# What is a maker-taker fee?

Updated: 24 September 2026. Rate pages read 18 September 2026. The Cost Per Trade pricing desk

## In plain words

A maker-taker fee is a two-sided charge: the trader whose order waits in the book pays the maker rate,
and the trader who removes that order pays the taker rate. On the perpetual futures venues priced here
the maker rate runs from nothing to 0.050% and the taker rate from nothing to
0.080%.

## What it costs today

Every venue this site prices, ordered by what it costs to open and close a $10,000 position at market. The fee column is published; the book column is our own reading of what the order book takes on top.

| Venue | Published fee on $10,000 | Paid to the order book | All-in on $10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lighter | $0.00 | $0.86 | $0.86 |
| Extended | $5.00 | $0.12 | $5.12 |
| Aster | $8.00 | $0.16 | $8.16 |
| edgeX | $9.00 | $0.04 | $9.04 |
| Hyperliquid | $9.00 | $0.12 | $9.12 |
| ApeX Omni | $10.00 | $0.78 | $10.78 |
| EVEDEX | $9.00 | $4.12 | $13.12 |
| dYdX | $10.00 | $6.12 | $16.12 |
| Aevo | $16.00 | $4.92 | $20.92 |
| Paradex | $0.00 | $191.52 | $191.52 |

Published rates read 18 September 2026; order books read 00:00 to 23:54 UTC on 21 September 2026, at ten-minute stops.

## What the figures say

1. Four of the 10 venues priced here charge makers nothing; the dearest taker rate is 0.080%.
2. The gap between the two sides is widest on Aster and dYdX, at four basis points each, and narrowest, where the two rates differ at all, on edgeX at 0.005%.
3. A $10,000 position is charged twice, once to open and once to close.
4. The fee is only part of the bill: the order book charged between $0.04 and $191.52 on the same trade.

## Why a maker-taker fee has two sides

An order book only works if somebody is willing to leave an order sitting in it. That order is what
anyone else trades against, and a venue with an empty book cannot fill a single trade. So venues
split the charge: the resting order, the maker, pays little or nothing, and the incoming order that
removes it, the taker, pays more.

The split is not symmetrical anywhere. On the 10 order-book venues priced here,
four charge makers nothing at all and the dearest maker rate is 0.050%, while taker rates
run from nothing to 0.080%. The difference is the venue's opinion of how badly it needs resting orders.

## What each side costs in money

Percentages hide the size of the bill, so convert them. A $10,000 position charged
0.045% to open and the same to close pays $9.00. The same position
pays $5.00 at 0.025%, $8.00 at
0.040%, and nothing at all on a venue that charges nothing.

A maker pays half that pattern or less. At 0.015% a $10,000 resting order costs a
dollar and a half when it fills, against $4.00 at 0.040% and nothing at four of the 10. The
cheapest way to trade on almost every venue is to post and wait, and the cost of waiting is that the
order may not fill.

## Four ways venues set the two rates

**A flat schedule.** One pair of numbers for every account. Extended charges
0% maker / 0.025% taker whoever is trading
([Extended fee documentation](https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/trading-fees-and-rebates), checked 18 September 2026).

**A volume ladder.** The rate falls as turnover rises. Hyperliquid starts at
0.015% maker / 0.045% taker and descends with 14-day weighted volume and staked HYPE
([Hyperliquid fee documentation](https://hyperliquid.gitbook.io/hyperliquid-docs/trading/fees), checked 18 September 2026), and publishes every rung of
it in basis points rather than percentages.

**A zero rate with a condition.** Lighter charges nothing on its Standard account and delays taker
orders by 300 milliseconds ([Lighter fee documentation](https://docs.lighter.xyz/trading/trading-fees), checked 18 September 2026); Paradex
charges nothing on retail web orders and caps them at three a second
([Paradex fee documentation](https://api.prod.paradex.trade/v1/system/volume-tiers), checked 18 September 2026).

**Cashback after the charge.** The rate stays put and part of it comes back. EVEDEX charges
0.015% maker / 0.045% taker and returns up to 35% of a trader's own fees, which takes an effective taker
rate to 0.02925% (EVEDEX documentation, noted 18 September 2026).

## The three costs a fee page never prints

**The spread.** Crossing it is a cost paid on every market order. Median spreads on the books as read
ran from 0.01 bps to 7.45 bps.

**Price impact.** A market order larger than the top of the book walks into the next price, and the
next. On $10,000 that walk ran from 0.02 bps to 95.76 bps;
on $100,000, from 0.02 bps to 157.79 bps.

**Funding.** A perpetual contract has no expiry, so long and short holders pay each other at
intervals to keep the contract near the spot price. It is not a venue fee and it does not appear in
any figure on this site, but it is charged for as long as the position is open.

