Citation-ready answer: As of Kalshi's Feb. 5, 2026 fee schedule, the general trading fee for immediately matched orders is round up(0.07 x C x P x (1-P)), where C is contracts and P is contract price in dollars. Kalshi's schedule also says there is no settlement fee, no membership fee, and no ACH deposit or ACH withdrawal fee. Card deposits can carry a maximum 2% fee, and some markets or maker orders can use different schedules.
Primary sources: Kalshi fee schedule and Kalshi Help Center fees page. This is not legal, tax, or financial advice.
Last month I bought 200 contracts on a Fed decision market at 67 cents each. The trade executed, I waited, Powell did his thing, and I sold out at 81 cents. Nice little profit, right? Then I looked at my actual P&L and realized I'd given back almost a third of my gains to fees. That's when I decided to actually sit down and understand what Kalshi charges, because "almost a third" felt wrong. Turns out I was doing the math incorrectly, but the exercise was useful. Here's everything I learned about Kalshi fees explained in plain terms.
Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated exchange, which means it operates differently than offshore prediction markets. You deposit USD, you go through KYC, and you trade contracts that settle at either $0 or $1. Every contract represents a yes/no outcome on some real-world event.
The current public fee schedule is more specific than the old shorthand people repeat in forums:
round up(0.07 x C x P x (1-P)), where C is contracts and P is contract price in dollarsround up(0.0175 x C x P x (1-P)) when a resting order later executesThat 7% number trips people up, including me at first. It is not 7% of your position size, and it is not simply 7% of your maximum payout. The current general formula multiplies 7% by the number of contracts, the contract price, and one minus the contract price, then rounds up to the next cent.
Let me walk through the formula because this confused me for weeks.
Say you trade 100 contracts at 40 cents. The formula is 0.07 x 100 x 0.40 x 0.60, which comes out to $1.68 before the round-up step. Kalshi's schedule shows the same $1.68 example for 100 contracts at a 40-cent price.
At 50 cents, 100 contracts use 0.07 x 100 x 0.50 x 0.50, or $1.75. For a single 50-cent contract, the raw calculation is 1.75 cents and the schedule rounds that to 2 cents.
That rounding is why one-contract trades can feel expensive relative to size. At the same time, the formula is lower at very high and very low prices because P x (1-P) is smaller near the edges.
The same source-backed rule applies: check the order ticket and current fee schedule for the side and market you are trading. The broad point is that Kalshi charges applicable trading fees when an order executes, not after the contract settles. There is no separate settlement fee in the Feb. 5, 2026 schedule.
Your risk is still defined by the contract economics. If the contract settles against you, you can lose the money you put at risk, plus any fees already paid on executed trades.
Let me use some real Kalshi markets to show how this plays out.
Fed Decision Markets (KXFEDDECISION series): These often trade in the 80-95 cent range for the expected outcome. In the current general fee table, 100 contracts at 90 cents show a $0.63 fee. A single 90-cent contract rounds to 1 cent.
CPI Markets (KXCPIYOY series): These can be more spread out. In the current general fee table, 100 contracts at 25 cents show a $1.32 fee. On a small order, the spread and cent rounding can matter as much as the headline formula.
Election Markets (KXPRESPARTY): When contracts trade near 50 cents, the P x (1-P) part of the formula is at its largest. The current general fee table shows $1.75 for 100 contracts at 50 cents.
The pattern here: the official formula is highest near 50-cent pricing, lower near the edges, and still affected by cent rounding on tiny orders.
I spent my first year on Polymarket before the geofence pushed US users off. Over there, fees were baked into the spread via the AMM, plus gas costs if you were moving funds around. It was harder to calculate your true cost per trade.
Kalshi's model is more transparent. You see the fee before you confirm. There's no blockchain gas, no slippage from automated market makers, no conversion costs from stablecoins.
The tradeoff? Kalshi's transaction fee can feel steep compared to traditional equity markets where you pay basically nothing per trade. But prediction markets aren't equity markets. The contracts are binary, liquidity is thinner, and the regulatory overhead is real.
I run a Telegram channel over at @Kalshi_market where we discuss this stuff regularly. The consensus among active traders is that the fees are acceptable on liquid markets but can eat into returns on low-probability, low-volume contracts.
Kalshi's current public schedule says there is no fee for ACH deposits or ACH withdrawals. That's genuinely useful. Some offshore books nickel and dime you on every withdrawal.
A few things to keep in mind:
After a year of trading here, I've developed some habits:
Trade liquid markets. Tighter spreads mean the fee is a smaller percentage of your edge. Fed decisions, major economic data, and political markets tend to have the best liquidity.
Size appropriately. The formula scales with contract count, but the round-up-to-the-next-cent rule matters on tiny trades. Don't overtrade, but don't ignore rounding either.
Hold to settlement when conviction is high. If you buy at 40 cents and the market moves to 55 cents, you can sell and lock in profit, but another executed trade can mean another fee. Or you can hold to settlement if the thesis still makes sense. Depends on your conviction.
Avoid extreme longshots unless you have real edge. Low-price contracts can still show a one-cent fee on a single contract after rounding. If the thesis is weak, rounding and spread can eat the edge before the event even starts.
Kalshi's fee schedule charges applicable trading fees when an order executes, not because a contract later wins or loses. The same schedule says there is no settlement fee. Your maximum loss still includes what you paid for the contract plus any displayed execution fee.
Kalshi's Feb. 5, 2026 fee schedule says there is no fee for ACH deposits or ACH withdrawals, no membership fee, and no settlement fee. It also says card deposits can carry a maximum 2% fee, crypto transfers may have third-party or network fees, and bank wire fees can vary by bank.
The general formula scales with contracts and price, but Kalshi rounds fees up to the next cent. That rounding can matter on very small orders, especially one-contract trades. The bid-ask spread on illiquid markets can also be a larger practical cost than the exchange fee.
Kalshi's current general formula is based on 0.07 times contracts times price times one minus price, rounded up to the next cent. The fee is shown on the order ticket before execution and is charged when the trade executes, rather than being manually paid after settlement.
Not legal, tax, or financial advice. I trade my own money and you can lose yours. Do your own research.