Polymarket fees explained: international vs Polymarket US in 2026

Contents

This page explains costs; it isn't financial advice.

Which Polymarket are you paying?#

Polymarket runs two separate exchanges with separate fee schedules:

No one in the US or the UK can open positions on the international exchange, but Polymarket's own pages conflict on whether they can still close them. Its undated developer geoblock page lists both as close-only, while its help center page, updated 29 October 2026, lists both as completely restricted. Polymarket US is a Designated Contract Market regulated by the CFTC. For what each one is, see what is Polymarket, and for the legal side, is Polymarket legal.

Polymarket international fees by category#

Per Polymarket's fee page, checked on 11 November 2026:

The fee page says Polymarket "does not charge fees or profit from trading activity" on geopolitics markets, and charges nothing to deposit or withdraw USDC, though intermediaries such as Coinbase or MoonPay may charge their own fees.

What live markets actually charge#

Each market carries its own fee settings, a rate and a maker rebate share, and Polymarket's docs say to check a market's details to confirm what it charges. We read them for the 2,094 most-traded open markets on 11 November 2026, from Polymarket's public Gamma API:

• Politics 0.04, economics 0.05, crypto 0.07, weather and culture 0.05: as the fee page lists.
• Full-game NFL lines at 0.03. All 31 sampled NFL moneylines, spreads and totals carried a 0.03 rate, with a 15% maker rebate. College football games were at 0.05.
• Not every NFL market. In the full list for the 49ers vs Cowboys game, the moneyline and every spread and total, half and quarter lines included, were at 0.03. The first-half moneyline, the other half and quarter moneylines, exact margins and props were at 0.05.
• Season-long sports futures at 0.03, such as the 2027 NBA and NFL champion markets, with a 25% maker rebate.
• 195 markets with fees turned off, almost all geopolitics and world events, such as questions on Iran, Taiwan and a Russia and Ukraine ceasefire.

The market's own setting is what you pay, so a full-game NFL line costs 40% less in fees than the 0.05 sports rate on the fee page suggests.

Polymarket fee per 100 shares, 1 cent to 99 cents#

International exchange, taker side, by rate:

Amounts are rounded to the cent for reading; Polymarket charges to 5 decimal places. The fee is the same on both sides of a price, so 30 cents and 70 cents cost the same.

Polymarket US fees#

Polymarket US charges Θ × C × p × (1 − p), where C is contracts and Θ is set daily by your taker volume over the last 30 days, Eastern Time. Two official sources give different values of Θ:

• The published docs. The Polymarket US fee schedule, as we read it at 10:25 UTC on 11 November 2026, has four tiers from 0.095 to 0.0695.
• The CFTC filing. Polymarket US's weekly notice to the CFTC, dated 10 November 2026, lists eight tiers from 0.1170 to 0.0650, effective 6 November. It says the change "is reflected in the public Fee Schedule", but the docs page showed the four-tier table the next day.

Fees are per 100 contracts, rounded to the cent with banker's rounding as the docs describe. We can't tell from outside which table the exchange applies today. The docs say each fill's execution report carries the fee actually collected, so check yours. Both sources agree on the rest:

• New accounts pay 0.0695 for their first 7 days, whatever their volume.
• Days 8 to 30 use your first week's pace. Your tier is the higher of your trailing 30-day volume and your first 7 days' volume × 30/7. $5,000 of taker volume in the first week counts as about $21,429, which is the $10,000 to $49,999 tier.
• Volume counts what you paid, contracts × price, not the contracts' face value.

The docs add that, during November, existing accounts get the better of their trailing 30-day tier and the tier their October volume earns. Fees per 100 contracts at other prices, for the lowest and highest tier in each source:

Polymarket combo fees#

International. Every combo pays the 0.05 rate on the combo's price, whatever markets its legs come from, and its makers get no rebate.

Polymarket US. Combos use their own curve, applied to the combo as a whole, not leg by leg, with Θ from your taker tier:

The two sources disagree on when this started. The docs say it applies from 1 p.m. ET on 11 November 2026 and that the previous curve used a fixed 0.0695 and 0.085 × (1 − p)⁴. The 10 November filing shows the tiered Θ replacing 0.0695 in a curve that already used 0.06, effective 6 November. Both docs and filing tie combos to the same tiers as single trades, so the two tier tables above also give two sets of combo fees.

From 12 a.m. ET on 14 November 2026, the docs add a combo maker fee of 0.03 × C × p × (1 − p), and tell quoters to account for it in their prices. Fees on 100 combo contracts:

The same combos cost $0.45, $0.94 and $1.25 internationally. For leg limits, quotes and early exits on every venue that offers combos, see prediction market combos compared.