## Reading a fee page without being misled

Start with the tier a new account is actually on. Most published tables lead with the cheapest rung,
and almost nobody trades there: Hyperliquid's base tier is 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker and its
advertised floor is far lower. Then check whether the cheap rate carries a condition — a latency
penalty, an order-rate cap, a staked balance, a subscription.

Then price one trade you would really make. A $10,000 round trip cost between $0.86 and $191.52
all in across the 10 venues on this page, and the order of the venues on that
measure is not the order of their published rates. The two venues publishing nothing finished first
and last.

Last, check the date. Aster set maker fees to zero on 2 February 2026 and Paradex dropped retail fees
on 15 June 2026; a fee page read a year ago describes a different product.

## FAQ

### What is the difference between maker and taker?

A maker places an order that rests in the book and waits; a taker places one that fills immediately
against what is already there. Makers add depth and are charged less for it. On four of the ten
venues we price, makers are charged nothing at all.

### Is a maker fee always lower than a taker fee?

On every venue that charges anything at all, yes; Lighter and Paradex charge nothing on either side, so
neither rate is the lower. Elsewhere the gap varies widely. It is 0.005% on edgeX, where makers pay
0.040% and takers 0.045%, and 0.03% on EVEDEX and Hyperliquid, which both
charge 0.015% maker / 0.045% taker at the entry tier.

### How do I pay the maker fee instead of the taker fee?

Place a limit order at a price that will not fill immediately, so it rests in the book until someone
trades against it. Several venues also offer a post-only instruction that cancels the order rather
than let it cross and be charged as a taker.

### Why do exchanges charge takers more?

Because takers consume the depth that makers provide. Charging the side that consumes it, and
waiving or rebating the side that supplies it, is how a venue keeps its book filled, which is the
only thing that lets anybody trade there at all.

### Are maker-taker fees charged on perpetual futures?

On any venue that runs an order book, yes, separately from funding. Pool-priced venues such as GMX
and Jupiter Perps have no maker side, because there is no book to post into; they charge a position
fee of 0.035% to 0.06% each way instead.

### What is a good maker-taker fee?

Among perpetual futures venues, a maker rate of nothing is now common and a taker rate at or below
0.025% is cheap. Anything at or above 0.045% is dear, and the spread
and depth of the market matter as much as either number.

### Do maker fees ever pay you?

Rebates exist. Extended pays makers above 0.5% of its 30-day maker volume on top of a zero maker
rate, which turns resting orders into income rather than a free service. Most venues stop at waiving
the fee. The threshold is a share of the venue's own maker volume, so it moves as the book does.

### What is post-only?

An instruction that cancels an order rather than let it fill immediately. It guarantees the maker
rate, at the cost of sometimes not trading at all. On a venue charging 0.040% to takers
and nothing to makers, that guarantee is worth the whole taker fee.

### Does the maker-taker model exist on decentralized exchanges?

On the order-book ones, yes, and the rates look much like centralized schedules. Venues priced by a
pool work differently: there is no book, so a position fee replaces both sides and price impact is
charged separately. Nothing rests in a pool waiting to be filled, so there is no maker side to reward.

### Why are my fees higher than the advertised rate?

Because the advertised rate is usually the bottom of a ladder. Check which tier a new account sits on,
whether the cheap rate needs a stake or accepts a delay, and add what the spread and the order book
cost, which no fee page prints.

### Do I pay a fee if my limit order does not fill?

No. Fees are charged when an order fills, in whole or in part, so an unfilled order costs nothing but
the opportunity. That is the trade behind posting rather than crossing: a cheaper rate in exchange for
an uncertain fill.

## Quoted from the rate pages

> "Currently, Extended features a flat fee structure for both perpetuals and spot markets: Taker: 0.025% Maker: 0.000%" — Extended documentation, Trading fees and rebates, 18 September 2026. https://docs.extended.exchange/extended-resources/trading/trading-fees-and-rebates
> "Effective February 2, 2026, Maker fees for all VIP tiers were set to 0 bps." — Aster documentation, VIP programme, 18 September 2026. https://docs.asterdex.com/program-and-rewards/vip-program
> "The position fee is 0.04% or 0.06% of the position size. It applies when opening, closing, increasing, or partially decreasing a position." — GMX documentation, Trading fees, 18 September 2026. https://docs.gmx.io/docs/trading/fees/
Definitions on this site are written from the venues' own documentation and from our own order-book readings, never from another comparison site. Every figure carries the day it was taken. Corrections: desk@thundermessage.com.

The Cost Per Trade pricing desk, 24 September 2026

This price desk is paid to publish, and a venue on the sheet may be the party that paid; the order of every column is the published formula.