ClearBasis vs CoinTracker
People who want reconciliation tooling and a direct pipe into US consumer filing software, and who are comfortable with pricing they have to load the app to see. We are a different shape of product: narrower today, and built so that every number can be traced to the record it came from. Below is what they do better, where we differ, and a table where each figure is the one the vendor published, linked to the page it came from.
What CoinTracker does better
Starting anywhere else would waste your time.
- Reconciliation UX that actively surfaces bad data: review-suggested flags, balance-discrepancy indicators comparing exchange-reported balances against the sum of transactions, and spam-token detection.
- Filing-channel distribution — direct TurboTax and H&R Block hand-off, documented import into CCH Axcess and ProSystem fx, and tax-professional collaboration included on paid plans.
- A published done-for-you price ($3,499/yr Full Service) at a time when most competitors will not print a number at all.
Where we are different
Every figure carries its evidence. Every figure links to the row it came from — source file, row number, tx hash, price source. Rulesets are versioned and dated (2026.08-r1) and the methodology memos (M-001…) are published, not internal.
The answer is free; the paperwork is paid. Everything computed and visible — true gain, the blank-basis overstatement, per-lot detail in preview, gaps and decisions. Payment unlocks the documents (Form 8949, workpapers, exports); nothing about the answer is hidden to sell the answer.
Your basis is portable by design. Basis Passport: your full evidence-linked basis history as a signed, versioned JSON file, free from any saved scan even if you never pay. The spec is public and anyone — including these competitors — may implement it.
Dead platforms are the specialty. Dead-platform rebuild is the specialty: FTX, Celsius, Cryptopia, Mt. Gox and others, reconstructed from what survives, with the gaps shown rather than filled in.
Side by side
| ClearBasis | CoinTracker | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get without paying | Everything computed and visible — true gain, the blank-basis overstatement, per-lot detail in preview, gaps and decisions. Payment unlocks the documents (Form 8949, workpapers, exports); nothing about the answer is hidden to sell the answer. | Portfolio tracking with daily updates; per their help centre the tax calculations themselves sit behind a paid plan — we could not verify this in-product, so treat it as their documentation rather than our observation. |
| Price at ~1,000 transactions | $99 per tax-year bundle (≤1,000 tx) | Not published in machine-readable form — their pricing page renders client-side and returned no readable price text when checked |
| Above that | $249 (≤5,000 tx) · $399 (≤15,000) · $649 (≤50,000) | Not published in machine-readable form (checked 2026-08-23); Full Service is listed from $3,499/yr, with the transaction ceiling stated inconsistently across their own pages |
| Connections | 13 auto-detected CSV formats today, including the 1099-DA itself and migration files from Koinly, CoinTracker, CoinLedger and CoinTracking. Read-only API and on-chain sync are not live yet — that is the honest gap. | Their own pages state 632, 500+ and 605+ on the same day. API (read-only) and CSV both supported. |
| Country depth | Three deep country guides (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) in five languages plus a global hub; US federal throughout. | US-centric with international support; per-country statutory forms are not the focus. |
| Documents produced | Form 8949 (PDF + CSV), evidence workpapers, TurboTax CSV, TXF — opening with payments. | Form 8949, Schedule D, TurboTax and H&R Block hand-off. Their own documentation states no TXF export. |
| Evidence behind each figure | Every figure links to the row it came from — source file, row number, tx hash, price source. Rulesets are versioned and dated (2026.08-r1) and the methodology memos (M-001…) are published, not internal. | Per-transaction cost basis, proceeds and fees are visible on expansion, and tax lots on higher tiers — but no documented price-data source, no published methodology and no versioned ruleset. |
| Getting your data out | Basis Passport: your full evidence-linked basis history as a signed, versioned JSON file, free from any saved scan even if you never pay. The spec is public and anyone — including these competitors — may implement it. | Transaction history exports as CSV; the computed cost-basis export is less clearly documented than Koinly's. |
| Dead platforms | Dead-platform rebuild is the specialty: FTX, Celsius, Cryptopia, Mt. Gox and others, reconstructed from what survives, with the gaps shown rather than filled in. | Not a stated specialty. |
| Support model | Self-serve; no sales calls. Practitioner tier (Workbench) is self-serve too. | Chat/email, tax-pro collaboration on paid plans, Full Service tier from $3,499/yr. |
CoinTracker figures from their own pricing page, checked 2026-08-23.
Which one should you actually use?
Choose CoinTracker if you need dozens of exchanges connected by API today, or a statutory form for a country we have not built yet. We would rather tell you that than take your money for a worse fit.
Choose ClearBasis if your problem is missing cost basis — transferred-in coins, a dead exchange, a decade of history, or a 1099-DA that reads your whole sale as profit — and you need every figure to survive a question from a tax authority, with the evidence attached.
Use both if it helps. Their export imports here directly, and our Basis Passport is an open format anyone can read — including them. Switching costs are a business model, not a law of nature.
Other comparisons
ClearBasis vs Koinly · ClearBasis vs CoinLedger · ClearBasis vs Blockpit · ClearBasis vs CoinTracking
compare-2026.1 · figures checked 2026-08-23 · CoinTracker are trademarks of their respective owners; ClearBasis is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them. Competitor figures are what each vendor published on its own site on the date shown and change without notice — follow the links and check before deciding. Where a vendor does not publish a figure in machine-readable form we say so rather than estimate it. ClearBasis is tax software, not a law firm, accounting firm or tax preparer.