a month.
Gate is not slow by industry standards, and its Alpha and pre-market products give early on-chain and pre-listing access of their own.
The honest framing is that MEXC's day-one share is a measured number and Gate does not publish a comparable one, so speed is the dimension where our evidence is one-sided and we say so.
Day-one listings include tokens that later fail, and MEXC's risk labels and small-cap warnings exist for that reason, as our guide to new-listing exchanges explains.
MEXC has more perpetual pairs at lower entry rates, while Gate adds options, gold CFDs and stock CFDs that MEXC does not run.
MEXC's fee page carried more than 1,040 USDT-M perpetual pairs on 2 September 2026, with leverage limits published contract by contract.
CoinGecko lists 912 futures pairs on Gate, and Gate's product menu adds European-style options, gold and stock CFDs, event contracts and a unified trading account.
Both platforms run copy trading and grid bots, and neither is claimed here to have the deeper tool set.
On cost, a maker on a standard MEXC pair pays 0.010% against Gate's 0.015% to 0.02%, and a taker pays 0.040% against 0.05%, with BTCUSDT on MEXC at 0% and 0.020%.
Leverage magnifies losses as fast as gains on both platforms, and high leverage on small-cap contracts is a risk to manage rather than a feature to chase.
Both put real US shares in a crypto account funded with USDT, and Gate currently offers more tickers, more markets and a zero trading fee.
MEXC RealStocks launched on 1 June 2026 and lets eligible users buy real shares in US-listed companies through Atomic Vaults Securities, a FINRA-registered broker, paying in USDT that is converted into US dollar buying power without an exchange-rate loss. MEXC's Learn page of 10 August 2026 lists 7,000 plus US stocks and ETFs, four trading sessions that cover almost the full 24 hours on weekdays, cash dividends where applicable, and a platform-fee waiver during the launch period with SEC and FINRA charges still applying.
MEXC pairs RealStocks with 100 plus Ondo tokenized stock pairs and USDT-margined stock futures, and Gate pairs its real stocks with gStocks and 24/7 stock futures.
Gate publishes a 115% reserve ratio with zero-knowledge proofs, MEXC publishes monthly Proof of Reserves with named audits, and neither has a recorded custody-level breach in this review.
Gate states that as of 22 June 2026 its total reserves were about $8.18 billion at a 115% reserve ratio covering nearly 500 user assets, verified with zero-knowledge technology, and CoinGecko gives it a 10 out of 10 Trust Score with reserve data available. MEXC publishes monthly Proof of Reserves with Hacken-named audits and has no custody-level hack on record, and its account-level protections cover two-factor authentication, withdrawal whitelists, anti-phishing codes and a fund password.
The complaint that follows MEXC in third-party reviews, including Datawallet's July 2026 audit, is withdrawal delays and account freezes triggered by risk-control reviews, and the practical response is to test any new exchange with a small withdrawal before moving a balance.
Gate is licensed or registered in the EEA, Japan, Dubai, Australia, the Bahamas, Gibraltar and Hong Kong, while MEXC is licensed in none of those and says so.
Gate's global platform is not offered to US residents, and a separate Gate US entity listed five coins on CoinGecko when checked.
MEXC's position is the opposite, and we state it in full.
MEXC's User Agreement, last updated 29 May 2025, names the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Mainland China, Kazakhstan, sanctioned states and the Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine as prohibited jurisdictions. Region | MEXC | Gate | Our guidance |
United States | Prohibited jurisdiction under the User Agreement of 29 May 2025 | Global platform not offered to US residents; separate Gate US entity with five coins listed on CoinGecko | Neither global platform; use a US-registered exchange |
EEA | Not authorised under MiCA; no EEA service after 1 July 2026 | MiCA authorisation from Malta's MFSA, passported across the EEA | Gate |
Japan | Web access; apps not in Japanese app stores; on the FSA list of unregistered operators | Gate Japan K.K. registered with the FSA under number 00018 | Gate |
Other markets | Available subject to the User Agreement; RealStocks for eligible users | Available; VARA licence in Dubai, AUSTRAC registration in Australia, Bahamas approval | MEXC for fees and day-one listings, Gate for licences and Earn |
Data verified as of 3 September 2026 against the MEXC User Agreement, the FCA Warning List, the Japan FSA list, Gate's licences page and CoinGecko.
Gate's Earn menu is broader than MEXC's and its fiat routes are comparable, so a passive-income user has more to choose from at Gate.
Gate lists Simple Earn, staking, Auto-Invest, Dual Investment, Soft Staking, Idle Earn, a GUSD product built on US Treasury exposure, crypto loans and a lending centre, alongside card, SEPA, P2P and OTC bank transfer routes.
MEXC's fiat access runs through card purchases, global bank transfer partners and its P2P market, and most of its markets quote in USDT.
MEXC's ecosystem is built around trading and new tokens: spot and futures copy trading, grid and DCA bots, Launchpad, Launchpool and Kickstarter token events, and on-chain trading through DEX+.
If your money is meant to sit and earn, Gate's shelf is wider.
If your money is meant to trade, MEXC's fee schedule and listing pipeline are the product.
