How to use the Kalshi payout calculator
Two inputs get you an answer. Two more make it sharper.
- Enter your stake in dollars.
- Enter the contract price in cents. Use the ask, the price you would actually pay. For a No contract, enter the No price.
- Pick the venue and order type. A taker order fills now and pays the fee. A resting maker order usually pays nothing.
- Add your own probability, if you have one, to see the expected profit and your edge.
How a Kalshi payout works
A Kalshi payout is simple. Each contract settles at $1 if the outcome happens and $0 if it does not, so your payout is the number of contracts you hold. Kalshi charges nothing at settlement. For deposits, withdrawals and how a market resolves, read how Kalshi works.
Kalshi also trades fractions of a contract, in steps of 0.01, so your stake does not have to divide evenly by the price.
Here is $100 at 62¢, bought as a taker.
- 161.29 contracts for $100.00 ($100 ÷ 62¢, in steps of 0.01).
- $2.66 fee: 0.07 × 161.29 × 0.62 × 0.38, rounded up.
- $161.29 paid out if you are right, a profit of $58.63.
- 63.6% break-even: the trade has to win that often to pay for itself.
Kalshi fees, worked out
The fee is where most payout math goes wrong. It is not a flat percentage.
Kalshi charges takers 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price). That makes the fee largest at 50¢, where the outcome is least certain, and smallest near 1¢ and 99¢.
Resting orders pay nothing on most series. Series that charge makers use 0.0175 on the same curve. Some series, such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq markets, charge half the taker rate: enter 0.035 under Other for those.
Kalshi rounds the fee up so that fee plus cost lands on a whole centicent, $0.0001. One 50¢ contract costs 1.75¢ in fees, not 2¢.
The table shows the taker fee on 100 contracts at common prices, beside both Polymarket venues. The calculator above doubles as a Kalshi fee calculator: change the order type and the fee updates.
| Price | 100 contracts cost | Polymarket sports (0.05) | Polymarket politics (0.04) | Polymarket crypto (0.07) | Polymarket US (0.0695) | Kalshi (0.07) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5¢ | $5.00 | $0.2375 | $0.19 | $0.3325 | $0.33 | $0.3325 |
| 10¢ | $10.00 | $0.45 | $0.36 | $0.63 | $0.63 | $0.63 |
| 25¢ | $25.00 | $0.9375 | $0.75 | $1.3125 | $1.30 | $1.3125 |
| 50¢ | $50.00 | $1.25 | $1.00 | $1.75 | $1.74 | $1.75 |
| 75¢ | $75.00 | $0.9375 | $0.75 | $1.3125 | $1.30 | $1.3125 |
| 90¢ | $90.00 | $0.45 | $0.36 | $0.63 | $0.63 | $0.63 |
| 95¢ | $95.00 | $0.2375 | $0.19 | $0.3325 | $0.33 | $0.3325 |
How a Polymarket payout works
Polymarket pays the same way: $1 a share if you are right, nothing if you are wrong, and no fee to redeem winning shares.
Polymarket US, the CFTC-regulated exchange for US traders, charges takers 0.0695 on the same price curve and rounds each fee to the cent. Resting orders pay nothing. From October 6, 2026, only makers trading $10 million or more a month earn a rebate.
The international polymarket.com sets the rate by category, from 0 on geopolitics to 0.07 on crypto. Makers are never charged there either. For funding and withdrawals on each, read how Polymarket works.
What $100 pays at five prices
Same $100, same venue, five prices. A cheap contract pays more when it wins. It also wins less often.
| Price | Contracts | Fee | Paid if right | Profit if right | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10¢ | 1,000.00 | $6.30 | $1,000.00 | $893.70 | 10.6% |
| 25¢ | 400.00 | $5.25 | $400.00 | $294.75 | 26.3% |
| 50¢ | 200.00 | $3.50 | $200.00 | $96.50 | 51.7% |
| 75¢ | 133.33 | $1.75 | $133.33 | $31.58 | 76.3% |
| 90¢ | 111.11 | $0.70 | $111.11 | $10.41 | 90.6% |
Break-even and expected value
The break-even probability is how often the trade must win to pay for itself: price plus fee, divided by the payout. With no fee, it equals the price.
Expected value holds that up against your own view. Multiply your probability by the payout, then subtract the cost and the fee. If you think a 62¢ contract is 70% likely, $100 on Kalshi has an expected profit of $10.24.
Be honest with yourself here. Busy markets are usually well calibrated, and most traders overrate their own edge. When your estimate and the price disagree, the price is often right.
Selling before the market settles
You do not have to hold to the end. Sell at the current bid, and your result is the sale price times your contracts, minus what you paid and the fees on both trades.
On Polymarket and Kalshi US, a sell that fills at once is a taker trade and pays the fee again. A resting sell order usually doesn't.
Mistakes that skew the number
Watch for these four.
Using the last price. The number on a market list is often the last trade, but you pay the ask.
Leaving out the fee. On $100 at 50¢, Kalshi's taker fee adds $3.50, which lifts the break-even from 50% to 51.75%.
Mixing up the two Polymarkets. Polymarket US and polymarket.com run different fee schedules. Pick the one you trade on.
Forgetting No. A No contract is often the cheaper way to take a side, and its price is roughly 100¢ minus the Yes price.
Compare full fee schedules on prediction market fees, or turn a price into American odds with the odds converter.