Polymarket fee calculator
The fee is not a percentage of your stake. It is a curve, and it peaks where you trade most.
Polymarket charges takers a fee computed as fee = C × feeRate × p × (1 − p), where C is the number of shares and p is the price. Because of the p(1−p) term the fee in dollars is largest at 50¢ and shrinks toward both ends. This works it out for your trade and then does the part that matters: what it does to your break-even.
fee = shares × feeRate × p × (1 − p)—
price plus fee — your real break-even—
your estimate, priced — not a forecast—
The schedule, as published
| Category | Taker fee rate | Maker fee | Maker rebate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crypto | 0.07 | 0 | 20% |
| Sports | 0.05 | 0 | 15% |
| Finance | 0.04 | 0 | 25% |
| Politics | 0.04 | 0 | 25% |
| Economics | 0.05 | 0 | 25% |
| Culture | 0.05 | 0 | 25% |
| Weather | 0.05 | 0 | 25% |
| Other / General | 0.05 | 0 | 25% |
| Mentions | 0.04 | 0 | 25% |
| Tech | 0.04 | 0 | 25% |
| Geopolitics | fee-free | 0 | — |
fee = C × feeRate × p × (1 − p), not a percentage of the trade. Polymarket can change them; check the source before you rely on it.Why it changes the answer
Buy 100 shares of a politics market at 38¢. The fee is 100 × 0.04 × 0.38 × 0.62 = $0.94 — under a cent a share, and about 2.5% of the $38 you staked. Your real entry is 38.94¢, so you now need the outcome to be more likely than 38.94%, not 38%, before the trade is worth taking.
That is small. It is not nothing, and it is not the same everywhere: the same trade in a crypto market carries a 0.07 rate, and the same trade in a geopolitics market carries none at all. Makers are never charged. If you are providing the liquidity rather than taking it, the fee side of this page is zero and part of the taker fees is redistributed to you through the rebate programme.
The trap is the middle of the board. A 50¢ contract carries the maximum fee, and 50¢ contracts are exactly where people trade the most, because coin-flips feel like where the action is.
Questions
How much are Polymarket fees?
Polymarket charges takers only, using fee = shares x feeRate x price x (1 - price). The feeRate depends on category: 0.07 crypto, 0.05 sports, 0.04 politics and finance, 0 on geopolitics and world events. Read live from Polymarket's own docs on July 25, 2026.
Do makers pay fees on Polymarket?
No. Polymarket's documentation states makers are never charged fees and only takers pay. Part of the taker fees funds a maker rebate programme.
Are there deposit or withdrawal fees?
Polymarket states it charges none for depositing or withdrawing USDC, though an intermediary you route through may charge its own.
Where does the fee hit hardest?
At 50 cents. The p x (1 - p) term peaks there and falls away toward 1 cent and 99 cents, so the same dollar stake costs most in the middle of the board.