Polymarket fees explained
By the Cent Signals editorial desk. Last updated June 2026.
Polymarket fees are the taker charges applied when an order removes liquidity from a market. As of 2026, takers pay a category-based fee that peaks near a 50 cent price and shrinks toward the 1 cent and 99 cent tails; makers who add liquidity pay none, and deposits, withdrawals, and geopolitical markets are fee-free. Cent Signals is a free, independent desk that tracks Polymarket activity and explains how prediction markets price probability, not trading advice.
What counts as a fee on Polymarket
A Polymarket market is an order book of yes and no shares, each priced between zero and one dollar, where the price reads as the market's implied probability of an outcome. Two kinds of order meet in that book. A maker order is a resting limit order that waits on the book and supplies liquidity. A taker order is the one that crosses the spread and trades against a resting order, removing that liquidity. As of 2026, Polymarket's fee falls on the taker. The maker is not charged. That single distinction explains most of what people mean when they ask whether Polymarket is free to use.
The fee is not a flat percentage. It is computed from the share price, so the same trade size produces a different fee depending on where the contract trades and which category it sits in. For a plain walk-through of how those prices work in the first place, the companion explainer on what Polymarket is and how it works covers the share-and-price mechanics this page builds on.
Fee structure side by side (as of 2026)
As of 2026 an order can land in two places: the main on-chain Polymarket market, and the separate US regulated exchange that Polymarket runs following its CFTC designation. The two carry different fee schedules. The table sets them side by side on the dimensions that actually differ. Each cell describes a current fact, and fee schedules change, so treat Polymarket's own published pages as the authoritative source.
| Fee dimension | Main on-chain market | US regulated exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Taker fee, the order that removes liquidity (as of 2026) | Category cap per 100 shares, peaks near 50c | Up to about $1.25 per 100-lot at $0.50 |
| Maker order, the resting order that adds liquidity | No fee | Rebate up to about $0.31 per 100-lot at $0.50 |
| Fee varies with the share price | Yes: Highest near 50c, shrinks toward 1c and 99c | Yes: Highest near $0.50, shrinks toward the tails |
| Fee-free categories | Geopolitical and world events markets | Set by the exchange's published schedule |
| Deposit fee charged by the platform | None (network or provider costs may apply) | Per the exchange's published schedule |
| Withdrawal fee charged by the platform | None (network or provider costs may apply) | Per the exchange's published schedule |
The cells above describe the current state of each venue as of 2026. They are not ratings and do not rank one venue above the other. Figures such as the per-100 caps are the published maximums and round down as a share moves into a tail.
The taker fee by category
On the main market, the taker fee is capped by category and charged per 100 shares, with the cap reached near a 50 cent price. As reported for 2026, the caps run lowest on sports and highest on crypto, with politics, finance, and tech in between, while geopolitical and world events markets carry no fee at all. The figures below are the published maximums; the effective fee on any single order is lower as the price drifts away from 50 cents.
| Category | Taker fee cap (as of 2026) |
|---|---|
| Sports | up to about $0.75 per 100 shares |
| Politics, finance, tech | up to about $1.00 per 100 shares |
| Economics, culture, weather | up to about $1.25 per 100 shares |
| Crypto | up to about $1.80 per 100 shares |
| Geopolitical, world events | no fee |
Categories and caps are reported as of 2026 and change over time. Polymarket's own fee page carries the current schedule.
Why the fee peaks near 50 cents
The taker fee scales with the share price through a formula that is largest around 50 cents and falls toward zero at either end of the range. The reason is structural. A contract trading near 50 cents reflects maximum uncertainty about the outcome, the point where the most notional usually changes hands, so a per-share fee weighted toward that midpoint collects where the activity concentrates. Deep in a tail, where a share costs a cent or two, the same formula rounds the fee down toward nothing. This is why two trades of identical size can carry very different fees: one near a coin-flip price, one far out in a tail. The guide on how to read implied probability explains why a price sits where it does, which is the same input the fee formula reads.
