A taker fee is the charge a platform applies when your order removes liquidity from the order book by trading against an order that was already resting there.
Last reviewed 16 August 2025 · Educational, not advice
Many trading venues use a fee structure known as the maker taker model. It splits traders into two roles based on what their order does to the order book. A maker posts an order that waits on the book and adds liquidity for others to trade against. A taker sends an order that trades immediately against a resting order, removing liquidity. The taker fee is the charge for being in that second role.
The logic is that liquidity is valuable, so the model rewards the people who supply it and charges the people who consume it. A limit order that rests on the book and is later filled usually makes you a maker. A market order, or a marketable limit order that crosses the spread and executes at once, usually makes you a taker. The maker often pays a lower fee, and on some venues a rebate, while the taker pays more.
The size of a taker fee is not standard. It can be expressed as a percentage of the trade, as a flat amount per contract, or through a formula that varies with the price of the contract. It differs from platform to platform and sometimes from product to product, and venues change their schedules over time. For that reason we do not quote a single figure here. The accurate number is the one on the fee schedule of the platform you are using, read as of the day you trade.
Why it matters is straightforward. A taker fee is a direct cost that comes out of your result on every taking trade, so it lowers your net return and raises the move you need just to break even. For someone who trades often, the cumulative effect can be larger than it looks on any single trade. Reading the fee as a real cost, rather than a footnote, is part of judging whether a trade makes sense.
There is a trade off in trying to avoid it. Posting a resting order to act as a maker can reduce the fee, but a resting order is not guaranteed to fill, and waiting can mean missing the move you wanted. Whether the lower fee is worth the execution risk depends on the situation. This page is general information, not financial advice.
Two traders reach the same position. One posts a limit order that rests and is later filled, counting as a maker. The other sends a market order that trades against a resting order at once, counting as a taker and paying the taker fee. Same position, but the taker carries a cost the maker did not, which shows up in the net result.
Illustrative only. Fee terms vary by platform and are set in its fee schedule.
Fees are a real cost that eats into returns, and frequent taking trades add up faster than people expect. Trading carries a real risk of loss. Stake only what you can afford to lose, never to chase a loss, and never on borrowed money. If it stops feeling like a free choice, step back. In the United States you can call or text the helpline on 1-800-GAMBLER or visit ncpgambling.org.
A taker fee is the charge a platform applies when your order removes liquidity from the order book by trading against an order that was already resting there. It is the cost of taking the available price right now.
A maker adds liquidity by posting an order that waits on the book, while a taker removes liquidity by trading against a resting order. Under a maker taker model the maker often pays a lower fee, or none, and the taker pays more.
It varies by platform and product and can be a percentage, a per contract amount, or a formula. There is no single industry figure, so check the fee schedule on the platform itself.
On a venue that uses the maker taker model, posting a limit order that rests on the book makes you a maker rather than a taker, which can carry a lower fee. The trade off is that a resting order may not fill.
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