ChangeHero vs SimpleSwap: Review and Comparison

Like ChangeHero, SimpleSwap has been around for almost eight years but in that time, it has grown to one of the most recognized instant exchange platforms, overtaking its competitors. Is the secret in the quality of service or something else? We have the answer!

If you look for a comparison that goes beyond superficial differences between SimpleSwap and ChangeHero, you are also in the right place. We tested both services hands-on without any bias or prejudice.

ChangeHero vs SimpleSwap Quick Summary

• Among the reviewed platforms, SimpleSwap has the highest brand recognition in the space, at least based on search volumes and social media. This can be at least partially attributed to its longest list of supported coins and tokens, giving the service the farthest reach with most crypto communities.
• In contrast, regarding listed assets, ChangeHero cannot offer much of an advantage, although the situation is improving. However, when it comes to using the service, its rates and processing speed are better.
• Particularly, the test transaction that was simultaneously performed on both services arrived 40 seconds earlier and the total expenses were 0.78% lower when using ChangeHero. The difference in that particular singular case was very close.

Competitive Edge

As non-custodial crypto swap platforms, SimpleSwap and ChangeHero serve the same goal: exchanging one cryptocurrency for another in the amount the user needs with no accounts or balances. In contrast to a centralized crypto exchange, which tracks user accounts with balances and requires them to identify themselves, instant exchange platforms offer a quicker and more privacy-conscious path to turning one crypto asset into another.

How these services position themselves and what they actually deliver is what sets them apart. According to ChangeHero’s landing page, its main advantages are speed, ease of use and optimized exchange rates. SimpleSwap’s main page and intro communicate how easy the platform is to use and encourage users to sign up for various bonuses, although it is not obligatory to get started.

So, SimpleSwap offers a loyalty program of sorts, which provides better exchange rates and cashback. At the time, there are no user accounts on ChangeHero at all, which give no extra perks to willing users but also certainly ensure all swaps are registration-free. Both platforms offer affiliate programs separate from user accounts; the terms are largely the same with the exception of revenue share mechanisms and reward rates.

Last but not least, SimpleSwap has a smartphone app for Android, as well as a dedicated app for analytics and education, SimpleLearn. The former has a 4.1 rating in Google Play with 1.8 thousand reviews total and over 100 thousand downloads. Although ChangeHero’s web page opens in a mobile browser just fine, to users who find a dedicated app more convenient, this can be the deciding factor.

Reputation

By all metrics we use to gauge brand recognition, SimpleSwap is the most well-known brand, ahead of all competitors we reviewed. Looking up “SimpleSwap” returns a whopping 1.120 million results on Google, while “changehero” yields about 545 thousand mentions. The follower counts across social media confirm that SimpleSwap has major brand recognition.

Compared to it, ChangeHero is the lesser-known competitor in the niche. This is further proven by a much lower number of user reviews about ChangeHero on Trustpilot. However, SimpleSwap’s page on this review aggregator has a disclaimer about breach of guidelines regarding fake reviews.

Both ChangeHero and SimpleSwap have been around since 2018. It is relatively easy to find the page with company information for the former, while the latter takes some effort to pin down. Herofintechs Ltd. is based in Costa Rica, while SimpleSwap Ltd. seems to be operating from Panama, according to the Terms of Service.

Coin & Token Selection

As we have seen in prior reviews, ChangeHero’s competitors often offer more extensive lists of supported assets. This platform at the time of writing advertises 400+ supported assets across different blockchain networks. A check in the web calculator showed 286 available coins and tokens to exchange into with the Best Rate at the time of writing. As for fiat-to-crypto purchases, since the previous review there has been an update, and the list of assets you can buy on ChangeHero is at 252 options, which is a significant upgrade. Selling was supported for 29 coins.

SimpleSwap offers about 1,500 assets for swapping on the main page, and the calculator supports that. There were 53 coins to buy and well over a thousand to sell, suggesting that cashing out on SimpleSwap involves additional conversions. Nevertheless, the selection is impressive and blows all competition out of the water at least when it comes to selling crypto for fiat.

Interface and UX

Since both services present the ease of use as a defining feature, how simple to use are they in reality?

