Updated June 17, 2026
Quick answer: Yes, Polymarket US charges trading fees. Taker orders pay a variable fee based on the number of contracts and the contract price, while maker orders can earn a rebate for providing liquidity.
Under the current Polymarket US fee schedule:
The fee is highest when a contract trades around 50¢ and falls as the price moves closer to either 0¢ or $1.
Importantly, this guide covers Polymarket US, not the international version of Polymarket. Polymarket US is a fiat-based, CFTC-regulated exchange where trading takes place in U.S. dollars. The international Polymarket platform uses separate blockchain-based infrastructure and has a different fee system.
Polymarket can therefore be relatively inexpensive for traders who provide liquidity, but market orders still carry a meaningful cost, particularly around 50¢ contracts.
Last updated: August 2026. Polymarket can change its fee schedule, so always check the live order preview and current Polymarket US fee documentation before trading.
Fee Type | Current Cost | Applies To | What It Means |
|---|---|---|---|
Taker fee | Variable; coefficient of 0.06 | Orders that immediately remove liquidity | Fee depends on contract quantity and price |
Maker fee | $0 | Resting orders that provide liquidity | Standard maker executions are not charged a trading fee |
Maker rebate | Coefficient of 0.0125 | Eligible resting orders that execute | Makers receive a rebate when providing liquidity |
Canceled/expired order | $0 | Orders that never execute | Trading fees only apply when a trade occurs |
Funding costs | Check payment method | Deposits and withdrawals | Costs and limits should be checked in the Polymarket US app |
The most important distinction is between makers and takers.
A taker places an order that immediately matches against liquidity already available on the order book. A maker places an order that rests on the book and is later matched by another trader.
Under the current Polymarket US structure, takers pay trading fees while makers can receive rebates.
Yes. Polymarket US charges trading fees on taker orders.
Unlike a sportsbook that builds its margin into fixed betting odds, Polymarket US operates a central limit order book. Traders buy and sell event contracts against other market participants.
The trading fee therefore depends on how the order is executed.
If your order immediately matches against an existing order, you are taking liquidity and a taker fee applies.
If your order rests on the book before another trader matches with it, you are providing liquidity and may receive a maker rebate.
Polymarket US does not use a single flat percentage of the amount you spend. Instead, its fee formula depends on the number of contracts and their price.
Polymarket US calculates standard trading fees using the following formula:
Fee = Θ × C × p × (1 − p)
Where:
The current coefficients are:
Order Type | Coefficient |
|---|---|
Taker fee | 0.06 |
Maker rebate | -0.0125 |
The negative maker coefficient represents money being credited back to the maker rather than charged as a fee.
It is important not to interpret the 0.06 coefficient as a flat 6% fee on the amount traded. The actual cost depends on the contract price because the formula includes p × (1 − p).
The Polymarket US fee formula creates a curve where trading fees are highest around a 50¢ contract price.
At 50¢:
p × (1 − p) = 0.50 × 0.50 = 0.25
This is the highest possible result.
As the contract moves toward 0¢ or $1, the figure becomes smaller.
For example:
This means the fee schedule is symmetrical.
A trader buying at 10¢ therefore pays less per contract than a trader buying at 50¢, even though both are trading on the same platform under the same fee coefficient.
The easiest way to understand Polymarket fees is to look at actual contract prices.
The following examples show the approximate standard fee for 100 contracts:
Contract Price | Trade Value | Taker Fee | Maker Rebate |
|---|---|---|---|
10¢ | $10 | $0.54 | $0.11 |
30¢ | $30 | $1.26 | $0.26 |
50¢ | $50 | $1.50 | $0.31 |
55¢ | $55 | $1.48 | $0.31 |
70¢ | $70 | $1.26 | $0.26 |
90¢ | $90 | $0.54 | $0.11 |
The 50¢ example is particularly useful.
If you take liquidity on 100 contracts at 50¢, the position itself costs $50 and the standard taker fee is $1.50.
If you instead provide liquidity and your resting order executes as the maker, the current schedule provides a maker rebate of approximately $0.31.
