Kalshi fees
Kalshi does not charge one flat rate. Fees are set per contract family and are quadratic in the price, so the same trade costs most when a market is near a coin flip and least when it is nearly settled. Every model in use is listed below, straight from the venue's own data.
The full fee schedule
| Model | Multiplier | Contract families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| quadratic | 1 | 14,392 | 98.7% |
| quadratic with maker fees | 1 | 159 | 1.1% |
| quadratic | 0.5 | 18 | 0.1% |
| quadratic | 0 | 14 | 0.1% |
| quadratic with combo maker fees | 1 | 3 | 0.0% |
| quadratic with maker fees | 0.5 | 1 | 0.0% |
A worked $100 position
The taker fee is 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price) on a contract family with the standard multiplier of 1. $100 at 50¢ buys 200 contracts: 200 × 0.07 × 0.5 × 0.5 = $3.50. The same $100 at 80¢ costs $1.40, and at 95¢ $0.35. A family with a 0.5 multiplier charges half that, a fee-free one nothing.
Your own stake and price, with Kalshi's rounding: Kalshi fee calculator
Where it costs most
A quadratic fee scales with price × (1 − price): it peaks at 50¢ and falls towards 0¢ and 99¢. Trading a genuine toss-up costs the most per contract, and buying something the market already considers near-certain costs the least, the opposite of how a flat commission behaves.
163 contract families also charge makers, not only takers.
Every venue compared
Common questions
Does Kalshi charge a flat fee per trade?
No. The fee is quadratic in the contract price, so the cost depends on the price you trade at and, on some venues, the market.
Do makers pay fees on Kalshi?
On some contract families. Most charge only the taker; the families marked "with maker fees" in the schedule above charge resting orders too.
What does a $100 trade cost on Kalshi?
At 50¢, $100 buys 200 contracts, and the taker fee on a standard contract family is 200 × 0.07 × 0.5 × 0.5 = $3.50. It is half that on the few families with a 0.5 multiplier, nothing on fee-free ones, and a resting maker order pays nothing on most families.