Maker vs Taker Fees and Why They Matter More Than You Think ❓
Fees are a bigger part of trading than most people realize. If you only trade spot and hold for months, losing 0.01% on entry and exit may not feel important. But if you trade futures, scale in and out, or open and close positions often, fees compound fast.
🕯 Take Bybit as a simple example. On perpetual futures, a typical account pays around 0.036% as a maker and 0.1% as a taker. That’s a 2.7x difference. Open and close a position as a taker and you already paid about 0.2% round trip. Do this frequently and fees can eat a large share profits.
The difference comes down to liquidity. A maker order adds liquidity to the order book. This happens when you place a limit order that does not fill immediately. Because this helps the exchange, maker fees are lower. A taker order removes liquidity. Market orders are always taker orders, and limit orders that fill instantly are also treated as taker orders.
😱 Many traders accidentally pay taker fees even when using limit orders. To avoid this, use post-only orders. A post-only order guarantees your limit order will only be placed if it adds liquidity. If it would execute immediately as a taker, the exchange cancels it automatically.
Where you trade matters too. Fee structures differ a lot between exchanges. Some perpetual DEXs offer 0% maker and taker fees, which changes the math completely. I personally saved around $20,000 in fees just this year by trading on Lighter compared to doing the same trades on Binance or Bybit 💸