Polymarket is worth it: it has the widest range of event markets anywhere, the lowest fees on politics and world events, and a public record of every trade. We rate polymarket.com 4.4 out of 5 and Polymarket US 3.8 out of 5.
Those are two ratings because Polymarket is two products that share a name:
- Polymarket Global at polymarket.com. A crypto exchange for traders outside the United States. You hold your own funds in a wallet, and every trade settles on the Polygon blockchain.
- Polymarket US. A CFTC-regulated exchange for US residents. Dollars in, dollars out, identity check at sign-up, traded from an iPhone app.
They have separate accounts, balances, order books, rules and fees. A balance on one never appears on the other, and a market with the same question is a different contract on each. Rivo ingests every market and every trade on both, so this review comes from watching them all day.
Polymarket ratings at a glance
| Area | polymarket.com | Polymarket US |
|---|---|---|
| Range of markets | 5 / 5 | 3.5 / 5 |
| Trading fees | 4.5 / 5 | 4 / 5 |
| Deposits and withdrawals | 4.5 / 5 | 3.5 / 5 |
| Safety of funds | 4 / 5 | 4.5 / 5 |
| App and web experience | 4.5 / 5 | 3.5 / 5 |
| Liquidity | 5 / 5 | 3.5 / 5 |
| Customer support | 3 / 5 | 3.5 / 5 |
| Transparency | 5 / 5 | 4 / 5 |
| Overall | 4.4 / 5 | 3.8 / 5 |
Who Polymarket is for
- Politics and world-event traders outside the US. polymarket.com lists questions no other venue carries, and geopolitics markets trade with no fee.
- Traders who want to see the other side. Every polymarket.com trade is public by wallet, so you can check a buyer's whole record.
- Crypto holders. Deposit from Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, Bitcoin or Tron and trade in minutes.
- US traders who post limit orders. Polymarket US pays a rebate on every resting order that fills.
- US traders who want a second regulated venue. A second order book means a second price on the same game.
The two Polymarkets side by side
| polymarket.com | Polymarket US | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can open positions | Most countries outside the US | US residents |
| Regulator | No CFTC oversight | CFTC exchange and clearinghouse |
| Currency | pUSD, a USDC-backed token on Polygon | US dollars |
| Who holds your money | You, in a smart wallet | Polymarket Clearing |
| Sign-up | Wallet or email login | Google or Apple ID, then legal name, address and SSN |
| Where you trade | Any modern browser | iPhone app, Android listed as coming soon |
| Taker fee rate | 0 to 0.07 by category | 0.0695 |
| Resting orders | Free, plus a share of taker fees | Paid a rebate at 0.0125 |
| Who decides results | UMA's optimistic oracle, with public disputes | The exchange, final |
| Support | In-app chat and email |
Where Polymarket is available
Polymarket US serves US residents who pass its identity check. polymarket.com checks your location on the website and on the API and sorts every country into one of three groups:
| Group | What you can do | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Buy and sell | Most countries |
| Close-only | Sell positions you already hold, open nothing new | United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Brazil, and Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec in Canada |
| Blocked | Nothing | Iran, Syria, Cuba, North Korea and the Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions |
Close-only matters to a traveler as much as to a resident: an order sent from a restricted location is rejected. Check your country and state on the prediction market location checker before you fund either product.
What you can trade on Polymarket
Every market is a question with outcomes. A share of the correct outcome pays $1.00 and a share of any other pays nothing. The price between 1 and 99 cents is the market's odds.
polymarket.com sorts its markets into politics, geopolitics, sports, crypto, finance, economics, culture, weather, tech and mentions. Its strength is breadth: elections, ceasefires, court rulings, central bank meetings, company milestones and crypto prices on windows as short as five minutes. Markets with many candidates are grouped into one event, so a nomination race shows every name with its own price.
Polymarket US lists event contracts under a CFTC-approved rulebook, including sports games and combos (parlays built from several outcomes). Its exchange runs nearly around the clock, with a weekly maintenance break on Thursday from 6 to 8 AM Eastern. Open orders are cancelled before the break starts, so re-enter any resting order afterward.
The mechanics of shares, order books and resolution are in how does Polymarket work. Combos are in Polymarket parlays explained.
Polymarket fees with a worked example
Both products charge the taker and never the maker. The formula is rate x shares x price x (1 - price). It peaks at a 50 cent price and falls toward zero at 1 and 99 cents. Settlement is free: a winning share pays the full $1.00.
