Maker vs Taker Fees: How to Pay Less on Every Trade

BullCalc Team · October 11, 2026 · 2 min read

Trading fees look tiny: 0.02% here, 0.05% there. But they are charged on every entry and every exit, on the full position size. For an active trader, fees can be one of the biggest costs of the year.

Makers and takers

An order book is a list of buy and sell orders waiting to be filled.

• A maker adds an order to the book that does not fill right away, usually a limit order below the current price for a buy or above it for a sell. Makers make liquidity.
• A taker fills against an order that is already in the book, usually with a market order. Takers take liquidity.

Exchanges reward makers with lower fees because they make the market deeper.

How much fees really cost

Take a trader who opens and closes 10,000 USDT positions with market orders at 0.05% each side. Each round trip costs 10 USDT. Twenty trades a month is 200 USDT, or 2,400 USDT a year, before any wins or losses.

Switching the entry to a limit order at a 0.02% maker fee cuts each round trip to 7 USDT, saving 720 USDT a year on the same trades.

Fees and leverage

Because fees are charged on position size, leverage makes them more painful. At 20x, a 0.1% round trip fee equals 2% of your margin. A trade has to move 0.1% in your favour just to break even. The breakeven price calculator shows that exact price.

Ways to pay less

1. Use limit orders when you can. If you are not chasing a breakout, a limit order at or near the current price often fills as a maker.
2. Use post-only orders. They are cancelled instead of filling as a taker, which guarantees the maker fee.
3. Pay fees with the exchange token if your exchange offers a discount for it.
4. Trade less. Fewer, better trades often beat many small ones once fees are counted.
5. Check your fee tier. Higher monthly volume usually lowers fees.

When to accept taker fees

Stops and fast exits should not be held back to save a few cents. If the market is moving against you, getting out is worth the taker fee. Save fees on entries and planned exits, not on emergency ones.

Work out the cost of any trade with the trading fee calculator.

This article is for education only and is not financial advice.