This difference becomes more important as trading volume increases.
A taker is a trader whose order immediately matches with an order already sitting on the order book.
For example, imagine YES contracts are currently available for 55¢.
If you submit an order that immediately buys those contracts at 55¢, you are removing existing liquidity. You are therefore the taker.
Polymarket US charges the taker fee when the trade executes.
The fee varies based on price and quantity rather than using a single fixed dollar amount.
Contracts close to 50¢ generate the highest fee per contract. Contracts closer to 0¢ or $1 generate lower fees.
This makes order execution important. A trader who repeatedly crosses the spread with aggressive orders can incur both:
Slippage can create an additional cost when there is not enough liquidity available at the expected price.
A maker provides liquidity.
For example, if the best available YES price is 55¢ and you place a limit order to buy at 53¢, your order may sit on the book waiting for another trader to accept it.
If another trader later matches with your resting order, you acted as the maker.
Under the current Polymarket US fee schedule, maker executions receive a rebate using a coefficient of 0.0125.
At a 50¢ contract price, that works out to approximately $0.31 per 100 contracts.
Maker rebates are credited at the point of the trade.
This creates a meaningful distinction between aggressive and patient execution. A trader who constantly uses taker orders pays fees, while a trader who provides useful liquidity may receive rebates instead.
However, placing a limit order does not automatically make you a maker. If your limit price causes the order to execute immediately against existing liquidity, it is still a taker order.
Polymarket US also offers additional taker rebates to sufficiently high-volume traders.
The current schedule bases eligibility on notional taker trading volume during the previous calendar month.
Previous Month Taker Volume | Taker Fee Rebate |
|---|---|
$250,000–$999,999 | 10% |
$1 million–$9,999,999 | 25% |
$10 million+ | 50% |
These rebates are more relevant to professional or highly active traders than casual users.
For most users, the standard taker fee and maker rebate structure will be the more important consideration.
No blockchain gas fee is required simply to trade on Polymarket US.
This is an important distinction because Polymarket operates two different products.
Polymarket International is the crypto-based version of the platform and uses blockchain technology.
Polymarket US is a separate, fiat-based exchange for U.S. residents. Trading is conducted in U.S. dollars under CFTC oversight.
For that reason, U.S. users should not use Polygon gas fees, USDC transfers or crypto wallet costs as the basis for evaluating Polymarket US trading costs.
The main trading costs to consider on Polymarket US are:
Polymarket US uses traditional USD funding rather than requiring users to deposit cryptocurrency.
Its current documentation lists funding through methods including:
Funding limits, processing requirements and available withdrawal methods can depend on the account and payment method.
Polymarket US does not currently present its consumer funding system as a single universal deposit-and-withdrawal fee schedule in the same way it publishes its trading fee formula.
For that reason, users should check the funding screen in the Polymarket US app before completing a deposit or withdrawal rather than assuming every payment method is free.
This is another area where Polymarket US should not be confused with the international Polymarket platform, where crypto transfer and network costs may be relevant.
Trading costs are not determined by the published taker fee alone.
There are several ways to improve execution.
A resting limit order can make you a liquidity provider rather than a taker.
If your order is eventually filled as a maker, the current Polymarket US schedule provides a maker rebate instead of charging the standard taker fee.
Trading fees are highest around 50¢ contracts.
That does not mean you should avoid 50¢ markets, but you should understand that the fee per contract is higher around the middle of the probability range.
The bid-ask spread can cost more than the published trading fee.
If buyers are offering 50¢ but sellers are asking 55¢, immediately crossing that spread has an economic cost even before the trading fee is considered.
Better liquidity generally means more contracts are available close to the current market price.
That can reduce slippage and make it easier to enter or exit a position efficiently.
You can read more about this in our guide to Polymarket liquidity and execution quality.
Polymarket US calculates trading fees when trades execute.
Check the expected execution price, quantity and fee before submitting the order, particularly when making larger trades.
Polymarket US and Kalshi both operate order-book-based prediction markets, making their fee structures more directly comparable than the international Polymarket product.
