Polymarket trading fees: who pays, how they are calculated, and where to see them
Polymarket charges a fee on taking liquidity in many markets, sized by the price of the trade. Fees decide whether a strategy that looks profitable is, and whether copying a trader costs you more than it cost them.
Who pays
According to Polymarket's documentation (as of October 2026), only takers — the side whose order crosses the spread and fills at once — pay a trading fee. Makers, whose resting orders are filled, are not charged, and Polymarket runs rebate programmes for them.
How the fee is calculated
The documented formula is fee = shares × fee rate × p × (1 − p), where p is the share price. Because of the p × (1 − p) term, the fee is largest for trades near 50¢ and shrinks towards 0 and $1, and a trade at 30¢ costs the same dollar fee as one at 70¢. The rate depends on the market's category, some categories — geopolitics among them — are fee-free, and Polymarket changes rates from time to time, so read the current schedule in Polymarket's docs or in each market's fee settings from the Gamma API.
Where fees show up on chain
On Polymarket's v2 exchanges each fee is recorded with the fill and in a separate FeeCharged event, in collateral. The older exchanges charged some buy fees in shares, which shows up as receiving fewer shares than the trade's price implies. A correct record counts the fee as cash actually paid, read from the chain, not estimated from a published schedule — which is what PMWallets does, and why its return figures include buy fees.
What it means for following a trader
A maker who quotes all day pays no fee on their fills. Copying them by taking liquidity means paying the taker fee on every copy, on top of crossing the spread they earned. A strategy with a thin edge — many trades near 50¢ — can stop being profitable once taker fees are paid. This is one reason a taker's record is easier to follow than a maker's.
Questions
Does Polymarket charge trading fees?
In many markets, yes — on the taker side only, per Polymarket's documentation as of October 2026. Rates differ by category and some categories are fee-free; check Polymarket's current schedule.
How is the Polymarket fee calculated?
fee = shares × fee rate × p × (1 − p), where p is the price. The fee is highest near 50¢ and symmetric: a trade at 30¢ costs the same dollar fee as one at 70¢.
Do makers pay fees on Polymarket?
No. Makers are not charged, and Polymarket runs rebate programmes that pay makers. That is part of why copying a maker by taking liquidity is a different trade from theirs.