• BTC$81,535.7-0.6%
• ETH$2,434.24-0.9%
• USDT$1~0%
• XRP$1.31-2.3%
• BNB$720.39-1.4%
• USDC$1~0%

That number doesn't account for:

• exchange fees,
• the spread between buying and selling,
• withdrawal fees,
• the exchanger's markup.

It's like the price of an apartment on Zillow: a nice number, but when you get closer to the actual deal, you have to handle the realtor’s fees, taxes, and paperwork.

What ChangeNOW shows

The ChangeNOW calculator shows the rate at which it's ready to actually exchange your coins right now. This is already a final price that includes all costs.

What makes up the difference

The numbers are an illustration. Rates change every second and the difference in rates depends on a pair, amount and market conditions. 1.7% is not a constant here.

• The spread. That's the main thing and it comes from the market. Every exchange shows you two prices: the highest one buyers offer and the lowest one sellers ask. The distance between them is the spread. Our system picks the narrowest spread among our liquidity providers.
• Exchanger's fee for service.
• Network fee that is charged by the blockchain for the transfer. Sometimes deducted from the amount.
• Pair liquidity. The thing to understand here: the more popular the pair (like USDT → BTC), the better the rate. On less popular pairs the markup might get bigger.
• Rate lock in fixed rate. When you choose Fixed mode on ChangeNOW, the system locks the rate for 10 minutes while you send the coins. To balance the risks, the service adds a small premium to the total rate.
• Different assets. Google shows BTC/USD, while ChangeNOW might exchange BTC to USDT. And USDT isn't always precisely $1 even if it’s pegged to USD.
• Trade size matters too. The bigger the amount, the better the rate is, because fixed costs “eat up” a bigger share.

Fixed vs Floating Rate

According to ChangeNOW internal stats, users choose floating rate about 80% of the time.

The number you see at the start is an estimate.

A rate is a general value - a price of one asset in another, for example 1 BTC = $80,000

An estimate is the calculated amount you’ll get based on the rate, your swap size, and all the additional costs like networks and service fees.

A few minutes pass between creating a swap and your deposit reaching the blockchain, and the market keeps moving in that window. The final amount is calculated when the deposit arrives, so it can land a bit higher or lower than the estimate.

About half of floating-rate swaps on ChangeNOW match the estimate or beat it.

If you don't want the amount to move while your deposit is on its way, click the lock icon in the widget and choose Fixed Rate.

A full, detailed guide on how Fixed and Floating modes work here → Fixed vs Floating Exchange Rate in Crypto: Which to Choose?

Bottom line

Google is the price on the showroom floor. The price you see on ChangeNOW is the price with delivery, service, and a guarantee that the deal goes through.

What you pay for is convenience, speed, and no need to go through a KYC procedure for a swap that takes 3 minutes max.

How Exactly ChangeNOW Finds Your Rate

Many simple exchangers just lock in one liquidity provider for each pair. ChangeNOW doesn't do that. Here's what happens when you create a swap:

• We scan the order books of several big exchanges and liquidity providers at the same time.
• We actually don't stop at the raw order book price. We also look at each provider's trading terms. Because ChangeNOW trades in huge volumes, we get VIP tiers on major exchanges like Binance, for instance.
• We pick the best price available.
• We add an exchange fee for our service.

And that means lower trading fees than a regular user would pay. That saving ends up in your rate.

How to Compare Rates Fairly

Comparing rates can be tricky because every platform shows a different number. So comparing like with like makes perfect sense.

Services charge different fees and run swaps in different ways, and each one calculates its estimate by its own method. Comparing estimates alone can’t tell you how much you will actually get.

The only reliable way to find the best rate is to run test swaps. One swap is not really reliable, because many things affect the result, so make several, at different times and with different amounts.

Few people have time for that, so here are simpler, although less precise ways to compare.

1. Use the same pair and the same amount everywhere

BTC → USDT and BTC → USDC are different swaps.

So are USDT on TRC-20 and USDT on ERC-20.

A fixed quote only compares with another fixed quote.

2. Compare estimates across several exchangers

Compare the amount that reaches your wallet, and not the rate per coin in vacuum.

Every exchanger shows an estimate before you commit. Look at the full conditions and choose the one that suits your flow. Check:

• Rates for fixed vs floating
• Time window for fixed rate
• Separate network fees or withdrawal fees
• Minimum amount

3. Remember: an estimate is an estimate

The market is volatile - it can shift between your deposit and the payout, so the final amount can come out higher or lower than the estimate. Want to freeze an exact rate? Turn on Fixed rate.