The fee charged when you execute against existing orders in the book. Taker fees are higher than maker fees on platforms like Kalshi.
A taker fee is charged when you execute a market order or a limit order that immediately matches against existing resting orders. You're 'taking' liquidity from the order book.
On Kalshi, the taker fee is 7% × p × (1-p) per contract — peaking at $0.0175 for a $0.50 contract. Maker fees (for orders that rest on the book) are 1/4 of the taker rate.
The maker/taker fee model incentivizes providing liquidity via limit orders. If you're patient enough to place limit orders and wait for fills, you pay significantly less.
Kalshi taker: ceil(0.07 × P × (1-P) × 100) / 100 Kalshi maker: ceil(0.0175 × P × (1-P) × 100) / 100
Buy Yes at $0.50 (market order): taker fee = ceil(0.07 × 0.50 × 0.50 × 100)/100 = ceil(1.75)/100 = $0.02. Effective cost = $0.52.
The fee charged when your limit order rests on the book and gets filled later. Typically lower than taker fees to incentivize liquidity.
Order BookA list of all pending buy and sell orders at different prices. Platforms with order books offer better price transparency.
LiquidityHow easily you can buy or sell contracts without significantly moving the price. More liquidity means tighter spreads and less slippage.