Koinly vs Syla: which crypto tax software wins for Australians in 2026?
Syla wins for Australian users who want the most ATO-specific reporting at the lowest price. Sydney-built and Australia-only by design, AUD 59 entry tier (AUD 53 effective with the auto-applied 10% referral discount, the cheapest crypto tax software in the AU market), myTax-aligned report formats, and Sydney business-hours support. Koinly wins for users with international exchange exposure or who weight broad accountant brand familiarity. Norwegian-based since 2018 with 800+ integrations covering more international exchanges than Syla's ~250, and broader recognition with non-specialist Australian accountants. Both apply the 50% CGT discount and SMSF 1/3 discount automatically. Both are under AUD 250 at the top tier. The single biggest decision factor: do you want an Australia-only specialist (Syla) or an international generalist with AU rules added regionally (Koinly)?
Quick verdict: which should you choose?
Choose Syla if:
- You want the lowest entry pricing in the AU market (AUD 53 effective)
- Your activity is primarily on AU exchanges (CoinSpot, Independent Reserve, Binance AU)
- You want the most ATO-specific reporting in the market
- You specifically prefer an Australia-only product (not international scope)
- Your DeFi activity is light or zero
Choose Koinly if:
- You have meaningful international exchange exposure
- You want broader accountant brand recognition
- You weight integration breadth over pure pricing
- You have moderate DeFi activity (200+ protocols supported)
- You want a mature user community for troubleshooting
At-a-glance comparison
| Feature | Koinly | Syla | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headquartered | Norway (founded 2018) | Sydney (Australia-only) | AU buyers favour Syla |
| AU pricing range | AUD 64 to 239 / yr | AUD 59 to 249 / yr | Mostly Syla |
| Entry tier (with auto-discount) | AUD 64 (no auto-discount) | ~AUD 53 (10% off) | Syla |
| Total integrations | 800+ | ~250 | Koinly |
| DeFi protocol coverage | 200+ protocols | Light (major protocols only) | Koinly |
| ATO-specific reporting depth | Strong (regional config) | Strongest in market | Syla |
| 50% CGT and SMSF 1/3 discount | Yes (auto) | Yes (auto) | Tie |
| Overall rating on this site | 4.5 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 | Syla (slight) |
AU pricing across all tiers
| Annual transactions | Koinly (list) | Syla (list) | Syla (with 10% off) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 100 | AUD 64 | AUD 59 | ~AUD 53 |
| Up to 1,000 | AUD 119 | AUD 119 | ~AUD 107 |
| Up to 10,000 | AUD 239 | AUD 179 | ~AUD 161 |
| Up to 100,000 | AUD 239 (top tier) | AUD 249 | ~AUD 224 |
Pricing indicative at May 2026. Syla referral link applies the 10% discount automatically at signup with no coupon entry required. Koinly does not offer an auto-applied discount via the referral link.
For typical AU retail crypto users (under 1,000 annual transactions), Syla is structurally cheaper after the auto-applied discount, by AUD 11-12 at the entry tier and AUD 12-18 at the Investor tier. At the very highest transaction counts (100,000+), Koinly's flat top tier of AUD 239 wins on absolute price. Most retail users will not hit that ceiling.
Integration footprint compared
Koinly supports approximately 800 integrations spanning exchanges, software wallets, hardware wallets, blockchains, and DeFi protocols. The composition skews international: 400+ centralised exchanges with strong global coverage, 100+ wallets, 30+ Layer 1 chains, 15+ Layer 2 chains, 200+ DeFi protocols.
Syla supports approximately 250 integrations focused on the Australian retail user. Coverage centres on AU exchanges (CoinSpot, Independent Reserve, Binance Australia, BTC Markets, Swyftx), the major global venues most Australians use (Kraken, Coinbase, Bybit, OKX), the major wallets (MetaMask, Ledger, Trezor, Phantom), and the largest DeFi protocols (Aave, Compound, Uniswap, Lido, Maker).
The integration gap matters when:
- Your activity includes long-tail international exchanges Koinly covers but Syla does not
- You hold positions on lesser-known DeFi protocols or yield aggregators
- You use a Layer 2 chain Syla has not yet added
- You hold NFTs across less common marketplaces
For typical Australian retail spot users with accounts on the major AU and global exchanges, Syla's narrower footprint covers everything you actually use. The gap is real but rarely binding for AU-typical activity. For heavy DeFi or multi-chain users, Summ is the deepest option of the three with 3,500+ integrations including 1,500+ DeFi protocols.
