Polymarket fees
Polymarket fees, explained
Polymarket spent years as the venue that charged nothing to trade, and a lot of pages still say so. That is out of date. Polymarket now charges a taker fee that varies by market category, while makers still pay nothing and can earn rebates. Geopolitics and world-events markets remain genuinely fee-free. This guide gives the actual formula from Polymarket's own developer documentation, the per-category rates as of 2026, and the costs that never show up on a fee schedule at all. If you would rather skip fees entirely, BitPredict is free.
The short version
- Makers are never charged. Only takers pay a fee. This is the headline difference from Kalshi, where makers pay a reduced fee rather than nothing.
- Taker fees vary by category, from the cheapest tier on politics, finance, tech and mentions up to the most expensive on crypto.
- Geopolitics and world-events markets are fee-free. Polymarket states plainly that it does not profit from trading on them.
- The fee scales with the odds, exactly like Kalshi: highest near 50/50, close to nothing at the extremes.
- Makers can earn rebates of 15% to 25% depending on the category, so patient traders can be paid to provide liquidity.
- Polymarket itself charges nothing to deposit or withdraw, but the third-party rails you use can.
- The spread is usually your biggest cost, and it does not appear on any fee schedule.
The actual formula
From Polymarket's own developer documentation, the fee on a taker order is:
fee = shares × feeRate × price × (1 − price)
Note the `price × (1 − price)` term. It is the same dome-shaped curve Kalshi uses, so the intuition carries over exactly: a market trading at a coin flip is where fees peak, and a near-certain market costs almost nothing to trade. Fees are rounded to five decimal places, and the smallest fee Polymarket will charge is 0.00001 USDC.
Beware of pages quoting Polymarket's fees as flat percentages like "crypto 1.80%". That number is what the formula produces only at a 50-cent price, which is its maximum. At any other price the real cost is lower, often much lower. The rate is a coefficient, not a percentage of your stake.
Taker rates by category
The `feeRate` in the formula above depends on what you are trading. These are the published rates as of 2026, alongside the maker rebate for the same category.
| Category | Taker rate | Maker rebate | Cost per contract at 50 cents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crypto | 0.07 | 20% | About 1.75 cents |
| Sports | 0.05 | 15% | About 1.25 cents |
| Economics | 0.05 | 25% | About 1.25 cents |
| Culture | 0.05 | 25% | About 1.25 cents |
| Weather | 0.05 | 25% | About 1.25 cents |
| Other / general | 0.05 | 25% | About 1.25 cents |
| Politics | 0.04 | 25% | About 1 cent |
| Finance | 0.04 | 25% | About 1 cent |
| Tech | 0.04 | 25% | About 1 cent |
| Mentions | 0.04 | 25% | About 1 cent |
| Geopolitics | 0 | n/a | Free |
Worth noticing: Polymarket's crypto rate and Kalshi's headline rate are the same coefficient, 0.07. So on a coin-flip crypto market, a taker pays roughly the same on both venues. The difference shows up in politics, where Polymarket's 0.04 undercuts Kalshi, and in maker orders, where Polymarket charges nothing at all.
The costs that are not on the fee schedule
- The spread. On a thin market a two or three cent spread dwarfs any fee on this page. It is the single largest cost most Polymarket traders pay and it is invisible on every fee table, including this one.
- Crypto rails. Polymarket settles in USDC. Getting dollars into and out of stablecoins costs something in exchange spread, on-ramp fees, or network fees, depending on the route you take.
- Third-party providers. Polymarket does not charge for deposits or withdrawals, but on-ramp partners can and often do.
- Your own time. Resolution on ambiguous markets runs through a decentralised oracle and is occasionally disputed.
Where Polymarket's pricing genuinely wins
- Makers pay zero and get paid rebates. If you post resting liquidity rather than crossing the spread, Polymarket is structurally cheaper than Kalshi, which still charges makers something.
- Whole categories are free. Geopolitics and world events carry no fee at all, which no regulated US venue matches.
- Politics is cheaper, at a 0.04 coefficient against Kalshi's 0.07.
- Depth on the big global questions means tighter spreads, and since the spread is usually the real cost, that often matters more than the fee line.
- No deposit or withdrawal fee charged by Polymarket itself.
If you trade world events, post limit orders, or already hold stablecoins, Polymarket is very likely the cheaper venue. That is a genuine advantage over both Kalshi and, on its own terms, over anything BitPredict offers, because BitPredict has no order book at all.
The zero-fee comparison
Every number above exists because real money is moving. If your goal is to find out whether you can actually read a market, that goal does not require any money to move.
 Polymarket |  BitPredict | |
|---|---|---|
| Taker cost | By category, peaks near 50/50 | None: nothing is staked |
| Maker cost | Zero, plus rebates | Not applicable: no order book |
| Rails | USDC on crypto rails | None: no wallet needed |
| What you can win | Trading profit, minus costs | Accuracy, rank and sponsored USDT prizes |
| What you can lose | Your position | Nothing but your hit rate |
Different products for different goals. To trade world events with capital, Polymarket is excellent and this page should help you cost it properly. To prove you can call crypto with nothing at risk, that is what BitPredict is for. See also our Polymarket alternatives roundup and the Kalshi vs Polymarket head-to-head.
Frequently asked questions
Does Polymarket charge trading fees?
Yes, now it does, though many pages still say otherwise. Polymarket charges takers a fee that varies by market category, while makers are never charged and can earn rebates. Geopolitics and world-events markets remain completely fee-free.
How are Polymarket's fees calculated?
The formula from Polymarket's own documentation is shares × feeRate × price × (1 − price). The feeRate depends on the category, running from 0.04 on politics, finance, tech and mentions to 0.07 on crypto. Because of the price × (1 − price) term, fees peak on coin-flip markets and shrink to almost nothing at the extremes.
Are Polymarket's fees really 1.8% on crypto?
Only at a 50-cent price, which is the maximum of the curve. The 0.07 crypto rate is a coefficient in a formula, not a flat percentage of your stake. On a market trading at 10 or 90 cents the same rate produces a far smaller fee, so quoting a single percentage overstates the cost on most trades.
Does Polymarket charge withdrawal fees?
Polymarket itself does not charge for deposits or withdrawals. What you can pay is whatever the rails cost: network fees, and any charges from third-party on-ramp or off-ramp providers you use to move between dollars and USDC.
Is Polymarket cheaper than Kalshi?
It depends how you trade. Their crypto coefficients are identical at 0.07, so a taker pays about the same. Polymarket is cheaper on politics, cheaper for anyone posting resting limit orders since makers pay nothing and earn rebates, and free on geopolitics. Kalshi is simpler on funding, with free ACH in dollars and no crypto rails to cross.
Is there a prediction platform with no fees at all?
Yes, if you drop the cash payouts. BitPredict is a free crypto prediction game where you call a coin up or down over 24 hours and are scored on accuracy. Nothing is deposited, staked or withdrawn, so there is no fee schedule of any kind.
