What is Kalshi?
Kalshi is a US exchange where you buy and sell yes/no contracts on real-world events. It is regulated by the CFTC, holds your cash, and publishes an exact fee formula.
Each Kalshi contract pays $1 if its event happens and $0 if it does not, so the price between 1 and 99 cents reads as a probability. Markets cover economics, politics, weather, culture and sports, and new ones are listed every day.
Unlike the on-chain markets in this atlas, Kalshi is a traditional account-based exchange. You sign up, pass identity checks, and fund the account; Kalshi holds the balance. There is no wallet to connect and no token.
Fees scale with uncertainty. A contract priced near 50 cents pays the highest fee, and contracts near 1 or 99 cents pay very little. The help center notes that some markets, such as elections or large championships, run their own fee terms.
Our check was limited: kalshi.com rate-limited our reader, so this review relies on the official help center and fee schedule pages. Supported regions and deposit options should be confirmed on the site before you sign up.
Good fit for
- US traders who prefer a regulated venue over crypto wallets
- Limit-order traders who can rest orders and avoid taker fees
Not ideal for
- Anyone who wants on-chain, self-custodial trading
- Users who will not complete identity verification
Kalshi Atlas AI Score
7.9 / 10 Strong
Confidence: Medium
Kalshi is the regulated option in this list, with a fee formula anyone can check by hand. It suits US traders who accept a custodial account; crypto-native users will prefer an on-chain market.
Broad daily event coverage, order book with limit orders, web and mobile apps.
Exact taker formula and maker rules published with examples.
Regulated custodial exchange; no self-custody, and we could not review security pages.
Long-running regulated venue; access depends on region and KYC.
Clear help center; main site was rate-limited for our reader.
Scored by AI from official sources on October 27, 2026. No hands-on testing or security audit. How we score
Kalshi features
- Product
- Yes/no event contracts settled at $1 or $0
- Regulation
- CFTC-regulated designated contract market (US)
- Market types
- Economics, politics, weather, culture, sports
- Order book
- Limit and market orders; makers mostly free
- Fee model
- Taker fee peaks at a 50-cent price
- Account
- KYC account; balance held by Kalshi
- Apps
- Web, iOS and Android
- Liquidity programs
- Liquidity Incentive Program listed in the help center
Kalshi fees
| Order type | Fee formula | Example: 100 contracts at $0.50 |
|---|---|---|
| Taker (fills at once) | 0.07 x C x P x (1-P), rounded up | $1.75 |
| Maker (most markets) | Free | $0.00 |
| Maker (selected markets) | 0.0175 x C x P x (1-P) | about $0.44 |
Kalshi charges a transaction fee on the expected earnings of a contract. The general taker formula on the official fee schedule is 0.07 x contracts x price x (1 - price), rounded up to the next cent. Buying 100 contracts at $0.50 therefore costs $1.75 in fees.
Most resting (maker) orders are free. Some markets carry a maker fee of 0.0175 x C x P x (1 - P), charged only when the order fills; cancelling a resting order costs nothing. A few special-event markets use different multipliers, and the exact fee shows next to "You're buying" before you confirm.
Kalshi pros and cons
Pros
- Regulated in the US, unlike most crypto prediction venues
- Exact fee formula published with worked examples
- Most maker orders pay no fee
- Wide range of daily event markets
Cons
- Custodial account with identity checks; no self-custody option
- Some event markets use special fee multipliers
- Taker fees are highest exactly where most trading happens, near 50 cents
- Main site blocked our reader, so availability details are unverified here
Kalshi vs Polymarket vs BetMoar
The closest alternatives in our catalog: same market first, then the highest-scoring products.
| Feature | Kalshi | Polymarket | BetMoar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | US-regulated event contracts exchange (web and mobile) | Non-custodial prediction market on Polygon with an order book, combos and perps | Polymarket trading terminal and Discord bot |
| Platform | Web, iOS, Android · Kalshi exchange (not on-chain) | Web, iOS, Android, API · Polygon | Web, Discord · Polymarket (Polygon) |
| Trading fee | 0.07 x C x P x (1-P) taker | 0 to 0.07 x p(1-p) per share, takers only | No platform fees |
| Custody | Custodial | Self-custodial | Self-custodial |
| Telegram | Not published | Not published | @betmoar_bot |
| Atlas AI Score | 7.9 / 10 | 8.5 / 10 | 7.9 / 10 |
| Confidence | Medium | High | Medium |
How to get started with Kalshi
- Create an account on kalshi.com and complete identity verification.
- Fund the account with one of the listed deposit methods.
- Open a market and check the fee shown under the 'i' icon before you buy.
- Use limit orders that rest on the book to avoid most taker fees.
