My Favorite Parts of Polymarket
- Best-in-class fees
- Offers limit orders
- No deposit and withdrawal fees
- Clean, easy-to-use design
- Strong liquidity
OA Review Rating
88/100
Fees
40/40
User Experience
12/12.5
Market Variety
4/12.5
Limits & Liquidity
12.5/12.5
Tools & Features
5/5
Deposit & Withdrawal Methods
Payout Speed
Up to 3 to 5 Business Days
Polymarket is one of the biggest names in the U.S. prediction market space right now. It gives traders a way to buy and sell outcome-based contracts across sports, politics, and weather.
One quick point before I get into the review. The U.S. version of Polymarket is an entirely different product from the global version.
I’m focusing only on Polymarket U.S. here, which is available in all states except Nevada.
This isn’t Polymarket’s first run in the U.S. The platform was available years ago, but it left in January 2022 after reaching a settlement with the CFTC over unregistered trading. It came back in late 2025 after getting regulatory approval and rebuilding its compliance model.
When Polymarket first returned to the U.S., the product looked pretty limited compared to the global app. It has closed some of that gap as more upgrades have rolled out, but it is still not on the same level.
I think fees are the biggest selling point of Polymarket US. It uses a midpoint-weighted fee model, so trading costs are highest near the middle of the market (around 50 cents) and lower near the outer ends (1 cent or 99 cents).
Polymarket charges as low as $0.0005 per contract on taker orders and nothing on maker orders, making it the most cost-efficient prediction market platform in the U.S.
The part I like most is that contract makers (traders who set their own prices) aren’t charged any fees. Not only does Polymarket waive fees on those orders, but it also rewards liquidity providers. If I post a limit order and get matched, I can even earn a small rebate.
I also think Polymarket does a good job on the banking side, since it doesn’t charge transaction fees for deposits or withdrawals and offers a decent selection of options for doing so.
If I have one real complaint with Polymarket, it’s the market selection. The platform offers only a small set of non-sports markets, including Politics and Weather, and the sports side still isn’t that deep.
For example, Polymarket doesn’t offer props and parlays, so it falls short of the sports trading variety offered by platforms like OG or Kalshi.
Polymarket gives new users $50 in trading funds after they deposit at least $20. To claim the bonus, register via my link using code ODDSASSIST.
The rest of this Polymarket review covers how trading works, what it's like to use the app, and how it compares with competing platforms in pricing, market selection, banking, and overall experience.
Polymarket Ratings by Category
Overall Rating
88/100
Polymarket falls short on market variety, but it’s strong in most other areas, which is why I still rank it among my top 3 prediction market apps.
Fees
40/40
Takers pay as little as $0.0001 per contract, while makers pay nothing, which makes Polymarket the most cost-efficient prediction market app in the U.S.
User Experience
12/12.5
Polymarket is fast, easy to use, and lets traders view contracts in American odds, cents, and percentage terms. I only knocked off half a point because there’s no desktop platform yet.
Market Variety
4/12.5
Market depth is where Polymarket U.S. runs a little thin. Sports coverage is limited, the range within each sport is pretty basic, and the non-sports side comes down to politics and weather.
Limits & Liquidity
12.5/12.5
Liquidity is strong across the platform. It also doesn’t impose formal trading limits, so the only real cap is the amount of liquidity available in the contract you’re trading.
Customer Reviews
11/12.5
Polymarket has a 4.7 rating on iOS and a 1.9 rating on Android. The Android rating is low, but the broader user reaction is still positive.
Tools & Features
5/5
Polymarket includes the core features I want from a trading app, including an order book, activity chart, and limit orders.
Banking
3.5/5
Polymarket doesn’t charge transaction fees, which is a big plus. I knocked off some points because deposits and withdrawals are limited to cards, bank transfers, wire transfers, and Apple Pay.
Signing Up & Using the Polymarket Promo Code to Unlock the Welcome Offer
New users at Polymarket can get $50 in trading funds after depositing $20.
To unlock the offer, register through my link and use the Polymarket promo code ODDSASSIST.
Getting started with Polymarket is pretty easy. The platform lets you sign up with either Google or Apple, so you can create an account without filling everything out from scratch.
You just use your login credentials, and Polymarket pulls in the basic account details from there.
