If you are choosing UK crypto-tax software, the real decision comes down to two names: Koinly and Recap. Both produce HMRC-format reports built around the Section 104 pool, both are highly rated, and both will get a typical UK investor to a correct Self Assessment. But they are built on opposite philosophies — Koinly is the broad, cross-border market leader, Recap is the UK-native specialist — and the right choice depends entirely on which reader you are. This guide decodes the difference and ends with a clear call. It is an explainer, not tax advice; for your circumstances, consult a qualified UK adviser.
The one-line verdict
Choose Koinly if you have a sprawling, multi-platform crypto history and want maximum integration coverage. Choose Recap if you lead with UK trust or data privacy and want a domestically built, GBP-native, end-to-end-encrypted tool. Both handle the HMRC rules correctly; the decision is breadth versus domestic trust, not accuracy versus inaccuracy.
Integrations and coverage — Koinly wins
This is Koinly’s headline advantage. It connects to 700+ exchanges and wallets across 170 blockchains — the broadest coverage in the UK cohort — which makes it the safe choice for an investor whose history spans several exchanges, multiple wallets, and a few DeFi protocols. If you have touched a lot of venues, Koinly is the tool most likely to ingest all of it without manual CSV wrangling.
Recap’s coverage (~250 integrations) is narrower. For a UK investor whose activity sits on the major exchanges, that is usually enough — but a genuinely multi-platform filer with an exotic long tail may find a gap, and that is the one scenario where Recap’s specialism becomes a limitation. In the CARF era, where HMRC receives platform data directly and the cost of missing a venue is a visible mismatch, breadth matters more than it used to — which sharpens Koinly’s edge for the messy-history reader.
HMRC rule handling — a real but subtle difference
Both tools apply the UK rules: the Section 104 pool, the same-day rule, and the 30-day bed-and-breakfast rule. The difference is architectural. Koinly applies them through its UK report engine and exports the SA108 (and SA106) formats — reliable and well-tested. Recap applies them natively, built into the product around UK rules from the ground up rather than as a report layer on top of a global engine. For most filers the output is equivalent; for a purist who wants the pooling and short-window logic computed exactly the way HMRC computes it, Recap’s native approach is a genuine, if subtle, accuracy reassurance. Neither is a substitute for tax advice, and both should be checked against your own records.
UK trust and data privacy — Recap wins decisively
This is Recap’s moat, and it is the reason to pick it. Recap is the only Companies House-registered crypto-tax tool in the UK cohort (Recap Audit Ltd) — a verifiable UK company, where Koinly is Norway-incorporated. It prices in GBP natively (not GBP-converted), pays affiliates in GBP, runs a UK-resident support team, and — the part that resonates most in 2026 — holds your full transaction history under end-to-end encryption.
That privacy posture has moved from nice-to-have to decisive precisely because of CARF: when UK platforms began reporting transactions directly to HMRC, the question of who holds your complete financial history, and how, became immediate. For a privacy-conscious or domestic-trust-first investor, a UK-built, end-to-end-encrypted tool is a materially different proposition from a broad cross-border one — and that reader should choose Recap without hesitation.
Pricing
Koinly prices in GBP-converted tiers — roughly £49 Newbie, £99 Hodler, £179 Trader, £319 Pro — scaling with transaction count. Recap prices GBP-natively, with a Standard tier around £179 the most common choice for the higher-volume filer who researches a domestic tool. For most investors the cost difference is secondary to the coverage-versus-trust decision; pick the tool that fits your needs and the price follows.
For affiliates: the economics
If you are recommending these as an affiliate rather than choosing one to use, the economics invert the intuition. Recap edges Koinly on modelled EPC ($3.40 to $2.83) despite a shorter cookie, on the strength of a higher base payout and a UK-conversion uplift — UK readers researching a domestic tool convert more readily on a Companies-House-visible, GBP-native brand. Koinly’s structural advantage is its 90-day cookie (the only non-30-day window in the cohort), which rewards evergreen reference content that earns the click early in a long research journey. The full economics are decoded in the individual Koinly and Recap reviews. The honest affiliate move is not to pick one winner but to route readers: Koinly for the multi-platform mainstream filer, Recap for the trust-and-privacy-first reader — a comparison that frames both captures two affiliate relationships from one reader.
