Polymarket vs Kalshi — Which Prediction Market Is Better?
Compare Polymarket and Kalshi: fees, markets, regulation, and which platform gives you better odds.
Overview
Polymarket and Kalshi serve different audiences. Polymarket is crypto-native and trades using USDC; Kalshi offers CFTC-regulated event contracts in USD. Availability and eligibility depend on the user and jurisdiction. VoxOdds tracks public market data from both.
Fees
Fees vary by venue, market, order type, and current fee schedule. A displayed probability is not the total execution cost: check the order ticket, live spread, available depth, slippage, and applicable fees before comparing prices.
Fees, compared
Both venues charge takers a fee that scales with price × (1 − price), so the fee in cents is largest near 50¢ and smallest near 0¢ or 100¢. Kalshi charges 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price), rounded up to the next cent per order, with some series set to zero. Polymarket charges shares × a per-market fee rate × price × (1 − price); VoxOdds reads the live rate before every quote.
| Hypothetical contract price | Kalshi fee per contract | Kalshi fee as % of price | Polymarket fee at a 4% rate | Polymarket fee as % of price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10¢ | 0.63¢ | 6.3% | 0.36¢ | 3.6% |
| 30¢ | 1.47¢ | 4.9% | 0.84¢ | 2.8% |
| 50¢ | 1.75¢ | 3.5% | 1.00¢ | 2.0% |
| 70¢ | 1.47¢ | 2.1% | 0.84¢ | 1.2% |
| 90¢ | 0.63¢ | 0.7% | 0.36¢ | 0.4% |
Illustrative fee calculations, not market quotes. Fees per contract before Kalshi's per-order rounding. Polymarket rates vary by market, so check the live quote.
Available Markets
Polymarket leads in variety: politics, crypto, geopolitics, sports, culture, and more. Kalshi focuses on regulated event contracts: economics, elections, climate, and sports. Polymarket tends to create markets faster for breaking events. Kalshi's advantage is regulatory compliance and USD trading.
Liquidity & Odds
Liquidity and spreads vary market by market. VoxOdds Compare shows where displayed probabilities disagree, but a real best price requires executable bids and asks, depth, fees, and equivalent resolution rules.
Live price comparison
For contracts whose resolution rules were reviewed as equivalent on both venues, VoxOdds walks each live order book and shows the all-in price of a $100 order, estimated taker fees included, and which venue is cheaper right now. Neither venue is always cheaper: a lower fee can be outweighed by a worse order-book price. The VoxOdds Gap Index, the median saving on the cheaper venue across all matched contracts, appears on the web comparison page, with a clearly labeled historical series.
Which Should You Use?
Start with eligibility, funding method, contract rules, and execution cost. VoxOdds provides research links to both venues but does not assume that either venue is available or suitable for a particular user.
Frequently asked questions
Is Polymarket cheaper than Kalshi?
Neither venue is always cheaper. On contracts matched on both venues, the cheaper side changes from contract to contract because order-book prices differ as well as fees. The live comparison at https://voxodds.com/polymarket-vs-kalshi shows today's split and the VoxOdds Gap Index.
How are Kalshi fees calculated?
Kalshi's taker fee is 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price), rounded up to the next cent per order. Some series carry a zero taker multiplier. At 50¢ that is about 1.75¢ per contract.
How are Polymarket fees calculated?
Polymarket's taker fee is shares × a per-market fee rate × price × (1 − price). On the contracts VoxOdds matched on 29 September 2026 the live rate was 3–4%, about 1¢ per contract at 50¢ with a 4% rate.
Why can the same contract cost different amounts on each venue?
Each venue has its own order book, depth and fee model. A $100 order walks different price levels on each, so the all-in price per contract differs even when both contracts resolve the same way.
Updated 2026-09-29.
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