Five advantages survive every fee table in this article.
Licences: a MiCA authorisation passported across the EEA, a Japan FSA registration, a Dubai VARA licence and an AUSTRAC registration, while MEXC holds no licence in the EEA or Japan and is not authorised in the US, UK or Canada.
Earn: a deeper menu of yield products, including treasury-backed yield and structured products.
Stocks: 10,000 plus US tickers with zero trading fees since 31 July 2026, plus Hong Kong, Korean and Japanese stocks and IPO allocations.
Product types: European-style options, gold and stock CFDs and event contracts that MEXC does not run.
Disclosure: a published 115% reserve ratio with zero-knowledge proofs, which is a stronger public number than a monthly attestation alone.
Your profile | Better fit | Why |
Resident of the EEA or Japan | Gate | MiCA authorisation and Japan FSA registration; MEXC holds neither |
Resident of the United States | Neither global platform | MEXC prohibits US residents and Gate's global platform is not offered to them |
Non-EEA trader placing limit orders on spot | MEXC | 0% maker from the first trade against 0.1% at Gate VIP 0 |
Futures trader placing the orders personally | MEXC | 0.010% maker and 0.040% taker standard, 0% maker on BTCUSDT, against 0.015% to 0.02% and 0.05% |
Altcoin trader who wants tokens on day one | MEXC | 65% of March 2026 listings were platform-first; 879 new perpetuals in sixteen months |
Passive-income user | Gate | Broader Earn menu including treasury-backed yield and structured products |
Investor who wants the widest stock list at zero trading fee | Gate | 10,000 plus US tickers at zero trading fee plus Hong Kong, Korean and Japanese stocks |
Investor who wants real US shares and futures on the same USDT balance | Either | Both run real shares through US broker partners from the main account |
If you fall into one of the MEXC rows, the next step is a small account, a small deposit and a test withdrawal before you commit real size.
Step 1: Open and verify the MEXC account.
Register at MEXC, complete identity verification and enable two-factor authentication before you deposit anything.
Step 2: Move a test amount first.
Withdraw a small amount of USDT from Gate to your MEXC deposit address on a network both platforms support, and confirm the address, network and any memo or tag character by character.
Wait for it to credit, then withdraw a small amount back out of MEXC to confirm the exit works as well as the entry.
Step 3: Redeem, close, move and set your fee options.
Redeem Earn positions and close open futures on Gate before you withdraw, send the rest once the test clears, switch on the MX deduction if you hold MX, and remember that API futures orders use their own fee schedule.
Is MEXC cheaper than Gate.io?
Yes on published entry rates: MEXC spot is 0% maker and 0.05% taker against Gate's 0.1% both ways at VIP 0, and MEXC standard perpetuals cost 0.010% maker and 0.040% taker against 0.015% to 0.02% and 0.05%, as of 3 September 2026.
Which has more coins, MEXC or Gate.io?
Neither by a margin worth claiming: CoinGecko tracks 1,633 coins on MEXC and 1,561 on Gate, while Gate's self-reported 4,900 plus counts assets across products and is not comparable.
The difference between them is listing speed rather than catalogue size.
Which lists new coins faster, MEXC or Gate.io?
MEXC: 65% of its 135 spot listings in March 2026 were platform-first, and CoinGecko counted 879 new MEXC perpetuals between January 2025 and April 2026.
Gate has not published comparable listing-speed data, and its Alpha and pre-market products offer early access of their own.
Is Gate.io licensed in Europe and Japan?
Yes: Gate Technology Ltd holds a MiCA authorisation from Malta passported across the EEA, and Gate Japan K.K. is registered with Japan's FSA under number 00018.
MEXC holds neither, so EEA and Japanese readers should treat this comparison as information only.
Can I buy real US stocks on MEXC or Gate.io?
Yes on both, in USDT from the main account: MEXC RealStocks covers 7,000 plus tickers through a FINRA-registered broker, and Gate Stocks covers 10,000 plus through Alpaca with zero trading fees since 31 July 2026.
Is MEXC safer than Gate.io?
Both publish Proof of Reserves and neither has a custody-level breach on record in this review, while Gate publishes a 115% reserve ratio with zero-knowledge proofs and holds licences MEXC does not.
Choose Gate if regulatory protection is your priority.
How do I move assets from Gate.io to MEXC?
Redeem Earn positions, close open futures, withdraw USDT from Gate to your MEXC deposit address on a network both platforms support, send a small test amount first, then move the rest.
MEXC is not licensed in the United States, the United Kingdom, the EEA, Canada or Japan, and its User Agreement prohibits residents of the jurisdictions listed above.
Gate's global platform is not offered to US residents, and product availability on Gate varies by entity and jurisdiction.
Nothing in this article is an invitation to residents of prohibited or restricted jurisdictions to open an account on either platform.
Futures, margin, options, CFDs and leveraged products can lose more than your initial margin, and high leverage on small-cap contracts increases that risk sharply.
New listings carry a high failure rate, and tokenized stock products and stock futures do not confer direct shareholder rights.
Fees, listings and regulatory statuses change, and every figure above carries the date on which we verified it.
This article is information, not investment, legal or tax advice.