Under their current standard schedules, both platforms use formulas in which fees rise toward the middle of the probability range.
At a contract price of 50¢:
Platform | Standard Taker Fee on 100 Contracts |
|---|---|
Polymarket US | $1.50 |
Kalshi | $1.75 |
Polymarket US currently uses:
0.06 × contracts × price × (1 − price)
Kalshi's general standard schedule uses:
0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price)
That gives Polymarket US a lower standard taker fee at equivalent contract prices under these general schedules.
There is another important difference: Polymarket US currently provides a maker rebate on standard CLOB trades, while Kalshi can charge maker fees on certain specified markets.
However, this should not be interpreted to mean Polymarket is always cheaper.
Kalshi maintains product-specific fee schedules for certain markets, while Polymarket can also update its exchange fee structure. Spreads, liquidity and execution quality can also matter more than a small difference in the published fee.
Always compare the actual cost of the market you intend to trade rather than assuming one platform is universally cheaper.
Trading fees reduce the edge available on every position.
Suppose you believe a contract trading at 50¢ is really worth 52¢.
That theoretical two-cent advantage can quickly become much less attractive if you:
This is why execution quality matters.
A trader who correctly predicts an outcome can still generate a poor return if the entry price is bad or transaction costs consume most of the expected advantage.
Conversely, a patient trader using resting orders may receive better pricing and maker rebates.
For occasional users, the practical rule is straightforward: look at the total cost and expected payout before confirming a trade.
For active traders, order type, liquidity, spread management and maker/taker status become much more important.
Risk note: Low fees do not make prediction market trading safe or profitable. Event contracts can lose their full purchase value if the outcome goes against you. This guide is for informational purposes only and is not financial advice.
Yes. Polymarket US charges fees to takers whose orders immediately remove liquidity from the order book. The fee depends on the number of contracts and their price.
Polymarket US currently uses a taker fee coefficient of 0.06 in its standard CLOB fee formula. This is not the same as charging a flat 6% of your stake.
At 50¢, where the fee reaches its maximum per contract, the standard fee is $1.50 per 100 contracts.
It depends on how the order executes.
A limit order that rests on the order book and later executes as a maker is not charged the standard taker fee and currently earns a maker rebate.
A limit order that immediately matches against an existing order is still considered a taker order and can incur the taker fee.
Yes. Polymarket US currently uses a maker rebate coefficient of 0.0125.
At a 50¢ contract price, this equals approximately $0.31 per 100 contracts.
Trading fees are highest when contracts are priced around 50¢.
The fee falls as contract prices move toward either 0¢ or $1 because of the p × (1 − p) component of the fee formula.
It depends on the contract price.
At 50¢, the current standard taker fee is $1.50 for 100 contracts. At 10¢ or 90¢, it falls to approximately $0.54.
No. Polymarket US states that trading fees apply when a trade executes. An order that is canceled, expires or is rejected does not incur a trading fee.
No crypto is required to trade on Polymarket US.
Polymarket US is the fiat-based U.S. exchange and trades in dollars. Polymarket International is a separate crypto-based product that uses blockchain technology.
Not as part of ordinary Polymarket US trading. Blockchain gas fees relate to the separate international Polymarket product rather than the U.S. exchange.
Under the current general fee schedules, Polymarket US has a lower standard taker coefficient than Kalshi.
At 50¢, 100 contracts produce a standard taker fee of approximately $1.50 on Polymarket US compared with $1.75 under Kalshi's general schedule.
However, individual market fee schedules, maker fees, spreads and liquidity can change the overall cost.
This guide was fact-checked against:
Fee schedules can change. The examples above explain how the published fee structure works as of August 2026 and should not be treated as a guarantee of the fee on any future trade.
For most casual traders, the key distinction is simple: taking liquidity costs money, while providing liquidity can earn a rebate.
Polymarket US can therefore be competitive on trading costs, particularly for users who understand limit orders and avoid unnecessarily crossing the spread. But it is not accurate to describe the platform as completely fee-free.
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