Maker vs Taker Fees: Crypto Exchange Fee Guide
Understanding the maker-taker fee model is essential for minimizing your trading costs on crypto exchanges. Most exchanges charge different fees depending on whether your order adds liquidity (maker) or removes it (taker). This guide explains the mechanics and shows you how to pay less.
What Are Maker and Taker Fees?
A maker is someone who places an order that does not immediately fill but instead sits on the order book, adding liquidity for others to trade against. A taker is someone whose order fills immediately by matching with an existing order on the book, removing liquidity. Exchanges charge different fee rates for each role to incentivize liquidity provision.
In practice, limit orders placed away from the current market price are almost always maker orders. Market orders are always taker orders. Limit orders placed at or better than the current best price may execute as taker orders if they match immediately.
How the Fee Model Works
When you place a limit buy order below the current ask price, it goes onto the order book and waits. You have made liquidity available. When someone else places a market sell order that matches your buy, your order fills as a maker and you pay the lower maker fee. The person who sold against your order pays the higher taker fee.
This system encourages tighter spreads and deeper order books, which benefits all traders through better price execution and lower slippage. It is the standard fee model used by virtually every major crypto exchange.
Exchange Fee Comparison
Fee structures vary significantly. Binance charges 0.1% maker and 0.1% taker at base tier, with BNB discounts. Coinbase Advanced charges 0% maker and up to 0.60% taker. Kraken charges 0.16% maker and 0.26% taker. OKX charges 0.08% maker and 0.1% taker. All exchanges offer volume-based tier reductions that lower fees significantly for active traders.
For futures trading, fees are typically lower: 0.02% maker and 0.05-0.06% taker is common at base tiers. Some exchanges offer negative maker fees (they pay you) for futures at high volume tiers, essentially rewarding you for providing liquidity.
How to Reduce Your Fees
Use limit orders instead of market orders to benefit from lower maker fees. Hold and use native exchange tokens (BNB on Binance, KCS on KuCoin) for fee discounts. Increase your 30-day trading volume to qualify for lower fee tiers. Use the advanced trading interface rather than simple buy/sell which typically charges higher fees.
For serious traders, some exchanges offer VIP or market maker programs with significantly reduced fees. Referral programs can also provide fee discounts. Finally, consider which exchange has the best fees for your specific volume tier and trading style rather than just comparing base rates.