Take one order, 300 shares at 40 cents, and price it everywhere. The cost is $120.00 and a win pays $300.00.
| Where | Rate | Taker fee | Fee as a share of stake | Resting order instead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| polymarket.com geopolitics | 0 | $0.00 | 0% | $0.00 |
| polymarket.com politics, finance, mentions, tech | 0.04 | $2.88 | 2.4% | $0.00, plus 25% of taker fees collected |
| polymarket.com sports | 0.05 | $3.60 | 3.0% | $0.00, plus 15% of taker fees collected |
| polymarket.com economics, culture, weather | 0.05 | $3.60 | 3.0% | $0.00, plus 25% of taker fees collected |
| polymarket.com crypto | 0.07 | $5.04 | 4.2% | $0.00, plus 20% of taker fees collected |
| Polymarket US | 0.0695 | $5.00 | 4.2% | You receive $0.90 |
The math for politics: 0.04 x 300 x 0.40 x 0.60 = 2.88. For Polymarket US: 0.0695 x 300 x 0.40 x 0.60 = 5.004, which rounds to $5.00, and the maker rebate is 0.0125 x 300 x 0.24 = 0.90.
- Our verdict on fees: polymarket.com is the cheapest place to take a price on politics and sports, and geopolitics costs nothing. Polymarket US costs a taker the same as Kalshi within a cent and pays makers.
- The habit that pays: rest limit orders. On Polymarket US the same 300 shares swing from a $5.00 cost to a $0.90 credit.
- Volume traders: Polymarket US returns 10% of taker fees above $250,000 of monthly volume, 25% above $1 million and 50% above $10 million.
- One odd rate: table tennis on Polymarket US carries a 0.10 taker rate.
- Apps add their own fee. An order placed on polymarket.com through a third-party app can carry a builder fee on top, capped by Polymarket at 1% of the order's value for takers.
Every price from 1 to 99 cents is in Polymarket fees explained.
Deposits and withdrawals and how fast money moves
| polymarket.com | Polymarket US | |
|---|---|---|
| Ways to deposit | Crypto from nine or more chains, converted to pUSD for you | Debit card, bank transfer (ACH), Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, USDC, wire |
| Polymarket's deposit fee | None | None |
| Deposit limits | A minimum of a few dollars that varies by chain | $50,000 a day by card or ACH, no maximum by wire |
| When you can trade | Once the transfer confirms | At once on card and ACH with instant buying power |
| Ways to withdraw | Crypto to any supported chain and token | Back to the method you deposited with |
| Withdrawal fee | None from Polymarket | None |
| Withdrawal speed | Near instant | Card and ACH 3 to 4 business days, wire 1 |
On polymarket.com
- Your account has a fixed deposit address for each network. A Solana address and a Polygon address are different, so match the network to the address.
- A deposit under the minimum for its chain stays pending until you send enough to reach it. The deposit screen shows the live minimum.
- An exchange or card provider you use on the way in or out can charge its own fee.
- To reach a bank, withdraw USDC to an exchange you use and sell it there.
On Polymarket US
- A card or ACH deposit takes 3 to 4 business days to clear. You can trade it meanwhile. You can't withdraw it until it clears.
- Withdrawals return to the original payment method, in the order the deposits arrived. Deposit $100 by card and then $200 by ACH, and the first $100 you withdraw goes back to the card.
- A wire clears in 1 business day and needs your full name and account phone number in the memo. The docs give two different wire minimums, so check the figure in the app.
- Every withdrawal passes an anti-money-laundering review, which can add time.
Our verdict on money movement: polymarket.com is the fastest venue we cover for anyone already holding crypto. Polymarket US is easy to fund and slow to pay out, so deposit by wire when you expect to withdraw soon. Full steps in how to withdraw from Polymarket.
Regulation and safety of funds
The two products protect you in opposite ways.
- Polymarket US relies on a regulator. The exchange is a CFTC-designated contract market, and its clearinghouse, Polymarket Clearing, is a CFTC-registered derivatives clearing organization. Every position is paid in full up front, so there is no margin and no liquidation.
- polymarket.com relies on self-custody. Polymarket matches orders and never holds your balance. It sits in a smart wallet tied to your login, and anyone can verify every trade on the public chain.
| Risk | polymarket.com | Polymarket US |
|---|---|---|
| The venue freezes your balance | It can't. The funds are in your wallet | Possible during a compliance review |
| You lose your login or keys | Nobody can restore the funds | Support has your verified identity on file |
| A transfer goes to the wrong address or network | Gone for good | Not applicable to card and bank transfers |
| A result you disagree with | Public dispute through UMA | Final, no appeal |
| Your country gets restricted | Close-only: you can sell, not buy | US residents only |
On resolution, polymarket.com uses UMA's optimistic oracle. A proposer posts the result with a bond, typically $750 in pUSD. Anyone can dispute it within two hours. An undisputed market pays about two hours after the proposal, and a market disputed twice goes to a vote of UMA token holders and takes about four to six days.