If you’d rather register manually, the process is still pretty simple. Here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Go to Polymarket
- Start the registration and choose a username
- Agree to Polymarket’s legal terms, including the rulebook, clearing rulebook, participant agreement, and risk disclosure
- Enter your date of birth
- Verify your phone number, which has to be a U.S.-based number
- Provide your full name and Social Security number
That’s really the main flow. Once you’ve finished those steps, you’re ready to move on to funding your account and placing trades.
Just make sure to use the Polymarket promo code ODDSASSIST to secure the welcome bonus.
My Favorite Parts About Polymarket
- Best-in-class-fees: If keeping costs down is your top priority when choosing a prediction market app, Polymarket makes a strong case. It charges the lowest taker fee per contract among all prediction markets in the U.S., and traders who post their own prices and add liquidity don’t pay maker fees at all.
- Full set of trading tools: Polymarket includes the features I want to see on a prediction market app. You get limit orders for better execution, an order book for checking depth, and an activity chart for reading recent movement, which gives traders both flexibility and useful market context.
- Easy to use: Polymarket is super easy to navigate. Sports markets are separated by futures and single-game contracts, payout multipliers are shown upfront, and you can switch price displays depending on whether you track markets in odds, cents, or percentages.
- No deposit or withdrawal fees: Plenty of prediction market apps charge transaction fees, particularly on debit card deposits. Polymarket doesn’t do that, so you can add funds or withdraw without giving up part of your balance.
My Least Favorite Parts About Polymarket
- Limited markets: Polymarket could use a little more muscle in the market department. The non-sports side is basically just politics and weather, and the sports offering is limited without much reach into niche markets. With no props or parlays either, the sports trading range is pretty light.
- Limited banking options: Polymarket gives users the standard ways to deposit and withdraw, which will be enough for many people. Even so, some users are going to dock it for not offering PayPal or Venmo.
- No desktop app: Mobile is the main access point for most users, but I’d still rather have the option to trade from a laptop sometimes, especially when I’m just kicking back later in the day and don’t want to do everything from my phone.
How Sports Trading Works on Polymarket
Polymarket is a platform where you can speculate on outcomes in politics and sports by buying contracts tied to a specific result, just like how other prediction markets work.
You can buy into a position and ride it to settlement, or you can sell your contract before the market closes.
Each contract trades on a scale from $0 to $1. The price reflects how likely traders believe the outcome is. The closer a price gets to $1, the more likely the market believes it is to happen. The closer it gets to $0, the less likely it looks.
Say the Lakers are scheduled to play the Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets ruled out before tip-off. In that spot, the price on a Thunder win would likely drop, while the Lakers side would move higher as traders react to the news and reprice the matchup.
Unlike Kalshi, Polymarket doesn’t frame markets in a yes-or-no format. Instead, you’re buying into a specific outcome. So rather than choosing between yes and no on one contract, you’re picking the side of the event you want to back.
When you open a market, Polymarket shows an activity chart that lets you track how trading has moved over time. That gives you a quick look at price movement and recent action before you decide whether you want to enter the trade.
Maker vs Taker Orders
When you buy a contract on Polymarket US, you can place one of two order types.
- Taker order: A taker order matches with liquidity that is already available in the market, so your trade goes through right away at the best available price.
- Maker order: A maker order lets you name the price you want, then wait for someone on the other side to match it, essentially placing a limit order.
If you’re wondering why anyone would use taker orders when maker orders let you name your own price, the answer is speed. Taker orders are built for immediate execution, which is useful when you want in right away and don’t want to wait around for the market to come to you.
Maker orders work differently. Since you’re setting your own price, the trade only goes through if another trader is willing to take the other side at that number.
That can save you money and get you a better entry, but it can also mean waiting. If your price is too aggressive or the market is not moving your way, the order might sit there for a while before getting matched, if it is ever matched at all.
So the trade-off is pretty simple. Taker orders are better when speed is the priority. Maker orders make more sense when price control is more important and you’re willing to wait for the market to come to you.
Polymarket Pricing & Fees
ODDS ASSIST RATING: 40/40
Contract prices on Polymarket are set by the market itself. Instead, they move based on what traders on the platform are willing to pay.
Unlike traditional sportsbooks, Polymarket does not build a markup into each contract price as sportsbooks do with odds. Instead, it makes money by charging trading fees on contract purchases and sales.