ATO accuracy and Australian-specific reporting
Both products handle Australian-specific tax rules correctly:
- 50% CGT discount: applied automatically to assets held more than 12 months by individuals and family trusts.
- SMSF 1/3 CGT discount: applied automatically for complying SMSFs in accumulation phase.
- Ordinary income classification: staking yield, lending interest, airdrops with value at receipt, bot-trading profits all classified correctly.
- Personal use exemption: narrow ATO exemption applied per ATO guidance.
- Cost-base methods: FIFO default, with HIFO and ACB available.
- AUD valuation at execution: every transaction valued in AUD at the timestamp of execution.
Where Syla has a clear edge: native ATO-aligned report templates that match the structure of the individual tax return form most closely. Syla's product positioning prioritises ATO specificity over international generality. For users handling their own tax returns via myTax, Syla's reports often require less translation than any competitor's.
Where Koinly has the edge: broader recognition with non-specialist Australian accountants, who have typically seen Koinly reports many times before. The mature user community, larger help-article corpus, and longer market history reduce friction when handing reports to a tax agent who is not crypto-specialist.
The underlying ATO rules these tools encode are documented in the Australian crypto tax pillar guide.
SMSF support compared
Both products support SMSF reporting with the 1/3 CGT discount applied. The differences are at the margin:
Koinly: general-purpose SMSF handling with standard CSV exports and PDF summaries. Accountant maps the data to Class Super or BGL 360 manually.
Syla: SMSF-aware report templates with AUD valuations at every disposal. Australia-only positioning means SMSF support is a deliberate product focus rather than a regional add-on.
For SMSF trustees with single-exchange crypto holdings, Independent Reserve's native SMSF product eliminates the cross-exchange reconciliation step entirely (the exchange itself produces SMSF-aware tax records). For multi-exchange SMSF holdings, either Koinly or Syla works. The SMSF crypto CGT calculator shows the after-tax difference vs personal holdings on a sample disposal.
Auto-applied referral discounts
Syla offers a 10% auto-applied discount via the referral link with no coupon entry required. The discount applies to the first subscription year and brings the entry tier from AUD 59 to AUD 53.
Koinly does not offer an equivalent auto-applied discount via the referral link. Occasional Koinly affiliate flows have produced manual coupon codes, but these are not consistent and do not apply at the platform level.
For pure price optimisation, Syla wins both on the lower base price and on the auto-applied discount.
Want the lowest AU entry pricing and most ATO-specific reporting?
Get started with SylaSyla referral link applies a 10% discount automatically at signup.
Want the cheapest entry tier with broader accountant familiarity?
Get started with KoinlyWho wins on specific use cases
Casual Australian retail investor doing monthly DCA on BTC and ETH
Winner: Syla. AUD 53 effective entry tier covers the AU exchanges plus major hardware wallets. ATO-specific reporting reduces tax-time friction.
Active spot trader running 50+ trades per month across AU exchanges
Winner: Syla. AUD 107 effective Investor tier covers 1,000+ transactions on every AU exchange you actually use.
Trader with significant international exchange exposure
Winner: Koinly. The 800+ integration footprint includes more global exchanges than Syla's 250. International coverage is structural to Koinly's product.
Active DeFi user with 100+ on-chain transactions per year
Winner: Koinly (over Syla, but Summ is the deeper option). Koinly's 200+ DeFi protocols handle most major activity. Syla's narrower DeFi coverage will require manual cleanup at this transaction profile. For genuinely heavy DeFi, see Summ vs Koinly.
SMSF trustee with multi-exchange crypto holdings
Tie. Both apply the 1/3 CGT discount correctly. For native SMSF onboarding from the exchange itself, Independent Reserve is the better primary route.
User handing reports to a non-crypto-specialist accountant
Winner: Koinly. Broader recognition reduces explanation overhead.
User specifically wanting an Australia-only product
Winner: Syla. Australia-only by design. Koinly is Norwegian.
User optimising purely on price
Winner: Syla. Cheapest at most tiers including after the auto-applied discount.
