This page is also available in:
Deutsch
At Investing Hero, I aim to provide the best investing platform reviews. To support this, some of the providers featured in reviews will generate an affiliate commission which helps pay to run this website. However, this doesn’t influence my reviews. My opinions are our own. The information provided on Investing Hero is for informational purposes only. Please read the disclaimer.
Relai is the simplest way in Switzerland to own actual Bitcoin: a Swiss app, one asset, and every coin you buy lands straight in a wallet where you hold the keys. You pay 1% per trade, 0.9% with the code HERO, and your first CHF 100 each month is fee-free on a savings plan. No exchange account to secure, no custody risk to manage, no five hundred coins to ignore.
The Bitcoin on-ramp I recommend to anyone who asks “how do I just buy some Bitcoin”. Non-custodial from the first franc, Swiss-built, and the monthly savings plan automates the sensible strategy. It costs more per trade than Binance, but you are paying for the version where nothing sits on an exchange, and the free CHF 100 monthly tranche closes most of that gap for regular savers.
Why Relai is the beginner Bitcoin pick
Most crypto disasters happen in one of two places: on an exchange that fails, or in a self-custody setup done wrong. Relai removes the first entirely and holds your hand through the second. The app creates a non-custodial wallet on your phone, so every purchase settles into coins only you control, and Relai covers the network fees on buys. One asset, Bitcoin, means no coin-casino to get lost in.
It is Swiss through and through: Relai AG in Zurich serves Swiss customers, has held Bitcoin on its own balance sheet since 2024, and EU customers now run through Relai EU in France under the MiCA framework. For anyone whose entire crypto ambition is “own some Bitcoin, safely, without homework”, this is the shortest path I know.
Relai fees
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Service fee per trade | 1.0% | 0.9% with the code HERO, permanent |
| Monthly savings plan | 0% on first CHF 100/month | Up to CHF 1’200 a year fee-free |
| Card purchases | +3.0% | Payment-provider surcharge; use bank transfer instead |
| Network fees, buying | 0 | Covered by Relai |
| Network fees, selling | Varies | You pay, shown before confirming; consequence of self-custody |
| Minimum trade | CHF 50 | Relai Private from CHF 100’000 with tiered fees down to 0.20% |
Source: Relai AG’s pricing policy, version in force since 1 January 2026, checked 9 August 2026. A small market spread applies on top, as at every broker.
The honest comparison: Binance costs 0.1% but your coins start on the exchange. Relai costs 0.9% and they never touch one. For a monthly saver putting in CHF 100, Relai is effectively free anyway; for larger lump sums the premium is the price of never worrying about exchange risk. Both are covered in my Swiss Bitcoin comparison.
Self-custody: the point, and the responsibility
Non-custodial means Relai cannot freeze, lose or lend your coins, because it never holds them. It also means the twelve-word recovery phrase the app generates IS your Bitcoin. Anyone who has it can take everything; anyone who loses it and the phone has nothing.
Do this before your first real buy: write the recovery phrase on paper, twice, and store the copies in two different physical places. Never photograph it, never type it into anything, and know that Relai will never ask for it. This one habit is the entire security model.
New since the last review
Relai has grown up around the app: Relai Private handles trades from CHF 100’000 with fees stepping down to 0.20%, Relai Business serves companies, and together with Sygnum, the Swiss digital-asset bank, Relai now offers Bitcoin-backed loans, so larger holders can raise liquidity without selling. The core app is unchanged: buy, save, withdraw, done.
Opening an account with Relai
The whole point of Relai is how little this section needs: download, create the wallet, back up the recovery phrase, buy. The screens below are from my own setup; the design has evolved since, but the flow is the same and still takes under ten minutes including verification.
Logging in and funding
Funding is by bank transfer (the cheap route) or card (+3%, avoid it). Enter the code HERO before your first purchase for the permanent 0.9% rate, and if you plan to buy monthly, set the savings plan so your first CHF 100 each month rides fee-free.
Relai pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|
|
My rules for stacking Bitcoin
- Back up the phrase before the first buy. Paper, twice, two places. This outranks every other rule.
- Automate it. A monthly savings plan inside the free CHF 100 tranche buys the dip and the top without you touching anything, at 0% Relai fees.
- Size it to survive zero. Bitcoin remains the sleeve of your portfolio you could lose entirely; single digits of net worth for most people.
- Bank transfer, never card. The 3% card surcharge is three years of savings-plan fees in one tap.
- Declare it. Bitcoin belongs in your wealth tax at the year-end official rate. See my Swiss tax guide.
The cheapest possible test: set up a monthly savings plan of CHF 50 to 100. Inside the free monthly tranche you pay Relai nothing at all, the coins land in your own wallet, and after two or three months you will know whether Bitcoin belongs in your plan, having risked coffee money.
Relai FAQ
Is Relai safe?
Safer by design than any custodial exchange: Relai never holds your Bitcoin, so there is nothing for the company to lose, freeze or lend. The risk moves to you, in the form of the recovery phrase; protect that and the setup is as robust as Bitcoin gets.
What does Relai really cost?
1% per buy or sell, 0.9% permanently with the code HERO, plus a small market spread. The first CHF 100 each month on a savings plan carries no Relai fee at all, network fees on buys are covered, and the only trap is the 3% card surcharge, which bank transfers avoid.
Is Relai regulated?
Relai AG is a Swiss company serving Swiss clients; EU customers are served by Relai EU in France under the EU’s MiCA framework. Because the wallet is non-custodial, the usual exchange counterparty question mostly disappears: your coins are never on their books.
Relai or Binance?
Relai to own Bitcoin simply and safely, especially as a monthly saver. Binance for the lowest per-trade cost, other coins and exchange features, with the custody discipline that requires. My take: Binance review.
What happens if I lose my phone?
Nothing, if you have the recovery phrase: restore the wallet on a new device and everything is there. Everything, if you lost the phrase too. That is the deal with self-custody, and why the backup rule comes first in this review.
Can I sell Bitcoin through Relai?
Yes, at the same service fee, straight from your wallet to your bank account. You pay the Bitcoin network fee when selling, which the app shows before you confirm.
How is Bitcoin taxed in Switzerland?
For private investors, gains are generally tax-free; holdings belong in your wealth tax at the year-end official rate published by the federal tax administration. See my Swiss tax guide.
What is Relai Private?
The large-trade service, from CHF 100’000, with fees stepping down from 1% to 0.20% by volume, plus Bitcoin-backed loans in partnership with Sygnum, the Swiss digital-asset bank, so holders can raise liquidity without selling.
Compare & choose
The other comparisons on Investing Hero, each built the same way: every fee read from the provider’s own pricing page.
How this review is kept current. Every Relai figure on this page was read from relai.app on 9 August 2026, not from a comparison site, and reconciles with my provider data file. The code HERO and its permanent 0.9% rate were re-verified against the pricing policy the same day.
Sources. All figures were read from Relai’s own pages on 9 August 2026: the Relai AG pricing policy in force since 1 January 2026 (1% service fee, permanent 10% referral discount, 3% card surcharge, CHF 50 minimum, fee-free CHF 100 monthly savings tranche, network fees covered on buys, Relai Private tiers) and Relai’s published notes on the Private service and EU MiCA migration. Nothing is quoted from a comparison site. Educational content, not financial advice.