Polymarket U.S. no longer uses the fixed-fee model it used before. Fees are now variable and depend on a few factors:
- The number of contracts you trade (C)
- The contract price (p)
- Whether you’re placing a maker or taker order
The formula looks like this:
Fee = Θ × C × p × (1 − p)
Here’s what each variable means:
- C = number of contracts
- p = contract price, from $0.01 to $0.99
- Θ = fee coefficient
For taker orders, Θ = 0.05.
For maker orders, Θ = -0.0125. In this case, it works as a rebate rather than a fee. So instead of being charged, makers receive a small payment for adding liquidity.
How to Make Sense of Polymarket Fees
In practice, Polymarket U.S. is most expensive around the middle of the market. Fees are highest when a contract is trading near 50 cents, and they get lower as the price moves closer to $0 or $1.
That’s because the key part of the formula is p × (1 − p), which peaks at $0.50. For taker orders, that works out to about $1.25 per 100 contracts at 50 cents, compared with roughly $0.45 per 100 contracts at 10 cents or 90 cents.
The curve is symmetric, so contracts priced at $0.10 and $0.90 incur the same fee, and the same applies to $0.25 and $0.75.
If you look at fees as a percentage of trade value, lower-priced contracts can look more expensive relative to the premium, while high-probability contracts look cheaper by that measure.
The simple takeaway is that mid-market contracts are the most expensive on a per-contract basis, while contracts near the extremes cost less to trade.
What Do Polymarket’s Fees Look Like as a Percentage of Trade Value?
It’s a little harder to express Polymarket fees as a single fixed percentage because they don't scale evenly with trade volume. Even so, you can still get a good rough estimate for taker orders.
As a percentage of notional value, the taker fee is roughly:
- 4.5% at $0.10
- 3.75% at $0.25
- 2.5% at $0.50
- 1.75% at $0.65
- 0.5% at $0.90
- 0.05% at $0.99
In practical terms, longshots around 10 cents can look expensive relative to the premium, mid-market contracts around 50 cents are the most expensive on a per-contract basis, and high-probability contracts around 90 cents look cheaper when you view fees as a percentage of trade value.
Polymarket Market Variety
ODDS ASSIST RATING: 4/12.5
Polymarket covers politics, weather, and a small group of the most popular U.S. sports.
On the sports side, the main contract types are game winners (moneyline), spreads, totals, and futures.
Sports Selection
Here’s the full list of sports you can trade on at Polymarket U.S.:
- NBA
- College basketball
- WNBA
- NFL
- College football
- MLB
- NHL
- Golf
- Tennis
- IPL
- UFC
- Soccer: Champions League, La Liga, MLS, Bundesliga, Serie A, English Premier League, FIFA World Cup
That’s a noticeable step down in sports coverage compared with other sports prediction market apps, and the biggest gap is evident outside the main sports.
Kalshi has lacrosse, ProphetX offers NASCAR, and OG gives traders access to Formula 1.
Outside of sports, Polymarket is still pretty limited. Right now, politics and weather are the only non-sports categories on the app, while economic markets are expected to be added down the road.
Market Selection
On the politics side, Polymarket U.S. mostly focuses on straightforward outcome markets, such as whether a candidate wins a race or a policy move passes.
In sports, traders can choose from game winners, totals, and spreads for individual matchups.
Polymarket U.S. also offers a small group of futures markets, such as the winner of the English Premier League or the NBA MVP award.
My Experience Using The Polymarket App
ODDS ASSIST RATING: 12/12.5
Polymarket is mobile-only for now. You have to download the app to use it, since there’s no desktop version and nothing you can run through a mobile browser.
The iOS app is rated 4.7, which looks strong at first glance. Once I spent some time looking at the reviews, the feedback was more of a split. Some users praised the app for being easy to navigate, while others were unhappy that withdrawals took 3 to 5 business days.
Personally, I wouldn’t knock the app too hard for that, because that turnaround is in line with other prediction market apps.
The Android app has a 1.9 rating. I checked the reviews there too, and most of the pushback seemed to come from users who were put on a waitlist, not from people calling out real product issues.
For reference, I've been using the Polymarket on my iPhone 14 Pro. Here are some notes on my experience after using it for 5+ months.
Interface and Navigation
One of the first things that stood out to me with Polymarket was how locked in it is on prediction markets. It’s not trying to cram in a bunch of extra financial products, and I liked that right away.
I’ve spent a lot of time on apps like Crypto.com and Robinhood, and one thing that always comes with platforms like that is extra noise. You’re dealing with other products, other tabs, and other parts of the app that have nothing to do with the trade you came in to make.
