KALSHI Fee: How the Platform Charges for Yes/No Contracts
Kalshi charges a trading fee on each order, applied to both sides of every binary YES/NO contract. The fee structure is designed to be predictable across markets, with the per-contract cost scaled by price and volume. This article explains how the fee works, what drives the cost in common scenarios, and how tools like KalshiArb can help you spot edge cases where the total cost is minimized. Remember: all settlements are USD, and fees affect both legs of a trade in a balanced way.
How Kalshi calculates the per-contract fee
Kalshi applies a trading fee on each individual contract fill. The fee is calculated using a formula that factors in the number of contracts traded and the price of the contract at execution. In practice, this means cheaper edges near the tails of the price spectrum tend to incur smaller per-contract fees, while prices near the midpoint can carry a higher fee per contract. The fee applies to both YES and NO sides as part of standard markets, with no maker rebate in the general case.
Typical fee impact in common Kalshi trades
In a standard binary YES/NO market, you pay the per-contract fee for the YES leg and the NO leg separately when you execute orders. The sum of the two legs is still capped by Kalshi’s rule that the combined price must respect the $1.00 settlement structure. Because fees are proportional to price and size, trades closer to the $0.50 mark generally carry higher combined fees than trades at more extreme prices. This matters for arbitrage strategies that involve buying both sides or multiple child markets under an event ticker.
Ways to think about costs for edge opportunities
Edge opportunities on KalshiArb often come from the gap between best ASK prices across YES and NO sides or across related child markets. While the edge itself is a function of the spread, fees reduce realized profitability. Near-term edge cases, like combinations of child markets with a sum of YES prices under $1.00, can still produce a net favorable outcome after fees if the arbitrage is sized and timed carefully. Always include the expected fee impact when estimating potential profit in edge scenarios.
Regulatory context and fee transparency
Kalshi operates as a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market, and fee disclosure appears in the trade interface and API responses. Fees are applied in USD and settle with your payout in USD if the trade is executed and settled. If you’re unsure about a specific market’s fee, check the market’s detail page or the live trade feed for the current per-contract charge. KalshiArb provides tools to surface edge metrics that account for fees in real-time scenarios.
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FAQ
- What is the per-contract fee on Kalshi trades?
- Kalshi charges a trading fee on each contract fill, calculated per contract and dependent on price. The fee is applied to both YES and NO sides in standard markets and is not a maker rebate.
- Are there any maker rebates or fee waivers?
- The general markets do not offer maker rebates. A small subset of high-volume contests may waive fees temporarily, and Kalshi flags those in the API response.
- Do fees affect arbitrage opportunities differently as price moves?
- Yes. Fees are influenced by price; contracts priced near $0.50 tend to incur higher per-contract fees than extremes near $0.01 or $0.99. This can affect the net edge in intra-market or combinatorial arbitrage strategies.
- How can I verify fees before placing a trade?
- Fees are shown on trade confirmations and in order book data. Use the REST API or the Kalshi UI to review the expected fee for a given order before submission.