Two things quietly move your Kalshi break-even more than most people expect: whether your order takes liquidity or rests on the book, and how many contracts are in each order. Neither changes the price you see, but both change how often you need to win.
Taker vs maker in one paragraph
If your order fills right away against an order that was already waiting, you're the taker. If your order sits on the book until someone else fills it, you're the maker. Kalshi's general taker fee is about 0.07 × contracts × price × (1 − price). Where a market charges a maker fee, it's a much smaller rate. The examples below use 0.0175, but check Kalshi's fee schedule for the market you trade, because some markets have their own rates.
The rounding catch
Fees are rounded up to the next cent per order. On a big order that barely matters. On a one-contract order, it can be most of the fee:
| Order | Taker fee | Taker break-even | Maker fee (0.0175) | Maker break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 contract at 93¢ | $0.01 | 94.0% | $0.01 | 94.0% |
| 10 contracts at 93¢ | $0.05 | 93.5% | $0.02 | 93.2% |
| 100 contracts at 93¢ | $0.46 | 93.46% | $0.12 | 93.12% |
| 10 contracts at 80¢ | $0.12 | 81.2% | $0.03 | 80.3% |
| 100 contracts at 50¢ | $1.75 | 51.75% | $0.44 | 50.44% |
Two things stand out:
- One-contract orders at high prices pay a full cent no matter what. At 93¢ that pushes break-even from 93% to 94%, and maker or taker makes no difference.
- Splitting one order into many tiny ones costs extra. Ten 1-contract orders at 93¢ pay 10¢ in fees. One 10-contract order pays 5¢ as a taker.
So should you always rest orders?
Not automatically. A resting order is cheaper when it fills, but:
- It may not fill. In a 15-minute market the price can run away from you while you wait, and the trade you wanted is gone.
- It fills when you'd rather it didn't. Resting orders tend to get hit right when the market is moving against them. That's adverse selection, and it can cost more than the fee you saved.
- The clock matters. Late in a window there's little time to wait for a fill.
A reasonable rule: take liquidity when the edge is clear and time is short, and rest orders when you have time and only a thin edge to protect.
Check your own numbers
The free Kalshi break-even calculator lets you switch between taker, maker and no fee, and set your contract count, so you can see exactly where your break-even lands. For the full table at every price, see Kalshi fees and break-even.
Letting software handle it
DeskBot for Kalshi does this fee math, including the per-order rounding, on every 15-minute market each round, and only trades your account when the price still clears break-even after fees. First month $1, then $19.99/month, cancel anytime.
Try DeskBot for $1 — first month $1, then $19.99/month, cancel anytime. Card required; it renews at $19.99/month unless you cancel.
Educational content, not financial advice. Trading event contracts can lose money. DeskBot is independent software and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Kalshi. Fee figures are approximations based on Kalshi's published formulas; maker and taker rates vary by market and can change, so check Kalshi's current fee schedule.