Polymarket paid a CFTC penalty for running without registration, left the US market, then bought a licensed exchange and clearinghouse and came back as Polymarket US. The full history is in is Polymarket legit, and the state-by-state picture is in is Polymarket legal in the US.
The app and web experience
polymarket.com is a website. It runs in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer with nothing to install. You sign in with an email or a wallet, and the site wraps and unwraps pUSD for you, so the balance reads like dollars. Each market page shows the chart, the order book and the rules. Every trade is public by wallet, so any buyer's history can be read.
Polymarket US is an iPhone app. You sign up with Google or Apple ID, enter your date of birth, phone number, legal name, address and Social Security number, and most accounts are verified automatically. Some are asked for a government ID and a selfie. You can't deposit or trade until verification finishes. US residents can't use the website to deposit or trade, and an Android app is listed as coming soon.
Our verdict: polymarket.com is the most informative trading page we use. Polymarket US is a clean, simple app that suits placing a trade from your phone, and it needs a website and an Android app to match the international product.
Order types and liquidity
| Order | polymarket.com | Polymarket US |
|---|---|---|
| Market order | Fills what the book offers now and cancels the remainder | Fills now at the best available price |
| Limit order, good till cancelled | Yes | Yes |
| Limit order, good till a date | Yes | Yes |
| Immediate or cancel, fill or kill | Yes | Yes |
| Combos | Yes | Yes, on a separate fee curve |
| API access | Keys derived from your wallet signature | Keys from the developer page |
polymarket.com's deepest books are on politics, world events and crypto. Small markets on both products can show a wide gap between the bid and the offer, so read the book before you size the order.
A worked fill: the offer shows 400 shares at 61 cents, 900 at 62 and 2,000 at 63. A market buy of 1,500 shares takes 400 at 61, 900 at 62 and 200 at 63. You pay $928.00, an average of 61.9 cents. A limit order at 62 cents fills 1,300 and rests 200 as a bid, and that resting part pays no fee.
Customer support
- polymarket.com: email at support@polymarket.com and a help center that covers deposits, withdrawals, trading and country restrictions.
- Polymarket US: in-app chat and email at support@polymarket.us, plus a public status page for incidents and maintenance.
- Neither lists a phone line or publishes a response time.
Support can't reverse a crypto transfer or change a resolved market. For those two cases the rules matter more than the agent. For a held Polymarket US withdrawal, send the amount, the method, the date and a screenshot in one message.
The complaints people post and what causes them
| What people post | Product | What caused it | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| The market resolved wrong | Both | The rules named a source or a cut-off the buyer didn't read | Read the rules tab for the event, the source, the deadline and the cancellation clause |
| My withdrawal is stuck | Polymarket US | The deposit hasn't cleared, or the withdrawal has to return to the original method | Wait 3 to 4 business days on card and ACH, and plan around the same-method rule |
| My deposit never arrived | polymarket.com | The wrong network, or an amount under the chain's minimum | Match the network to the address and send enough to pass the minimum |
| I can't place a trade from my country | polymarket.com | A country restriction that allows closing only | Check your country before you fund |
| Support took days | Both | Email queues with no published response time | Send one complete message with a screenshot |
| Someone knew the result before I did | polymarket.com | A trader with better information bought first | Watch large one-sided buying before you take the other side |
| My orders disappeared | Polymarket US | Open orders are cancelled before the weekly maintenance break | Re-enter resting orders after the break |
What we think: the resolution complaint is the one to take seriously. Loose wording on "by a date" and "will X announce Y" markets causes most of the anger, and the rules tab answers it before you buy. The rest are rules working as written.
Polymarket compared with Kalshi
| polymarket.com | Polymarket US | Kalshi | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open to US residents | Closing old positions only | Yes | Yes |
| Currency | pUSD on Polygon | US dollars | US dollars |
| Where you trade | Any browser | iPhone app | Phone app and website |
| Taker fee on 100 at 50 cents | $0 to $1.75 by category | $1.74 | $1.75 |
| Resting orders | Free, plus a share of taker fees | Paid $0.31 on 100 at 50 cents | Free on most markets |
| Fastest withdrawal | Crypto, near instant | Wire, 1 business day | Debit card, within hours |
| Who you can see trading | Every wallet | No reliable identity | Traders with public profiles |
Pick polymarket.com for politics, world events and crypto if you live where it accepts new positions. In the US, open Polymarket US for maker rebates and a second price, and open Kalshi for a website, fast card payouts and interest on your balance. Holding both costs nothing. Read the Kalshi review and the full Kalshi vs Polymarket comparison.
