Maker vs taker fees: what is the difference?
A maker fee is charged when your order waits in the order book and adds liquidity; a taker fee is charged when your order fills immediately against existing orders. Taker fees are usually equal to or higher than maker fees. Limit orders that do not fill at once are makers; market orders are takers.
Contents
Exchanges publish two fees for the same market: a maker fee and a taker fee. Which one you pay depends on how your order meets the order book — not on whether you buy or sell, and not on the coin. For an active trader the gap between the two often matters more than the gap between exchanges, so it is worth knowing which side of it you are on.
Base-tier spot fees on two exchanges we cover:
| Maker | Taker | |
|---|---|---|
| KuCoin | 0.1%verified Oct 11 | 0.1%verified Oct 11 |
| Bybit | 0.1%verified Oct 14 | 0.1%verified Oct 14 |
What a maker order is
A maker order does not fill straight away. It rests in the order book at your price and waits for someone to trade against it. By adding an order to the book you "make" liquidity: other traders can now buy or sell at your price. Exchanges want deep order books, because tight spreads attract more trading, so they charge makers a fee that is equal to or lower than the taker fee.
Typical maker orders are a limit buy below the current price, a limit sell above it, or a post-only order. Post-only is a limit order with a safeguard: if it would fill immediately, and so pay the taker fee, the exchange cancels it instead. It is the simplest way to make sure an order pays the maker fee.
What a taker order is
A taker order fills immediately against orders already in the book, so it "takes" liquidity away. Market orders are always takers. A limit order is a taker too when its price crosses the spread: a limit buy at or above the lowest ask fills at once against existing sell orders.
Stop orders deserve a note. On most exchanges a triggered stop-market order becomes a market order and pays the taker fee; a stop-limit order becomes a limit order, which can end up on either side depending on where the price is when it triggers.
Which fee applies to your trade?
- Market order — taker.
- Limit order that fills at once — taker for the filled part.
- Limit order that waits in the book — maker when it fills later.
- Post-only order — maker, or cancelled if it would have been a taker.
- Partly filled order — can be both: the part that filled immediately is taker, the rest, filled later from the book, is maker.
- Triggered stop-market order — taker.
Your trade history on the exchange shows the role of each fill, usually labelled "Maker" or "Taker", together with the fee charged. That record is the only reliable source: the order type tells you what to expect, the fill tells you what happened.
Why do takers pay more?
Liquidity is what an exchange sells. A deep order book with many resting orders means small spreads and little slippage, which brings more traders and more volume. Makers supply that depth; takers use it up. Pricing the maker side lower pays for the depth, and on some markets and top VIP tiers the maker fee drops to zero or even below zero, meaning the exchange pays the maker for each fill. That is mostly a tool for professional market makers; regular accounts rarely see it.
The hidden cost of taking: the spread
When you take liquidity you trade at the best price someone else offered: you buy at the ask and sell at the bid. The gap between them, the spread, is a cost on top of the fee. On liquid pairs it is tiny; on thin markets it can be larger than the fee itself. A large market order can also walk through several price levels of the book, and that slippage is another cost the fee schedule does not show. A maker order waits for a price you chose, so it pays neither — but it takes the risk of not filling at all.
Maker and taker on futures
The rule is the same on futures, but the stakes are higher. The fee is charged on the value of the position, not on your margin: with leverage the position is several times larger than the funds you put in, and the fee applies to all of it. That is why the maker–taker gap is felt more on futures than on spot, especially when positions are opened and closed with market orders. Check futures fees separately — many exchanges price them differently from spot — and check whether a new-account rebate covers futures at all. Funding payments between long and short positions are a separate cost: they do not depend on the order type, and no fee rebate reduces them.
Why it matters for rebates
A rebate is a share of the fee you actually paid, so the same volume brings a different rebate depending on your mix of maker and taker trades. A trader who mostly takes pays more in fees and gets more back in absolute terms, yet still pays more overall than one who mostly makes. Read what a fee rebate is, and see both fees after the rebate for every exchange on the comparison page:
How to pay less
- Use limit orders when you are not in a hurry, so more of your trades are makers; post-only makes sure of it.
- Avoid market orders on thin markets, where the spread and slippage can cost more than the fee.
- Check whether the exchange lowers fees for paying with its own token or for higher VIP tiers, and remember that a lower fee also means a smaller rebate.
- Open a new account with a rebate, so part of the remaining fee comes back. The guide on calculating trading fee savings shows how to estimate it for your own maker and taker mix.
When the taker fee is worth paying
A maker order saves a little on each trade but may never fill. If the price moves away, you either miss the trade or chase it with a worse order. When getting in or out right now matters more than the fee — closing a position, reacting to news — the taker fee is the price of certainty. The goal is not to avoid taker orders, but to pay for them only when you mean to.
Frequently asked questions
Is a market order always a taker?
Yes. A market order fills immediately against the order book, so it always pays the taker fee.
What is a post-only order?
A limit order that the exchange cancels instead of filling it immediately, so it can only ever pay the maker fee.
Can the maker fee be negative?
On some exchanges and high VIP tiers it can be; then the exchange pays the maker. It is rare for regular accounts.
Does buying or selling change the fee?
No. The side does not matter; what matters is whether your order adds liquidity or takes it.
Sources
- KuCoin fee levels — KuCoin (accessed Oct 1)
- Bybit trading fee structure — Bybit (accessed Oct 1)
Crypto trading carries a high risk of loss. Getref does not give investment advice.
Related guides
How exchanges pay rebates and how to check yours
Two ways exchanges apply a rebate, where to find it in your account, and a checklist for when it does not arrive.
Fees · Oct 15 · 5 min read
How to calculate trading fee savings from a rebate
Volume × fee × rebate share — plus the details that keep the estimate honest: your maker and taker mix, discounts, caps and futures leverage.
Fees · Oct 15 · 5 min read
What is a crypto trading fee rebate?
A rebate returns part of the trading fees you already paid. Here is how it is calculated, who pays it and how to check that it arrives.
Fees · Oct 1 · 5 min read