Maker vs taker fees explained
The easiest way to cut your crypto trading costs usually isn't switching exchanges, it's understanding the difference between a maker and a taker fee and trading in a way that pays the cheaper one. On most venues the gap is 2-3× per trade.
What's the difference?
Every exchange runs an order book. Your order either adds liquidity or removes it:
- Maker order: a limit order that rests on the book waiting to be filled. You're "making" liquidity, so you pay the lower fee (sometimes zero, sometimes a rebate).
- Taker order: a market order (or a limit order that fills instantly) that removes existing liquidity. You pay the higher fee for the instant fill.
A typical entry-tier perp schedule is 0.02% maker / 0.05% taker: the taker pays 2.5× more for the same trade.
Why most traders overpay
Market orders are the default, one tap, instant fill. But every market order is a taker order, the expensive side. Traders who hammer the buy/sell button quietly pay the top rate on every fill.
How to pay the maker fee instead
- Use limit orders: set your price and let the order rest on the book.
- Use "post-only" mode where available: it guarantees maker treatment (it won't cross the spread and become a taker).
- Be patient on entries and exits: a limit order a tick from the market often fills within seconds at a fraction of the taker cost.
The trade-off is fill certainty: a limit order might not fill if price runs away. For fast scalps, takers are sometimes unavoidable, which is exactly why your maker/taker mix matters.
Your mix decides which exchange is cheapest
An exchange with a great maker rate but a poor taker rate is cheap for a patient limit-order trader and expensive for a market-order scalper. That's the idea behind FeeEdge: set your real maker/taker mix and volume, and it ranks every exchange by what you'd actually pay.