Polymarket vs Kalshi — August 2026
Polymarket vs Kalshi in August 2026: fees (Polymarket charges no trading fees on standard orders; Kalshi charges per-contract trading fees), regulation (Kalshi is CFTC-regulated in the US; Polymarket runs on Polygon), liquidity, and market breadth — with live Polymarket odds. Updated 2026-08-29.
Head to head
- Trading fees
- Polymarket: none on standard orders (spread only). Kalshi: per-contract trading fees.
- Regulation
- Kalshi: CFTC-regulated US exchange. Polymarket: decentralized on Polygon, settled in USDC.
- Market breadth
- Polymarket: 14,000+ active markets across politics, sports, crypto, culture. Kalshi: curated event contracts with US-regulated categories.
- Liquidity
- Polymarket leads on headline events (multi-million-dollar books); Kalshi is deepest on US economic data contracts.
- Settlement
- Polymarket: UMA oracle resolution, $1 per winning share. Kalshi: exchange-determined settlement, $1 per winning contract.
Live: today's biggest Polymarket markets
- Will Trump release the Epstein files by December 19? — Yes 99.9% · $90,828,764
- Will Jesus Christ return before 2027? — Yes 2.1% · $63,644,647
- Will Oprah Winfrey win the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination? — Yes 0.7% · $53,434,845
- Will LeBron James win the 2028 US Presidential Election? — Yes 0.6% · $52,590,936
- Will Bernie Sanders win the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination? — Yes 0.7% · $50,265,815
Frequently asked questions
Is Polymarket or Kalshi better?
They serve different users. Polymarket has the deepest liquidity and widest market selection with no trading fees on standard orders, settled in USDC on Polygon. Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated US exchange in dollars with per-contract fees. Sharps often trade both and arbitrage the gap.
Do Polymarket and Kalshi show the same odds?
Usually close but not identical — the same event can trade at different probabilities on each venue because of fees, liquidity, and user-base differences. Those divergences are trading opportunities; PolymarketScan monitors them on its cross-venue tape.
What fees does each platform charge?
Polymarket charges no trading fees on standard market orders (you pay spread plus Polygon gas on deposits/withdrawals); some negative-risk sports markets carry small resolution fees. Kalshi charges trading fees per contract that scale with price. Fee schedules change — check each venue before trading size.
Live cross-venue divergence tape · All Polymarket markets · Fed rate odds · Midterm odds