DraftKings Predictions vs Kalshi: which should you use?

DraftKings Predictions vs Kalshi at a glance

Both answer to the CFTC, but they sit at different layers. Kalshi runs the exchange. DraftKings Predictions is a broker that sends your orders to three.

Read DraftKings' fee cell as a ceiling. Its all-in fee is 2¢ a contract from 30¢ to 94¢, and less toward either end.

The real difference between DraftKings and Kalshi

Start with the name. “DraftKings” is two products, and many searches mix them up.

DraftKings Sportsbook is a state-licensed sportsbook. It sets the odds and takes your bet itself. It runs, online or in retail, in 30 states, plus DC and Puerto Rico.

DraftKings Predictions is a separate app, launched in December 2025. It is a CFTC-registered broker for event contracts. Orders go to DKeX, which DraftKings owns, or to CDNA and CME.

Kalshi is neither. It runs its own exchange and clearinghouse, and your order meets another trader on its order book.

The two DraftKings products never overlap on sports. Predictions offers sports contracts in 18 states, and none of them has a DraftKings sportsbook.

So in a sportsbook state, the sports choice is DraftKings' sportsbook or Kalshi's contracts. In the 18 states, it is DraftKings Predictions or Kalshi. This page compares the prediction markets.

DraftKings Predictions and Kalshi prices

DraftKings Predictions publishes no machine-readable prices, so no market can be priced on both here.

DraftKings does not route to Kalshi. DKeX, CDNA and CME are separate order books, so the same game can trade at different prices.

We cannot show both quotes, because DraftKings publishes no price feed. Compare them yourself: open the same market in each app and add each fee to the price.

Near 50¢, that means 2¢ a contract on DraftKings and 1.75¢ on Kalshi. Kalshi's side of every market is in our live prediction market odds.

DraftKings Predictions vs Kalshi fees on the same $100 trade

Kalshi is cheaper for takers at every price in DraftKings' schedule. On $100, the gap is smallest at 50¢, where it is 50¢.

At 50¢, $100 buys 200 contracts. DraftKings charges 2¢ each, so $4.00. Kalshi's taker fee is $3.50.

At 10¢, $100 buys 1,000 contracts. DraftKings charges $7.60 on DKeX and CDNA markets, or $10 on CME markets. Kalshi charges $6.30.

At 90¢, the gap triples: $2.22 on DraftKings, $0.70 on Kalshi. Both charge again if you sell before settlement.

DraftKings' fee is all-in, including the exchange's share. Kalshi's resting limit orders are free on most series. Every Kalshi rate is on our Kalshi fees page.

Is DraftKings Predictions or Kalshi legal in the US?

Both, at the federal level. Kalshi has been a CFTC-designated exchange since November 2020. DraftKings Predictions is a CFTC-registered broker, and DKeX, CDNA and CME are designated exchanges.

By our state records: DraftKings Predictions’ own terms: sports contracts in 18 states; nothing in ME or NH. Kalshi’s contracts are restricted or contested in 17 states. Each state's page is on our prediction market legal hub.

Kalshi's count tracks court orders and state actions. DraftKings's limits come mostly from its own map, which works the opposite way.

Kalshi is open everywhere by default. Court orders close its sports contracts in Michigan, Nevada and Washington.

DraftKings opens sports only in 18 states, including California, Florida, Georgia and Texas. That leaves 32 states, plus DC and Puerto Rico, with no DraftKings sports contracts. Maine and New Hampshire get no markets at all.

The fights differ too. Appeals courts are split on Kalshi: it won in the Third Circuit, then lost in the Ninth and Sixth. New York sued it on July 31.

DraftKings faces Nevada's regulator, which in November 2025 called sports event contracts wagering. Three private lawsuits say its sports contracts are illegal gambling. Every case is on our prediction market legal tracker.

DraftKings Predictions or Kalshi: which is safer?

The biggest gap is where your waiting cash sits. On Kalshi, all of it sits at Kalshi Klear, the clearinghouse, apart from company money.