With Polymarket, I didn’t have to work through any of that.
Right away, the homepage shows a horizontal strip at the top with the available market categories laid out for you.
Normally, I’m not a big fan of mixing non-sports and sports markets in the same top-level navigation. Here, though, it doesn’t create much clutter because the only non-sports categories in the U.S. app right now are politics and weather.
Once you open a market, such as MLB, the layout shifts to a vertical list of upcoming games. There’s also a separate tab for futures, which makes it easy to move between single-game markets and longer-range positions without bouncing around the app.
I also like that Polymarket gives you useful pricing info early. Before you even open a specific contract, you can already see the implied win percentage for each side, along with the multiplier that shows what your payout would look like relative to your stake.
Notifications and Settings
The settings section gives you a decent amount of control over how the app looks and reads.
You can switch between light and dark mode, which is nice if you’re the type who prefers a darker screen at night or something brighter during the day.
You can also choose how prices are displayed. Polymarket lets you view contracts in American odds, percentages, or cents, so you can stick with whichever format feels most natural when you’re sizing up a trade.
Below that, you’ll find toggles for notifications and haptics.
Notifications usually cover the main account and trading updates you’d want to keep track of, like order fills, deposits, withdrawals, and other activity tied to your account.
Haptics are the small vibration cues the app gives you when you tap through menus or complete certain actions.
From the same settings menu, Polymarket also gives you a direct link to its Discord channel. That’s useful if you want to follow what other traders are talking about, swap ideas, or keep up with platform chatter from the community.
The settings menu also includes access to Polymarket’s trading API. That’s mainly useful for advanced users who want to build bots, automate trades, or pull live market data into their own tools.
Browsing and Market Details
Once you open a market, the first thing you see is an activity chart at the top showing how trading in that market has moved over time. That gives you a quick read on where pricing has been before you decide whether to jump in.
Right below that, Polymarket lists the main game markets, usually including the game winner, spread, and total.
Polymarket also added a transparent order book, which is a nice upgrade. That lets you see the live bids and asks in the market. In simple terms, bids are the prices buyers are willing to pay, while asks are the prices sellers are willing to accept.
Example trade: I picked the Miami Heat to beat the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
In the trade slip, Polymarket let me choose how many shares to buy and whether to take the current market price or place a limit order that would only fill at the price I set.
For example, if Miami were trading at 33 cents, I could place an order at 30 cents and wait for another trader to match that price.
Managing Positions
You’ll find all open positions in the Portfolio tab. That’s where you can buy more shares in the same position or sell out partially or in full.
How Polymarket Stacks Up Against Other Prediction Market Apps
I put together a full Polymarket vs. Kalshi comparison, so if you want the head-to-head against my top-rated prediction market app, that’s a good place to start.
As for the broader market, here’s where Polymarket lands.
- Fees: Polymarket is the best-priced prediction market app. OG and Crypto.com, for example, charge $0.02 per contract, while ProphetX takes a 2% cut on winning trades. Kalshi is the closest comp on pricing, but Polymarket has the edge because maker orders can qualify for a rebate instead of getting charged.
- Market variety: This is where Polymarket falls behind. With politics, weather, and a limited sports menu, it ranks near the bottom when it comes to market selection. Underdog has a similar number of sports, but it at least mixes in entertainment markets, so you’re not boxed into sports and politics alone.
- Banking: Polymarket is one of the few platforms that doesn’t charge transaction fees, along with Novig and ProphetX. Still, OG and Kalshi both do better on payment options because they support PayPal and Venmo, which are still missing from Polymarket.
- Features: Polymarket is in the smaller group of prediction market apps that offer both an order book and limit orders, alongside Kalshi and Robinhood.
Polymarket Deposits, Withdrawals, & Payout Speed
ODDS ASSIST RATING: 3.5/5
Polymarket supports several payment methods, including bank transfers, debit cards, Apple Pay, and wire transfers
Deposits
Polymarket offers 4 ways to fund your account, and each one comes with its own limits.
Deposit Method | Min/Max | Fee | Processing Time |
|---|---|---|---|
Apple Pay | No minimum listed/50k daily | No fees | Instant |
Bank transfer | No minimum listed/50k daily | No fees | Instant |
Debit card | No minimum listed/50k daily | No fees | Instant |
Wire transfer | No limit | No fees | Instant |
Withdrawal Methods & Payout Speed
For withdrawals, Polymarket currently supports only bank transfers and debit cards. Each method has a daily maximum of $50,000.
