CoinTracker is one of the oldest crypto tax platforms, founded in 2017 and backed by Coinbase. It works for UK investors, but its design assumptions are American. Polyconomic was built with HMRC's specific rules as the starting point, not an adaptation. Here is how they compare on the things that actually matter for a UK Self Assessment return.
Feature comparison
| Feature | CoinTracker | Polyconomic |
|---|---|---|
| Primary market | US (UK supported) | UK-only |
| Free plan | 25 transactions only | Full gain, all years, unlimited |
| Report pricing | ~£45/yr subscription | £49/yr Standard · £99/yr Pro |
| UK HMRC matching | ✓ Supported | ✓ Applied by default |
| SA108 output | ✓ | ✓ With box references |
| Portfolio tracking | ✓ | ✓ |
| Wallet import | ✓ | ETH + BTC |
| Coinbase integration | Excellent | API + CSV |
| Plain English output | Standard | Yes — UK-specific throughout |
The free tier comparison is stark
CoinTracker's 25-transaction free limit makes it impossible to properly evaluate the tool with real data before committing to payment. For most investors with meaningful trading history, 25 transactions covers perhaps a month of casual activity — not enough to see whether the tool handles your full history correctly. Polyconomic shows your complete taxable gain with no transaction cap before you enter any payment details.
Which should you choose?
Choose CoinTracker if: you are heavily invested in the Coinbase ecosystem (where CoinTracker's integration is especially strong), or you have US tax obligations alongside UK and want one tool covering both jurisdictions.
Choose Polyconomic if: you want to see your full gain before paying, your exchanges are covered by Polyconomic's API or CSV import, you want a tool designed specifically around HMRC's output requirements, or you want to avoid a subscription fee in years where you owe nothing.
A realistic cost example
A UK investor with 300 trades across Coinbase and Binance: CoinTracker charges approximately £45/year for a plan that covers this volume. Polyconomic shows the complete gain for free. If the report is needed for filing, Standard is £49/year — comparable in price to CoinTracker, but with free gain visibility before committing. If the gain is below £3,000 and no report is needed, the Polyconomic cost is £0.
Frequently asked questions
Is CoinTracker's UK HMRC implementation accurate?
CoinTracker implements the UK matching rules and is used by UK investors for Self Assessment. The implementation is generally reliable for standard portfolios. The US-first design means the SA108 output requires more interpretation than tools where SA108 is the primary output format.
CoinTracker was partly backed by Coinbase — does that affect anything?
The main practical effect is that CoinTracker has a particularly strong Coinbase integration — automated syncing, good categorisation of Coinbase-specific events. For Coinbase-heavy portfolios, this is a genuine advantage. For portfolios spread across other exchanges, the backing is less relevant.
Can I import my CoinTracker history into Polyconomic?
The cleanest approach is to re-import from the original exchange CSVs or APIs rather than from a CoinTracker export. This avoids carrying over any CoinTracker categorisation decisions and ensures Polyconomic calculates from raw source data. Your Section 104 pool figures will then be independently verified.
Does Polyconomic handle all the same transaction types as CoinTracker?
For exchange-based activity — trades, deposits, withdrawals, staking rewards — yes. CoinTracker has broader wallet and DeFi support. For portfolios with significant on-chain or DeFi activity, CoinTracker or Koinly may have better coverage of specific transaction types.
What is the difference between the SA108 output of the two tools?
Both tools produce reports that include the figures needed for SA108. Polyconomic's report explicitly labels each figure with the corresponding SA108 box number, includes the Section 104 pool workings, and separates out same-day and 30-day matching events. This makes the report more directly usable for filing and more transparent for review.
I only have 20 trades per year. Does the tool choice matter?
With 20 trades per year, you can verify the numbers manually relatively easily and the tool choice is less critical. Both will produce the same result if the data is imported correctly. The main advantage of Polyconomic for a low-volume investor is that you can check your position for free without paying anything.
Tool information accurate at time of writing.