Makers, deposits, and withdrawals
Two other places people expect a charge stay clear on the main market as of 2026. Maker orders, the resting limit orders that add liquidity to the book, are not charged the taker fee. And Polymarket itself charges nothing to deposit or withdraw its stablecoin balance. The costs that do appear around a transfer come from outside the platform: blockchain network fees on the underlying chain, or the spread and processing a third-party on-ramp or card provider charges when converting fiat currency into the balance. Those are charged by the network or the provider, not by Polymarket, and they vary by route and amount. The US regulated exchange differs here too, pairing its taker fee with a maker rebate that returns a portion to orders that add liquidity.
Fees, resolution, and what you actually keep
A fee is only one of the figures that decide what a position is worth. The other is resolution: how a market settles to one dollar or zero once the event is known. On Polymarket that happens on-chain through a decentralized oracle with a dispute window, described in the guide on how Polymarket resolves markets. Reading a market with fees in mind means looking at the price, the category, the liquidity in the book, and the time to resolution together rather than any one number alone.
How Cent Signals fits in
Cent Signals is not a platform and not a place to take a position. It is a free, independent reading desk for the public data Polymarket exposes, and it charges nothing because it only reads and explains. It indexes markets with real activity behind them and the wallets that transact large notional, then describes what the prices and positions show. You can see that on a market page such as the market on a 50-plus basis point Fed rate cut after the June 2026 meeting, or across the full list of markets worth a second look. For exactly which public sources the figures on this site come from, the methodology page lays it out. None of those pages route a trade or charge a fee; they report observations of public data.
Frequently asked questions
Does Polymarket charge fees to trade?
As of 2026, yes for some orders and no for others. Polymarket applies a taker fee to orders that remove resting liquidity from the book, sized by category and by how close the share price sits to 50 cents. Orders that add liquidity, known as maker orders, pay no fee, and a set of categories including geopolitical and world events markets trade with no fee at all. The platform charges nothing to deposit or withdraw its stablecoin, though third-party providers may add their own charges.
How much are Polymarket's trading fees?
Polymarket's published schedule, as of 2026, caps the taker fee per category and charges it per 100 shares, with the cap reached near a 50 cent price. Reported caps run from roughly $0.75 per 100 shares on sports up to about $1.80 per 100 shares on crypto, with politics, finance, and tech in between. Because the fee scales with the price and the category, the exact figure on any single order comes from Polymarket's own current fee page, which is the authoritative source as these numbers change.
Why are Polymarket fees higher near 50 cents?
The taker fee is calculated from the share price using a formula that peaks when a contract trades around 50 cents and shrinks toward zero as the price approaches 1 cent or 99 cents. A market priced near 50 cents reflects maximum uncertainty, where the largest notional typically changes hands, so the per-share fee is largest there. Deep in a tail, where a share costs a cent or two, the same formula rounds the fee down toward nothing.
Do Polymarket makers pay fees?
No. As of 2026, maker orders, the resting limit orders that sit on the book and supply liquidity for others to trade against, are not charged the taker fee. The fee falls on the taker, the order that crosses the spread and removes that liquidity. On the US regulated exchange the structure goes further, pairing a taker fee with a maker rebate that pays a portion back to orders that add liquidity.
Are there deposit or withdrawal fees on Polymarket?
Polymarket itself charges no fee to deposit or withdraw its stablecoin balance, as of 2026. Costs that appear during a transfer come from outside the platform: blockchain network fees, or the spread and processing charged by a third-party on-ramp or card provider when converting fiat currency. Those are charged by the network or the provider, not by Polymarket, and they vary by route and by the amount moved.
Does Cent Signals charge for Polymarket data?
No. Cent Signals is a free, independent editorial desk. It reads public Polymarket prices, volume, liquidity, and wallet activity and explains what those figures describe. It requires no account and no wallet, takes no payment, and does not route, custody, or facilitate any trade, so no Polymarket fee passes through it. Any outbound link to Polymarket is reference only.
Related reading
This page is editorial reference about publicly documented Polymarket fees as of 2026. Fee schedules change, so Polymarket's own current fee pages are the authoritative source. This is not financial advice, a tip, or a recommendation to use the platform or take any position, and Cent Signals does not facilitate trades. For how the Polymarket figures on this site are collected, see the methodology page.