Polymarket US fees, with real numbers
Polymarket US charges a small fee when you take a price from the order book. It's largest for 50¢ shares and smallest near 1¢ or 99¢. Here's the formula and what it means in practice.
Updated 2026-10-29
The formula
When you buy or sell by taking a price that's already on the order book (a "taker" order), Polymarket US charges:
Fee = coefficient × shares × price × (1 − price)
The coefficient is set per market. On the Up or Down markets WickTape follows, Polymarket US's market data currently lists it as 0.0695. Polymarket US raised its standard taker coefficient on July 1, 2026, and could change it again, so WickTape reads it from each market rather than assuming it. Orders that rest on the book and get filled later ("maker" orders) don't pay this fee and can earn a small rebate.
What it costs per 100 shares
| Share price | Cost of 100 shares | Taker fee | Fee as % of cost | Win rate to break even |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10¢ | $10.00 | $0.63 | 6.3% | 10.6% |
| 30¢ | $30.00 | $1.46 | 4.9% | 31.5% |
| 50¢ | $50.00 | $1.74 | 3.5% | 51.7% |
| 60¢ | $60.00 | $1.67 | 2.8% | 61.7% |
| 70¢ | $70.00 | $1.46 | 2.1% | 71.5% |
| 80¢ | $80.00 | $1.11 | 1.4% | 81.1% |
| 90¢ | $90.00 | $0.63 | 0.7% | 90.6% |
| 95¢ | $95.00 | $0.33 | 0.3% | 95.3% |
Two things stand out:
- The fee peaks at 50¢, where it's about $1.74 per 100 shares, and shrinks toward the extremes.
- Cheap shares are expensive to trade in percentage terms. At 10¢ the fee adds about 6.3% to your cost; at 90¢ it adds well under 1%.
The break-even win rate
A share bought at price p pays $1 if it wins. To break even, you need to win more often than p plus the fee per share. Buying at 70¢ means winning more than about 71.5% of the time. That's why WickTape's bots only bet when their model's chance is several cents above the price after the fee. Being right more often than not isn't the bar. Beating the price is.
Selling early pays a fee too
Selling your shares before the round ends is also a taker trade, so it pays the same formula on the sell price. Holding to the result costs nothing extra: winning shares simply pay $1.
Next: how WickTape's bots decide.
Quick answers
How is the Polymarket US taker fee calculated?
Fee = coefficient × number of shares × price × (1 − price). On the crypto, gold and silver Up or Down markets the coefficient is currently 0.0695, so 100 shares at 50¢ cost about $1.74 in fees.
What win rate do I need to break even on Polymarket?
More than the price you pay plus the fee per share. Buying at 70¢ needs a win rate above about 71.5%.