Final recommendation
For typical Australian retail crypto investors with primarily AU-exchange activity, simple spot-only profiles, and a preference for the cheapest ATO-specific option, Syla is the better choice. The AUD 53 effective entry tier is the cheapest published crypto tax software pricing in the AU market. The Australia-only positioning produces reporting depth that Koinly's regional configuration cannot match.
For Australian users with meaningful international exchange exposure, moderate DeFi activity, or who weight broader accountant brand familiarity, Koinly is the better choice. The 800+ integration footprint and mature global user base reduce friction in scenarios where Syla's narrower scope is binding.
The honest framing: Syla is the cheaper, AU-only, ATO-specific specialist. Koinly is the broader, internationally-scoped generalist with AU rules added regionally. Both produce ATO-compliant reports. The decision is a function of whether you weight Australia-specific depth or international integration breadth.
For the third Australian-friendly option (deepest DeFi coverage, Sydney-built), see the Summ review or the Koinly vs Summ comparison and Summ vs Syla comparison. For the underlying ATO rules these tools encode, see the Crypto Tax Australia pillar.
Get started with Syla
AUD 59 to 249 per year (10% off via referral). Australia-only product design. Most ATO-specific reporting in the AU market.
Get started with SylaGet started with Koinly
AUD 64 to 239 per year. 800+ integrations including broad international exchange coverage. Norwegian-based since 2018.
Get started with KoinlySyla referral link applies a 10% discount automatically at signup.
Frequently asked questions
Syla is better for Australian users who want the most ATO-specific reporting at the lowest entry price (AUD 53 effective with the auto-applied 10% referral discount). Koinly is better for users with international exchange exposure or who want broader brand recognition with Australian accountants. Both apply the 50% CGT discount and SMSF 1/3 discount automatically. Both are ATO-compliant. The decision is a function of whether you want an AU-only specialist or an international generalist.
Syla is cheaper at the entry tier and most mid tiers, with the auto-applied referral discount. Syla starts at AUD 59 list (AUD 53 effective with the 10% discount). Koinly starts at AUD 64 with no auto-discount. At the top tier Syla is AUD 249 vs Koinly's AUD 239, so Koinly takes the lead at the very highest transaction counts. For typical retail users under 1,000 annual transactions, Syla is structurally cheaper.
Yes. Koinly applies the SMSF 1/3 CGT discount automatically for complying funds in accumulation phase, producing the 10% effective rate on long-term gains. Reports export in CSV and PDF formats compatible with Australian SMSF accounting platforms. Syla also supports SMSF accounts with equivalent ATO classification depth. For SMSF trustees with multi-exchange holdings, [Independent Reserve's domestic SMSF product](/reviews/independent-reserve-review/) eliminates cross-exchange reconciliation entirely.
Koinly supports approximately 800 integrations across exchanges, wallets, blockchains and DeFi protocols. Syla supports approximately 250 integrations focused on the major Australian exchanges (CoinSpot, Independent Reserve, Binance Australia, BTC Markets) plus the major global venues. The 3.2x gap reflects different positioning: Koinly targets the global market with regional configurations, Syla targets the Australian market exclusively. For typical AU retail spot users, both cover the exchanges you actually use.
Syla supports the major DeFi protocols (Aave, Compound, Uniswap V2 and V3, Lido, Maker) but with materially less depth than Koinly's 200+ DeFi protocol coverage. For Australian users with light DeFi exposure (under 10-20 percent of total transactions on major protocols), Syla is sufficient. For users running positions across many DeFi protocols or yield aggregators, Koinly is the better fit, and Summ is the deepest DeFi-aware option of the three with 1,500+ protocols.
Yes. Both produce ATO-compliant tax reports applying the 50% CGT discount on assets held more than 12 months by individuals and trusts, classifying staking rewards as ordinary income on receipt, and supporting myTax-aligned summary report formats. Both handle the SMSF 1/3 CGT discount correctly. Both support FIFO, HIFO and ACB cost-base methods with audit trail. Either is sufficient for an ATO-compliant tax return.
Yes. Both products import full transaction history from CSV exports of the other. Both can rebuild cost-base reconstruction from the same exchange API connections. Migration is mechanically straightforward but historical reports already lodged with the ATO should be preserved for record-keeping purposes regardless of which tool you use going forward. The ATO requires five years of records after lodging.
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