Arbs › Guides › Polymarket fees explained for sports bettors
Polymarket fees explained
Arbs research desk · Updated 2026-11-01 · Reviewed 2026-11-01 · 2 min read
The short answer: On Polymarket, takers pay fee = shares × rate × price × (1 − price) and makers pay nothing. The published sports rate is 0.05, which is 1.25¢ per share at 50¢. The rate is set per market, so read it on the market you trade.
Who pays
A taker order fills immediately against an order already on the book. A maker order rests on the book until someone else fills it. Polymarket charges takers and pays part of those fees back to makers as rebates.
A limit order is not automatically a maker order. If its price crosses the spread it fills at once and is charged as a taker.
The formula
fee = s × r × p × (1 − p)
As a share of what you pay for the shares, the fee is r × (1 − p). It is light on favourites and heavier on longshots:
fee ÷ (s × p) = r × (1 − p)
Worked example: Buying 200 shares at 40¢
- Shares cost 200 × $0.40 = $80.00
- Fee: 200 × 0.05 × 0.40 × 0.60 = $2.40
- Total: $82.40 for a $200 payout
Profit if it wins: $117.60. The fee is 3% of the share cost.
The curve
The p × (1 − p) term makes the fee largest at 50¢ and close to nothing near 1¢ or 99¢. In cents the fee at 25¢ equals the fee at 75¢, but as a share of the money you put in it is three times larger on the 25¢ side.
| Price | Fee per share | Share of the price | Break-even win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10¢ | 0.45¢ | 4.5% | 10.45% |
| 25¢ | 0.94¢ | 3.75% | 25.94% |
| 50¢ | 1.25¢ | 2.5% | 51.25% |
| 75¢ | 0.94¢ | 1.25% | 75.94% |
| 90¢ | 0.45¢ | 0.5% | 90.45% |
Break-even after fees
Your break-even win probability is the price plus the fee per share, and the odds you really get are one over that:
break-even = p × (1 + r × (1 − p)); effective decimal odds = 1 ÷ break-even
A 50¢ share at 0.05 needs 51.25% to break even, which is −105 in American odds. Those extra 1.25 points are the bar a bet has to clear before it is +EV. The fee calculator shows it for any price.
Making instead of taking
If the bid is 49¢ and the ask 51¢, a market buy costs 51¢ plus a 1.25¢ fee: 52.25¢ a share. A resting bid at 50¢ costs exactly 50¢ if someone sells into it, 2.25¢ less.
Rates change
Polymarket publishes a default rate per category and stores the actual rate on each market. Some sports markets are set to zero and older markets can carry an earlier rate. Arbs reads every market’s fee schedule from Polymarket before it nets fees out of an edge.
Try it: Polymarket fee calculator
Frequently asked questions
What is the Polymarket fee on sports?
Taker orders pay shares × rate × price × (1 − price). The published sports rate is 0.05; individual markets can differ.
Are there deposit or withdrawal fees?
Polymarket does not charge them. The exchange or on-ramp you use to move money may.
Do limit orders pay fees on Polymarket?
A limit order that rests and is later filled is a maker order and pays no fee. A limit order priced to fill immediately is a taker order.
Do I pay the fee when I sell?
Selling into the bid is a taker order and pays the same formula. Shares that settle at $1 or $0 at the end pay no fee.