What a real Polymarket trade costs after fees#

At 10:07 UTC on 11 November 2026 we read the 49ers vs Cowboys game on 15 November from the international market, the Polymarket US order book and Kalshi's market. Buying 100 contracts on the 49ers at the best ask:

A new Polymarket US account in its first week pays the same fee as Kalshi here, at a price three quarters of a cent better. What happens on day 8 depends on that first week. An account that traded $5,000 in week one sits in the $10,000 to $49,999 tier until day 30 and pays $1.90 under the docs. Only an account actually in the lowest tier pays $2.12, $0.57 more than in its first week, or $2.62 under the filing. Resting a limit order instead costs nothing on either Polymarket exchange. The Kalshi fees guide breaks down the Kalshi line, and prediction market odds and payouts explains how a price becomes a payout.

Polymarket rebates#

Both exchanges pay some fees back:

• International makers. The maker rebates program pays makers 15% to 25% of the taker fees in each market, daily, split by how much of their liquidity was taken. Geopolitics and combo trades fund no rebate.
• International takers. The taker rebate program returns 3% to 50% of your fees, by 30-day weighted volume, from Bronze at $2,000 to Obsidian at $10 million and up. Crypto trades count 2.3 times, sports once.
• US makers. Per the docs, no rebate below $10 million of maker volume; above it, about 5% to 15% of the standard taker fee. Combo fills carry no maker rebate.
• US takers. Per the docs, 3% to 30% of taker fees, combos included, from $250,000 of 30-day taker volume, paid weekly.

Polymarket deposit and withdrawal fees#

International. No Polymarket fee to deposit or withdraw USDC, per the fee page above; intermediaries may charge their own.

Polymarket US. Its withdrawal guide calls withdrawals free, to a debit card, bank account, PayPal, Venmo or USDC wallet. Withdrawals open only once a deposit has fully cleared, typically 3 to 4 business days. The deposit guide lists limits and timing but no Polymarket deposit fee. Step by step: how to withdraw from Polymarket.

Does Polymarket charge fees on winnings?#

No. Both schedules charge fees when a trade fills. The Polymarket US docs say fees are charged only when a trade executes, never on a canceled or expired order, and neither exchange lists a fee for redeeming a resolved position. Selling before resolution is a trade, so it pays the taker fee if your sell order fills against the book.

How does Polymarket make money?#

From taker fees. Polymarket's maker rebates page says taker fees fund the maker rebate pool, and Polymarket sets each category's rebate share, so it keeps the rest: at least 75% of a market's taker fees before taker rebates. On geopolitics markets it charges nothing and, per its fee page, earns nothing. Polymarket US earns from its taker and combo fees and, from 14 November, combo maker fees, less its rebates. For the company itself, see is there a Polymarket stock, and for how much it trades, prediction market volume.

How to pay lower fees on Polymarket#

1. Use limit orders. Makers pay nothing on either exchange's single markets, and international makers earn rebates.
2. Hold to resolution. Redeeming a winning position is free; selling early is a second taker fee.
3. Check the market's rate. Sampled full-game NFL lines cost 0.03 internationally, geopolitics nothing, crypto 0.07.
4. On Polymarket US, make your first week count. You pay 0.0695 for 7 days, and that week's volume, scaled to 30 days, can hold you in a better tier until day 30.
5. Watch the spread. On a thin market, crossing a wide spread costs more than the fee.

Lowest-fee prediction markets compares 11 venues, and Hyperliquid vs Polymarket vs Kalshi covers more than fees.

Fees on prediction markets built on Hyperliquid#

Totalis trades Hyperliquid's HIP-4 outcome markets as singles or as Combos of 2 to 5 legs, priced by competing market makers. Per its fees and limits page, singles in the app pay a 0.1% builder fee on filled value plus Hyperliquid's own outcome fee. A Combo pays 1.5% of stake at entry and 1% of profit on a win, the same rate whatever your volume, and Totalis charges nothing to deposit or withdraw. You can ask makers to buy a Combo back before it settles. Totalis is not available to US persons, and signing up takes an invite code. Price a Combo on Totalis, or see Polymarket alternatives and Hyperliquid fees explained.

FAQ#

Why was I charged no fee on a small trade?#

Rounding. Polymarket US rounds fees to the nearest cent and the international exchange to 5 decimal places, so a tiny trade near 1 cent or 99 cents can round to zero.

Do Polymarket fees show in the API?#

Yes. International markets return feesEnabled and a feeSchedule with the rate and maker rebate share. Polymarket US execution reports carry the fee collected on each fill. See the Polymarket API guide.