Kalshi Fees & Cost Structure Explained 2026
Updated May 29, 2026
Updated May 29, 2026
Kalshi fees are fairly straightforward once you understand how the exchange works, but they can be easy to misinterpret.
Kalshi does not charge a traditional sportsbook-style margin, settlement fee or membership fee. Instead, users should pay attention to four potential costs:
This guide explains how Kalshi fees work in 2026, what users actually pay, when costs matter most, and how Kalshi compares with other prediction market platforms.
Kalshi's primary direct trading cost is a transaction fee that depends on the contract price and number of contracts traded.
Under Kalshi's standard fee schedule, trading fees generally apply when an order immediately matches existing liquidity on the order book. Orders that instead rest on the order book can receive different maker-fee treatment.
ACH deposits and withdrawals have no Kalshi fee for U.S. users, while debit card deposits can carry a processing fee. Wire transfers and crypto transactions also have their own rules.
Cost Type | What It Means |
|---|---|
Standard trading fee | Generally applies to immediately matched orders and varies with contract price and number of contracts. |
Maker fee | Can apply to resting orders in certain markets when the order is eventually executed. |
Settlement fee | No settlement fee. |
Membership fee | No membership fee. |
ACH deposits | No Kalshi fee for U.S. users. |
ACH withdrawals | No Kalshi fee for U.S. users. |
Debit card deposits | Kalshi can charge up to 2%. |
Debit card withdrawals | No Kalshi fee currently listed. |
Wire deposits | No additional Kalshi fee, although your bank may charge one. |
Wire withdrawals | Currently supported only for transactions of $500,000 or more. |
Crypto transfers | Kalshi lists no fee for crypto withdrawals in its help documentation, although its formal fee schedule notes that third-party processor fees may apply to crypto transactions. |
Bid-ask spread | Not a Kalshi platform fee, but it can increase your effective cost when entering or exiting a position. |
ATS note: Always review the final fee information before confirming a trade or transfer. Kalshi fees can vary by market, order behavior and payment method.
Kalshi's standard trading fee is calculated using the price of the contract, the number of contracts being traded and the expected earnings associated with the position.
Under Kalshi's July 7, 2026 fee schedule, its general trading-fee formula is:
Fee = M × 0.07 × C × P × (1 − P)
Where:
Kalshi rounds the resulting fee according to its published fee methodology.
The important distinction is that the standard trading fee generally applies to orders that immediately match orders already sitting on the order book.
In trading terminology, these are commonly described as taker orders because they take existing liquidity from the market.
For example, if you place an order that can immediately be matched against an existing seller, the standard transaction fee can apply.
If your order does not immediately match and instead sits on the order book waiting for another trader, it is treated differently under Kalshi's maker-fee rules.
For a broader look at the platform, see our full Kalshi review.
Kalshi distinguishes between orders that immediately execute and orders that provide liquidity by resting on the order book.
Its general maker-fee formula is:
Fee = M × 0.0175 × C × P × (1 − P)
However, the default maker multiplier is 0 unless otherwise indicated.
That means a resting order does not automatically produce a maker fee in every Kalshi market.
Certain individual markets have specific maker and taker multipliers, so users should check the applicable fee schedule rather than assuming the general rule applies everywhere.
A maker fee is only charged when an applicable resting order is eventually executed.
Canceling a resting order does not itself create a trading fee.
This distinction matters for frequent traders because two users trading the same contract at the same price can potentially face different fee treatment depending on how their orders interact with the order book.
Here is a simplified example using Kalshi's standard fee schedule.
Example Trade | Amount |
|---|---|
Contract price | $0.40 |
Number of contracts | 100 |
Position cost before fee | $40.00 |
Potential payout if correct | $100.00 |
Gross profit before fee | $60.00 |
Standard trading fee | $1.68 |
The $1.68 fee is the amount shown in Kalshi's July 7, 2026 standard fee table for 100 contracts priced at $0.40.
The final fee can differ when a particular market uses a different multiplier or fee schedule.
Kalshi's standard transaction fee does not increase in a straight line with the price of the contract.
Instead, the fee is highest when contracts trade around $0.50 and decreases as the price moves closer to either $0 or $1.
For 100 standard contracts, Kalshi's current fee table shows:
Contract Price | Fee for 100 Contracts |
|---|---|
$0.10 | $0.63 |
$0.25 | $1.32 |
$0.40 | $1.68 |
$0.50 | $1.75 |
$0.60 | $1.68 |
$0.75 | $1.32 |
$0.90 | $0.63 |
The fee structure is symmetrical around $0.50.
In practical terms, contracts representing highly uncertain outcomes around 50% probability tend to generate the largest standard dollar fee, while contracts priced closer to either extreme generate smaller fees.