Polymarket Background
Polymarket launched in 2020 under founder Shayne Coplan as a crypto-native prediction market where users could trade contracts tied to real-world events. The platform built its identity around letting traders take positions on politics, economic data, sports, and other news-driven outcomes.
Its first run in the United States did not last long. In January 2022, the CFTC fined Polymarket $1.4 million and ordered the platform to stop offering event contracts that were not trading on a registered exchange.
The pressure did not stop there. In late 2024, federal investigators were looking into whether Polymarket had continued to provide U.S. users with access after that settlement. Multiple reports said the FBI searched Coplan’s home as part of that probe.
That put Polymarket back in the middle of the same problem it had been dealing with from the beginning. The company was growing fast, but it was still trying to figure out how to operate in the U.S. without running into regulators.
By July 2025, that cloud started to lift. Reports said the Justice Department and the CFTC had both ended their investigations without taking further action. That gave Polymarket a real path to try the U.S. market again.
A few months later, on November 25, 2025, Polymarket received CFTC approval for an amended order of designation. That approval allowed the company to return to a regulated exchange structure rather than the looser model it had used before.
Polymarket U.S. now operates through QCX LLC, doing business as Polymarket US, and the company describes it as a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market.
The product that returned to the U.S. was not the same one people knew from the global platform.
The global platform has a much bigger market list, with more categories and far more contracts across politics, sports, and other event types. The U.S. product came back with a narrower offering, a separate legal structure, and a more compliance-heavy framework.
Polymarket U.S. started rolling out through a waitlist in late 2025 and early 2026. So while the name is the same, the U.S. platform is really a different product from the global version in both market depth and structure.
Polymarket FAQs
What is Polymarket?
Polymarket is a prediction market platform where users trade contracts tied to real-world outcomes. Instead of betting against a sportsbook, you’re trading against other users.
Is Polymarket legal in the United States?
Polymarket U.S. operates as a separate product from the global platform. The U.S. version was brought back under a regulated structure, which is why it works differently from the international version.
Is Polymarket U.S. the same as the global version?
No. The global version has many more markets and broader category coverage, while the U.S. version is much more limited and runs under a different legal structure.
How does Polymarket work?
You buy contracts tied to an outcome, and the price moves based on how likely the market thinks that outcome is. You can hold the position until settlement or sell before the event ends.
Is Polymarket a sportsbook?
Not really. It may cover sports, but the trading experience is closer to an exchange than a sportsbook since prices move with supply and demand.
Can you sell early on Polymarket?
Yes. You don’t have to hold a position until the market settles if someone is willing to take the other side of your trade.
What are the fees on Polymarket U.S.?
Polymarket U.S. uses a variable fee model rather than a flat rate on every trade. Fees are highest around the middle of the market and lower near the outer ends.
Do makers pay fees on Polymarket?
Makers are treated more favorably than takers. If you post your own price and get matched, Polymarket may reward you with a small rebate.
Does Polymarket charge deposit or withdrawal fees?
No, Polymarket does not charge transaction fees on deposits or withdrawals. That gives it an edge over platforms that tack on an extra banking fee.
Does Polymarket have a desktop platform?
No, not in the same way some rivals do. The platform is built around mobile, and that is one reason I dock it slightly on user experience.
Does Polymarket have a sports app?
No separate sports app exists. Sports trading is built into the main Polymarket platform.
What kinds of sports markets are available on Polymarket?
Polymarket U.S. offers game winners, spreads, totals, and a small group of futures markets. The sports menu is usable, but it is not one of the deeper ones in the space.
What non-sports markets does Polymarket U.S. offer?
Right now, politics and weather are the only non-sports categories on the U.S. product. That is one of the biggest differences between Polymarket U.S. and the global version.
Does Polymarket have an order book?
Yes. Polymarket shows a transparent order book, so users can see live bids and asks before placing a trade.
Does Polymarket offer limit orders?
Yes. You can either take the current market price or post your own number and wait for another trader to match it.
Does Polymarket have an API?
Yes. That will matter more to advanced users who want to run bots, automate trades, or pull market data into their own models.
Who is Polymarket best for?
Polymarket is a good fit for traders who care about pricing, like using limit orders, and want an exchange-style alternative to standard sportsbooks. It makes less sense for users who want a huge market menu.
88/100
