Glossary › Bid and ask

What are the bid and ask on Kalshi?

Checked September 25, 2026 · 4 sources · plain-English definition, not financial advice

How it works on Kalshi

Kalshi's help center defines bids as the maximum price a buyer is willing to pay for a contract and asks as the minimum price a member is willing to sell it for. To buy right away you pay the ask; to sell right away you receive the bid.

On Kalshi the two sides mirror each other. Its API documentation explains that a Yes bid at 60¢ is the same as a No ask at 40¢, and a No bid at 30¢ is the same as a Yes ask at 70¢, because Yes and No always add up to $1. That is why the API returns only bids: the asks of one side are the bids of the other.

Example: the best Yes bid is 42¢ and the best No bid is 56¢. You can buy Yes now at 44¢ ($1.00 minus 56¢) or sell Yes now at 42¢. The 2¢ gap is the spread, a cost you pay each time you cross it. Check the quantity at each price, not only the top quote.

Related terms

• Bid-ask spread: The gap between the best bid and best ask in a Kalshi market; crossing it costs money, so a 2¢ spread on a 44¢ contract is about 4.5%.
• Order book: The live list of resting orders in a Kalshi market, with prices and quantities on each side; trades happen when a new order matches one.
• Limit order: An order to buy or sell at your price or better; on Kalshi any part that does not match right away rests on the order book until filled or canceled.
• Market order: Kalshi's Quick Order: buy a set number of contracts right away at the best prices available, which can fill across several price levels.
• Yes and No prices: The prices of the two sides of a Kalshi market; the winning side pays $1, so a Yes price of 70¢ pairs with a No price of about 30¢.

See also

Live Kalshi order book example · Order book guide: bid, ask and depth

Sources

1. The Orderbook, Kalshi Help Center, March 10, 2026
2. Orderbook Responses, Kalshi API documentation, accessed September 25, 2026
3. CFTC glossary: Bid, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, accessed September 25, 2026
4. CFTC glossary: Ask, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, accessed September 25, 2026

Checked September 25, 2026. Kalshi changes fees, rules, funding options and limits; the market's rules, the order ticket and Kalshi's help center are the final word.

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