Kalshi's funding costs depend on the payment method.
It is therefore not accurate to say that every Kalshi deposit and withdrawal is universally free.
Payment Method | Kalshi Fee | What to Know |
|---|---|---|
ACH deposit | No Kalshi fee | Available to U.S. users and generally the simplest low-cost funding option. |
ACH withdrawal | No Kalshi fee | Available to U.S. users. |
Debit card deposit | Up to 2% | Faster than ACH but potentially more expensive. |
Debit card withdrawal | No Kalshi fee currently listed | Availability and processing rules can vary by account. |
Wire deposit | No additional Kalshi fee | Minimum wire deposit is currently $1,000. Your bank may charge its own wire fee. |
Wire withdrawal | Limited to very large withdrawals | Kalshi's current fee schedule says wire withdrawals are not supported for transactions under $500,000. |
Crypto deposit | Third-party costs may apply | Processor or network-related costs may apply and should be checked before confirming. |
Crypto withdrawal | No Kalshi fee listed in current help documentation | Kalshi's broader formal fee schedule notes that third-party processor fees may apply to crypto transactions. |
For U.S. users, ACH remains one of the cleanest ways to move money to and from Kalshi.
Kalshi currently charges:
ACH is not available to international Kalshi users.
Debit card deposits may incur a processing fee of up to 2%.
Kalshi currently accepts Visa and Mastercard debit cards for deposits, and a user's bank or card issuer could potentially apply additional charges under its own policies.
Debit card withdrawals currently have no Kalshi fee.
Kalshi does not charge an additional fee for wire deposits, although the sending bank may charge its own wire-transfer fee.
The minimum wire deposit is currently $1,000.
Wire withdrawals are very different.
Kalshi's July 2026 fee schedule says:
Wire withdrawals are not currently supported for transactions under $500,000.
For ordinary users, ACH, debit card or another available withdrawal method will therefore usually be more relevant.
Crypto requires slightly more careful wording.
Kalshi's current crypto withdrawal help documentation says it does not charge a fee for crypto withdrawals.
However, Kalshi's formal July 2026 fee schedule states that crypto deposits and withdrawals may have associated fees charged by its third-party payment processor.
For that reason, users should check the transfer preview for any processor or network-related cost before confirming a crypto transaction.
For most U.S. users prioritizing low funding costs, ACH remains the simplest option.
The bid-ask spread is not a Kalshi platform fee, but it can still have a meaningful effect on your actual trading cost.
Every active order-book market can have:
The difference between those prices is the spread.
For example, suppose a contract can currently be bought at $0.60, while the best immediate selling price is $0.57.
The spread is:
$0.03
If you bought and then immediately tried to sell under those conditions, the spread would work against you even before considering applicable trading fees.
Spreads generally matter most when:
A market with a small displayed trading fee can still be relatively expensive to trade if liquidity is poor.
For a deeper look at execution quality, see our guide to Kalshi liquidity.
Kalshi's cost structure matters differently depending on how you use the platform.
If you make occasional trades, fund with ACH and hold contracts until settlement, costs are relatively straightforward.
Your main considerations are generally:
Frequent trading makes execution costs more important.
Every additional entry and exit can create exposure to trading fees and spreads. A user repeatedly trading in and out of positions therefore needs to pay significantly more attention to order type, liquidity and market depth than someone who makes one trade and holds it through settlement.
Funding method matters as well.
Using a debit card can potentially create a direct cost before the user even enters a market, while ACH funding currently carries no Kalshi fee for U.S. users.
The practical takeaway: Kalshi's fees are transparent, but low-cost trading still requires users to understand order type, liquidity, spread and funding method.
The displayed trading fee is only one part of your overall cost.
Users trying to minimize costs should consider:
Kalshi should therefore be viewed as a trading exchange rather than simply an app where every transaction costs the same amount.
Kalshi, Polymarket and traditional sportsbooks all create costs for users, but those costs appear differently.
One important change in 2026 is that it is no longer accurate to describe Polymarket primarily as a fee-free platform where users only need to consider spreads and crypto costs.
Polymarket now charges taker trading fees on many categories of markets.
Platform | Main Costs | What Users Should Watch |
|---|---|---|
Kalshi | Trading fees + spread | Maker/taker behavior, market-specific fee schedules, liquidity and funding method |
Polymarket | Category-specific taker fees + spread | Market category, maker/taker status, liquidity and any outside funding/transfer costs |
Sportsbook | Margin built into odds | Hold percentage, line shopping, promotions, withdrawal rules and state availability |
Kalshi's standard taker-style transaction fee follows its published event-contract fee formula.