As is the norm, the calculator widget is the first thing you see both on the SimpleSwap and ChangeHero websites. Transactions with crypto and fiat are separated by tabs, ensuring no confusion. SimpleSwap’s calculator has some minor fluff in the shape of a sign up and promo code buttons, which is ultimately not too obtrusive.

Both platforms redirect the user to a dedicated processing page where more relevant to the transaction information is to be provided. SimpleSwap’s one also has a few FAQs at the bottom of it and optional fields for extra details such as a refund wallet or email address to receive notifications. ChangeHero does not have a field to collect email addresses and notify users and requests a refund wallet address only when Fixed rate is enabled.

When the transaction is finalized, both platforms display QR-codes and pastable service addresses where the user is supposed to deposit funds for exchange. Following that, there was a minor difference that made a strong impression nonetheless: SimpleSwap foregoes any animated elements in the interface. ChangeHero displays a loading wheel when the transaction is underway but not yet confirmed, indicating that the exchange is taking place. In contrast, while less noise on the screen might have been a conscious design choice on SimpleSwap’s part, there was no indication that anything was happening at all.

Hands-On Crypto Swap Comparison on ChangeHero and SimpleSwap

In fact, we did not go through the whole process on both platforms just to view the interfaces. To provide an informed review, we made identical transactions on ChangeHero and SimpleSwap simultaneously: exchanged 0.00785 ETH to Tether USD on the TRON network. Doing it side-by-side helped compare the processing times and ensured that the difference in the results is not due to gas fee fluctuations. The results are summed up as follows:

When it came to processing speed and exchange rates, ChangeHero was a bit faster, and not at the cost of a higher gas fee. The exchange rate difference also amounted to about 20 cents but given the low volume of the test transaction, it was not that negligible. Perhaps a larger amount would have given a better idea how much of the difference between the deposits and swap results was due to spreads or service commissions.

Fee and Rate Transparency

Speaking of the fees and commissions, according to ChangeHero, only 0.5% of the approximately 8.21% spent to exchange and send both transactions went to the platform. As for SimpleSwap and their almost 9% (also an approximation), there is no way of knowing. Their approach is to omit that information and simply explain it to their users that all expenses are already included in the fee calculation.

This is by no means a wrong approach: the user has no precise information about the liquidity provider’s spreads at the time and can’t verify ChangeHero’s claim. There is an important caveat, though: ChangeHero explains elsewhere that the service commission is the source for revenue share. Therefore, they provide more clarity to their affiliates regarding their earnings.

While not exactly a lack of transparency, SimpleSwap’s website seems to be unevenly updated and as a result, contains plenty of contradictory information. This came up when researching their fee structure, loyalty program, affiliates’ revenue share, and even terms of using the service. ChangeHero’s website also contains occasional discrepancies (e.g. in the number of listed assets) but not outright contradictions about how things there work.

Security & KYC Policies

Finally, to complete the review, let’s briefly describe the security and compliance side of both platforms. Even though it does not happen for every swap, identification procedures are a part of the experience, albeit rare.

SimpleSwap adheres to a risk-based approach, much like other instant exchanges. Instead of requiring everyone to go through a “know-your-customer” procedure before availing of the service, it reserves the right to pause an ongoing transaction and request personal information and some documents from a user: a selfie with an ID and proof of funds (utility bills, etc.) In the KYC/AML Policy they also elaborate that the service can be described as free from sign-ups and KYC only in low-risk scenarios. Whether or not the procedure is done with the help of any third party is not specified, although liveness checks are mentioned.

Likewise, ChangeHero also follows the industry’s best practices. The risk-based approach works for instant exchanges the best, allowing them to strike the balance between privacy and compliance. At least based on the published policies, ChangeHero seems to be harsher to users and funds under active investigation and specifies that no refunds can be issued in that case. The actual proceedings of SimpleSwap in this case were obviously not observed but the Terms of Use mention illicit funds only in the clause related to issuing refunds.

The Verdict

SimpleSwap and ChangeHero had the same amount of time but only the former emerged as a massive brand. The latter remains overshadowed but when it comes to the service, its speed and rates are even better. The narrower selection of assets might be a deciding factor, since not as many crypto communities support the service and help it gain prominence.

Did you find the reviews or other content from our blog useful? Let us know on social media and share them if you’d like: we’re on X (Twitter), Facebook, and Telegram.