Maker versus taker on Polymarket
One of you supplies the liquidity. The other one pays for it.
A maker posts an order that sits on the book. A taker crosses the spread and fills against one. On Polymarket that distinction decides who pays the fee, and the answer is not symmetric: takers pay, makers do not.
The asymmetry, as published
Polymarket’s documentation is explicit that makers are never charged fees and only takers pay, and that taker fees fund a maker rebate programme which redistributes them daily. Rebate rates run by category alongside the fee rates — the table on our fees page lists both. There is also a tiered taker rebate programme through which takers can earn part of it back.
What it is worth in practice
On 100 shares of a sports market at 50¢, the taker fee is $1.25 and the maker fee is zero. That is the whole gap: a dollar and a quarter on a $50 position, or 2.5% of what you staked. Not decisive on a trade you are confident in; decisive on a trade you were going to take anyway at a price you did not love.
The cost of being a maker is the other side of the trade: your order might not fill, and the ones that do fill are disproportionately the ones where somebody with better information wanted to trade against you. That is adverse selection, it is real, and it is why market making is a job rather than a free rebate.
When crossing the spread is right anyway
When the information decays. If your reason for the trade is an event that just happened, waiting for a passive fill is how you watch the price leave without you. The fee is a known small cost; missing the entry entirely is an unknown large one. Price it rather than assuming it — the fee calculator gives you the all-in number in one field.
Questions
Do makers pay fees on Polymarket?
No. Polymarket's documentation states makers are never charged fees; only takers pay, and part of the taker fees is redistributed to makers through a rebate programme.
What is the difference between a maker and a taker?
A maker posts a resting limit order that adds liquidity to the book. A taker crosses the spread and removes liquidity by filling against a resting order.
Is it always better to be a maker?
No. Makers avoid the fee but risk not filling, and the fills they do get are selected against them. When your reason for trading is time-sensitive, paying the taker fee is usually the cheaper mistake.