Trading Polymarket through Rivo
Rivo is the prediction market terminal for Polymarket, Polymarket US, Kalshi and Gemini. It costs $9 a week or $15 a month. Rivo is not an exchange: your funds stay in your wallet or your venue account.
Rivo ingests every market and every trade on the venues it covers, and Polymarket's public trades make that especially useful. Every wallet has a record, and Rivo scores it as each market settles.
- Trader research. The Polymarket leaderboard ranks wallets by profit on settled markets, by day, week, month and kind of market. Paste any address into the Polymarket wallet tracker to read its profit curve, its win rate against the odds it paid and its open positions.
- Alerts. Follow a wallet and get a message when it opens a position. Watch a market and get a message on a large trade, a price level or a fast move. See Polymarket whale alerts and price alerts.
- Bots. Pick a wallet or build a signal, read the backtest at your size and run the bot on paper to see what it would have made. See the prediction market trading bot page or build a bot.
- Paper trading. Every order ticket has a Paper mode priced against the live book, fee included.
- Manual trading. On polymarket.com you sign each order in your own browser-connected wallet, and the ticket shows the average fill and every fee, Rivo's builder fee included, before you confirm. Polymarket US connects through your own API key.
- One portfolio. Positions, open orders and balances for each connected account sit on one page, listed by venue.
Two things to know. Polymarket Global and Polymarket US stay separate inside Rivo, exactly as they are at Polymarket: separate rows, separate books, separate accounts, and you choose which one an order goes to. And live automated copying runs on Kalshi today through your own Kalshi API key. On polymarket.com you get the research, the alerts, paper bots and the manual ticket.
Our verdict on Polymarket
- Outside the US: open polymarket.com. It leads on range of markets, on depth and on fees for politics and world events.
- In the US: open Polymarket US as a second venue, fund it by wire if you plan to withdraw soon, and trade it with limit orders to collect the rebate.
- On both: read the rules tab before any market with a deadline or a judgment call in the question.
- On polymarket.com: guard your login like the bank account it is, and test a new withdrawal address with a small amount first.
Polymarket built the market most people picture when they hear "prediction market". polymarket.com earns its 4.4. Polymarket US earns its 3.8 and moves up the day it ships a website and an Android app.
Frequently asked questions
Is Polymarket worth it?
Yes. Polymarket has the widest range of event markets, low fees on politics and sports on polymarket.com, free withdrawals and a public record of every trade. US residents use Polymarket US, a separate regulated app that trades in dollars.
Is Polymarket legit?
Yes. Polymarket US is a CFTC-regulated exchange with its own clearinghouse. polymarket.com is a crypto exchange where your balance stays in a wallet you control and every trade settles on the Polygon blockchain.
Can I use Polymarket in the US?
Yes, through Polymarket US, an iPhone app with identity verification and dollar funding. polymarket.com lets US visitors close old positions and blocks new ones, and the two products share no account or balance.
What fees does Polymarket charge?
Takers pay rate x shares x price x (1 - price). On polymarket.com the rate is 0 for geopolitics, 0.04 for politics, finance, mentions and tech, 0.05 for sports, economics, culture and weather, and 0.07 for crypto. On Polymarket US it is 0.0695. Resting orders pay nothing, and deposits and withdrawals are free.
How fast does Polymarket pay out?
On polymarket.com a winning share pays $1 to your wallet when the market resolves, and a crypto withdrawal is free and near instant. On Polymarket US a card or bank withdrawal takes three to four business days and a wire takes one.
What are the common Polymarket complaints?
Disputed results, withdrawals held on Polymarket US, crypto sent on the wrong network on polymarket.com, slow support and country blocks. Each one traces to a published rule you can check before you trade.
Is my money safe on Polymarket?
On Polymarket US a CFTC-registered clearinghouse clears every position, and every contract is paid in full. On polymarket.com you hold your own funds, so Polymarket can't freeze them and nobody can restore them if you lose your login.
Does Polymarket have an app?
Polymarket US is an iPhone app, with an Android app listed as coming soon. polymarket.com runs in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer with nothing to install.
How do I contact Polymarket support?
polymarket.com support answers at support@polymarket.com. Polymarket US support answers through in-app chat or at support@polymarket.us. Neither lists a phone line.
Is Polymarket better than Kalshi?
For politics, world events and public trade data, yes. For a US trader who wants a website, fast card payouts and interest on idle cash, Kalshi is the stronger pick. Many traders hold both.