On DraftKings, idle cash stays in your DraftKings account, held by an affiliate. It moves to the broker only to back a trade.

DraftKings' own terms say CFTC customer-fund rules do not cover money held by that affiliate. So that protection covers your trades, not your waiting balance.

Neither is a bank. FDIC insurance covers bank deposits, and SIPC covers securities. Event contracts are neither.

Check who can trade against you. DraftKings' terms let its affiliates trade against customers. A class action says Kalshi users often trade against its affiliates too.

None of the lawsuits against either claims it took deposits and vanished. The details are in our Kalshi review and DraftKings Predictions review.

DraftKings Predictions vs Kalshi markets

Kalshi lists all six categories we track: sports, politics, economics, crypto, culture and climate. It counts far more individual markets, because it splits one question into many strikes and dates.

DraftKings is sports-first: the NFL, college football, the NBA, WNBA, NHL and MLB, plus golf, tennis, MMA and soccer. It also lists politics, economics, crypto, stock-market and culture markets.

What DraftKings shows depends on your state. In 13 states, only financial markets open. It publishes no market feed, so its column above stays blank. Compare daily totals on our prediction market volume page.

Deposits, withdrawals and payouts on DraftKings Predictions and Kalshi

Kalshi takes ten ways in. They include bank and real-time transfers, debit cards, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, wire and crypto.

DraftKings lists its Predictions deposit methods only after you log in. Its terms rule some out: credit cards, gift cards, cash at a retail sportsbook and Golden Nugget casino funds.

Its upside is one wallet. Predictions draws on your DraftKings account balance, so there is no new account to fund.

Getting money out: Kalshi pays out to a debit card, bank, PayPal, Venmo or crypto wallet, with no Kalshi fee. DraftKings pays out through your DraftKings account and publishes no Predictions withdrawal times.

Winning contracts pay $1 on both. Most Kalshi markets settle within hours. On DKeX, the rulebook allows a hold of up to 12 hours before proceeds are credited.

Kalshi also pays 3.25% APY on cash and open positions, for balances of $250 or more. DraftKings publishes no interest.

Settlement and disputes

Both settle from the source named in each market's rules. Read those rules before you trade, on either app.

Kalshi's Khamenei market shows why. It paid the last price before his death, not $1, under a rule excluding death. A class action says that rule was buried in fine print.

On DKeX, a disputed result goes to the exchange's outcome review, which can delay the payout. Markets on CDNA and CME follow those exchanges' rules.

DraftKings' terms add a catch. You may be unable to sell a position from a state where that market is closed.

DraftKings Predictions and Kalshi apps and support

DraftKings Predictions: App Store 4.9 (12K) · Google Play 4.8 (2.67K). Kalshi: App Store 4.8 (548K) · Google Play 4.7 (120K). Ratings read September 25, 2026.

Kalshi runs on iOS, Android and the web. It adds a desktop terminal, Kalshi Pro, and a free API.

DraftKings Predictions has its own iOS and Android app and a web version. Since June 2026, it also sits inside the main DraftKings Sports & Casino app, on the same login.

Kalshi's support is chat and email, with no phone line. DraftKings runs support through its help center and email.

Can you use DraftKings Predictions and Kalshi together?

Yes, where DraftKings Predictions covers your state. Nothing stops you holding an account on each.

Arbitrage is harder than it looks. One app's Yes plus the other's No must cost under $1, after both fees.

At 50¢, those fees add 3.75¢ a contract pair: 2¢ on DraftKings and 1.75¢ on Kalshi. The price gap must beat that.

Then check the rules. Two markets can look identical and settle on different sources. A “risk-free” pair can pay out on neither side.

DraftKings Predictions or Kalshi: which should you pick?

On our published method, DraftKings Predictions ranks eleventh of 15 apps at 3.8 out of 5. Kalshi ranks first, at 4.9. Your state decides much of it.

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