Polymarket fees: trading, gas, and real position costs
Published 2026-05-17 · Last reviewed 2026-08-07
TL;DR
- Polymarket charges 0% trading fees on both makers and takers.
- You pay Polygon gas (usually <$1) on funding, withdrawing, and approving USDC.
- The biggest real cost is the on-ramp: card-to-USDC services charge 1–4% to get dollars onto Polygon in the first place.
New to this? Read this first
Prediction markets price events in cents, not odds. Here is the vocabulary used on this page, in plain English.
- Price = probability
- A contract that pays $1 trading at 12¢ means the market thinks there's a 12% chance.
- YES / NO share
- YES pays $1 if it happens. NO pays $1 if it doesn't. You can never lose more than you paid.
- +609 (American odds)
- Sportsbook shorthand. Bet $100, win $609 profit. That's about a 14% implied chance.
- Vig
- The book's built-in margin. Sportsbook percentages add up to more than 100%; market prices don't.
- Liquidity
- How much money is in the market. More money means you can get in and out at the price you see.
Polymarket says "zero trading fees" on the box. The actual bill is a little more honest than that.
What a Polymarket round-trip really costs
Imagine funding $100 from a debit card and buying 200 contracts at 50¢. The math:
- Card → USDC on Polygon — $2–4 on-ramp fee (1–4% depending on provider)
- USDC approval (one-time per market) — ~$0.05 in gas
- Buy 200 contracts at $0.50 — $0.00 trading fee, ~$0.10 gas
- Sell or settle — $0.00 trading fee, ~$0.10 gas
- USDC → bank — $1–3 off-ramp fee (1–3%)
Total friction on a $100 round-trip: roughly $3–7. That's the real number to compare against Kalshi's ~$3–7 per round-trip in trading fees on the same size.
Where Polymarket wins on cost
If your USDC already lives on Polygon — from a previous trade, an on-chain payroll, or cross-chain bridging — the on-ramp cost goes to zero. Trading from existing USDC, Polymarket is essentially free.
Where Kalshi wins on cost
US users who fund once via ACH (free) and trade contracts priced far from 50¢ can run very cheaply on Kalshi. The Kalshi fee formula caps near-the-money but stays meaningful in the middle of the range.
Practical takeaway
Choose based on workflow, not headline fees. Active crypto-native traders should use Polymarket. US users who want USD in and USD out should use Kalshi.
Polymarket limits US access by state — see where Polymarket is accessible in the US before funding an account.
Odds → probability → payout
- Implied chance
- 14.1%
- Fair market price
- 14¢
- Pays back
- $141.80
- Profit if right
- $121.80
Sportsbook odds include the book's margin, so the implied chance shown here is slightly higher than the true probability. A prediction-market contract priced below this number is the better deal. Reverse check: 14.1% ≈ +609.
Your first trade, step by step
- Fund a small balanceOpen an account, verify your ID, and deposit $10–$20 by debit or ACH. You must be 18+ and in an eligible state.
- Find the marketSearch the event by team, player or headline. Check the price and the volume — thin markets move a lot on small orders.
- Read the price as a probabilityA 23¢ YES contract means the market gives it about a 23% chance. If you think it is higher than that, YES is the value side.
- Place a limit orderEnter the price you want rather than taking the market. You buy shares, not a bet slip — the most you can lose is what you paid.
- Decide your exitYou can sell any time before the event resolves, or hold to settlement where each winning share pays $1.
Ready to try it: open Polymarket. 18+, eligible states only. Trade what you can afford to lose.
Sources & further reading
- Polymarket documentationPolymarket
- Polymarket — official sitePolymarket
Frequently asked questions
Does Polymarket really charge nothing to trade?
Yes. The order book and AMM both execute at 0% fees. Polymarket's revenue comes from spreads, market-making, and adjacent services rather than per-trade commissions.
What are the actual costs then?
Three: (1) Polygon gas on each on-chain action — typically cents; (2) on-ramp fees of 1–4% to convert fiat to USDC; (3) the spread between bid and ask on illiquid markets.
Is Polymarket cheaper than Kalshi?
For active small-position trading, often yes. For a single large deposit held in cash and traded once or twice, Kalshi can be cheaper because ACH funding is free.
Are there withdrawal fees?
Polymarket itself charges no withdrawal fee. You pay Polygon gas to move USDC out, plus an off-ramp fee (1–3%) if you convert USDC back to fiat via a service like MoonPay or a centralized exchange.
Are there hidden costs in resolution?
No. Markets settle at $1 or $0 with no platform skim. The only resolution-related cost is the rare gas spent claiming winnings if the UI doesn't auto-redeem.
What does the price actually mean?
A contract settles at $1 if the event happens and $0 if it doesn't, so the price is the market's probability. A contract at 23¢ means roughly a 23% chance, and $1 buys about 4.3 shares.
How much money do I need to start?
You can place a real trade with $10–$20. Contracts are priced in cents, so a $20 balance buys dozens of shares on a cheap market. Start small until you have seen a position settle.
Related reading
Independent coverage. Some outbound links are affiliate links — see footer disclosure.