Some markets use non-standard fees, and resting orders can receive separate maker-fee treatment.
Polymarket also operates using an order book and now charges taker fees on many market categories.
Its current fee structure varies by category.
For example:
Polymarket currently charges no maker trading fee, while geopolitical and world-event markets are currently fee-free.
Polymarket also says it does not charge its own fee for depositing or withdrawing USDC, although outside intermediaries can impose their own costs.
Traditional sportsbooks generally do not display a separate transaction fee every time a user places a bet.
Instead, the sportsbook's margin — often called the hold or vig — is built into the odds.
That makes direct comparisons difficult.
A prediction-market trader may see a visible transaction fee and spread, while a sportsbook customer generally pays through less favorable odds relative to the underlying probability.
For a direct platform comparison, read our Polymarket vs. Kalshi guide.
You can also compare Kalshi with another event-contract platform in our Kalshi vs. PredictIt guide.
There is no universal answer because effective trading costs depend on the market and how the user trades.
Kalshi has a clearly published standard fee schedule, and U.S. users can fund and withdraw through ACH without a Kalshi fee.
However, that does not mean trading is free.
Effective costs can increase when users:
For many users, transparent is a better description than simply cheap.
Kalshi tells users what its direct trading fees are, but traders still need to account for liquidity, execution price and spreads.
Last verified: August 11, 2026
Kalshi fee schedule checked: Version last updated and effective July 7, 2026.
For this update, ATS reviewed current Kalshi documentation covering:
We also reviewed Polymarket's current trading-fee documentation before comparing the two platforms.
Fee schedules can change.
Users should always confirm the latest fee displayed by the platform before placing a trade or transferring funds.
No.
Kalshi's July 2026 fee schedule states that there is no settlement fee.
No.
Kalshi does not currently charge a membership fee.
Kalshi's standard transaction fee depends on:
Its standard formula is based on the expected earnings of the contract.
The fee generally applies to orders that immediately match existing orders on the book.
The standard formula is:
Fee = M × 0.07 × C × P × (1 − P)
The resulting amount is rounded according to Kalshi's fee methodology.
Kalshi's formula uses P × (1 − P).
That calculation reaches its maximum at a contract price of $0.50.
As a result, the standard dollar fee is highest around 50¢ and decreases as the contract approaches either $0 or $1.
For 100 standard contracts at $0.50, the current listed fee is $1.75.
Yes.
Some Kalshi event series have their own maker and taker multipliers.
Always check the relevant fee information before trading.
A maker order is an order that does not immediately execute and instead rests on the order book.
Some Kalshi markets can charge a maker fee when that resting order is eventually executed.
The default maker multiplier under Kalshi's current general schedule is zero unless otherwise specified.
Canceling an unexecuted resting order does not itself create a fee.
A taker trade immediately matches liquidity already available on the order book.
Kalshi's general trading fee applies to immediately matched orders unless a specific market uses different rules.
No.
The spread is created by the difference between available buying and selling prices on the order book.
However, it still represents an effective trading cost when entering or exiting a position.
Yes, for eligible U.S. users.
Kalshi currently charges no fee for ACH bank deposits.
Yes.
Kalshi currently charges no fee for ACH bank withdrawals.
ACH is available to U.S. users rather than international accounts.
It can.
Kalshi says debit card deposits can carry a processing fee of up to 2%.
Kalshi does not charge an additional wire-deposit fee.
However, the user's bank may charge its own wire-transfer fee.
Kalshi currently requires a minimum $1,000 wire deposit.
Yes, but the current threshold is extremely high for ordinary users.
Kalshi's July 2026 fee schedule says wire withdrawals are not currently supported for transactions below $500,000.
Kalshi's crypto-withdrawal help page currently says there is no fee for crypto withdrawals.
However, its formal fee schedule states that third-party payment processors may charge fees associated with crypto deposits or withdrawals.
Users should therefore check the transaction preview before confirming a crypto transfer.
It depends on the market, contract price and trading behavior.
Both platforms now charge taker fees on many markets.
Kalshi uses its own published event-contract fee schedules, while Polymarket uses different taker rates depending on the market category.
Users should also compare:
There is no single platform that is automatically cheaper for every trade.
Yes, on many markets.
Polymarket currently charges taker fees across categories including sports, crypto, politics, finance, economics, culture and weather.
Makers currently pay no trading fees, while geopolitical and world-event markets are fee-free.
For many U.S. users, a lower-cost approach is to:
Kalshi's fee structure is relatively transparent, but users should not mistake transparency for zero cost.
The best approach is to understand the order book, check the applicable fee, use an appropriate funding method and pay attention to liquidity and spreads before placing a trade.