Which should you choose?
| Your priority | The pick |
|---|
| Sprawling multi-platform / multi-chain history | Koinly — broadest coverage |
| Evergreen research, long buying cycle | Koinly — 90-day cookie |
| UK incorporation + domestic trust | Recap — only Companies House-registered tool |
| Data privacy / end-to-end encryption | Recap — UK-built, E2E |
| GBP-native pricing, no FX friction | Recap |
| Mainstream, “it’ll handle my history” safe pick | Koinly |
Three scenarios that decide it
The DeFi-and-multi-chain investor. If your history spans several exchanges, multiple wallets, and DeFi protocols across chains, coverage is everything — a tool that misses a venue produces a wrong number, and in the CARF era a visible mismatch. Koinly’s 700+ integrations make it the clear pick; the breadth is the whole point for this reader.
The accountant choosing for clients. UK accountancy practices need a tool they can standardise on, trust on HMRC fidelity, and explain to clients. Both work, but the decision often splits on the client base: a practice serving mainstream multi-platform investors leans Koinly for coverage; a practice that markets on UK-domestic, privacy-respecting service leans Recap, whose UK incorporation and end-to-end encryption are easier to stand behind. Recap’s stronger UK accountancy-community positioning is a real signal here.
The privacy-first holder. For an investor whose first concern is who holds their complete transaction history and how, the answer is Recap, decisively — a UK-built, Companies-House-visible, end-to-end-encrypted tool is a different proposition from a broad cross-border one, and CARF has made that concern mainstream rather than niche.
Can you switch between them?
Yes, and the switching cost is modest. Both tools rebuild your tax position from your underlying transaction history — your exchange and wallet connections plus any CSV imports — rather than from each other, so moving means reconnecting your sources to the new tool and letting it recompute the Section 104 pools. You are not locked in by proprietary data. That means you can trial one and move to the other if it fits better, and it means a recommendation is low-risk for the reader: the worst case is reconnecting a few exchanges. It also means an investor with an unusual long tail can use Koinly for its coverage even after starting on Recap, without losing work.
Common questions
Is Koinly or Recap more accurate?
Both apply the same HMRC rules — the Section 104 pool, same-day, and 30-day rules — so for a typical filer the output is equivalent. Recap applies them natively (built around UK rules) where Koinly applies them through its UK report engine; the difference is architectural reassurance, not a meaningful accuracy gap for most investors. Neither replaces tax advice.
Which do UK accountants prefer?
It varies by practice. Recap markets specifically to the UK accountancy community (ICAEW/CIOT/AAT/ATT) on its UK-built, domestic-trust positioning; Koinly’s broader coverage makes it the safer default for practices with multi-platform clients. Many practices keep both available.
Does the choice matter if I only use one exchange?
Less so. With a single mainstream exchange, both tools handle the job easily, and the decision collapses to the trust-versus-cookie question rather than coverage. Recap’s UK incorporation and privacy posture, or Koinly’s familiarity, becomes the tie-breaker.
Koinly is an established, GDPR-compliant vendor with a strong reputation; “Norway-incorporated” is a trust-signal difference versus Recap’s UK incorporation, not a safety red flag. For an investor who specifically wants UK-domestic data handling and end-to-end encryption, that is the case for Recap — but Koinly is not unsafe.
The bottom line
Koinly and Recap are both correct, both well-rated, and both will produce a filable UK crypto-tax report. The choice is not accuracy — it is breadth versus domestic trust. Take Koinly for maximum coverage on a messy multi-venue history; take Recap if a UK-incorporated, GBP-native, end-to-end-encrypted tool is what you actually want, which in the CARF era is a larger audience than it used to be. Whichever you choose, reconcile carefully into the Section 104 pool and keep your records. This guide is general information, not tax advice; for your specific position, consult a qualified UK tax professional or HMRC directly.