Maker vs Taker Fees on Perp DEXs: What a Trade Really Costs

The fee rate is the smallest number in a trade, and the one people read first. What decides your cost is whether you add liquidity or take it, how large the position is, and how many times you cross the book. For a farmer, that is the difference between points that pay and points that cost more than they are worth.

Quick answer

A maker order rests on the book and waits. A taker order fills at once against an order already there. Makers pay less, sometimes nothing, and on some venues get a rebate. The fee is a percentage of the full position, not of your margin. Every fill pays it: a round trip pays twice, and a hedged position on two venues pays four times.

Maker or taker: who decides?

• Taker: a market order, or a limit order priced to fill right away. It removes liquidity.
• Maker: a limit order that does not fill right away and sits in the book. It adds liquidity.

The order type alone does not decide it. A limit buy above the best ask fills at once, so it is a taker fill. To be sure you are a maker, use a post-only order. Hyperliquid calls it ALO: an order that “is only executed as a resting order.”

Why is the fee charged on the position?

The fee is a percentage of the trade’s notional value: size times price. Paradex’s docs say fees “are charged on trade notional (Size × Trade Price).” So leverage multiplies the fee per dollar of your own money. With an example taker rate of 0.045%:

How many fills does a farm really pay?

Count the fills, not the trades.

• One position, open and close: two fills.
• A hedge, long on one venue and short on another: four fills, two per leg.
• Volume farming that rolls a position every day: four fills a day, every day.

At example rates of 0.045% taker and 0.015% maker, a hedge with $10,000 on each leg, opened and closed once, costs $18 as taker on every fill and $6 as maker. On a venue with 0% maker, the maker side costs nothing. Spread that over a short hold and the fees can be larger than anything the position earns.

When does a maker order cost more?

A maker order saves the fee only if it fills. In a fast market it may not fill at all, and chasing the price afterwards as a taker costs the fee plus the move you missed. Makers also tend to get filled when the price moves against them. Use maker orders when you can wait, and taker orders when being in the position matters more than the fee.

Is a zero-fee perp DEX free?

The fee can be zero, but the trade is not:

• Speed bumps. Zero-fee accounts often add a delay on taker orders or cancels, and limits on how many orders you can send.
• Spread and slippage. A taker still crosses the bid-ask spread, and a large order moves the price.
• Funding. An open position pays or earns funding every period, separate from fees.
• Rules change. Venues update fee schedules. Extended writes that it “reserves the right to update the fee schedule going forward.”

Do tiers, staking and rebates matter?

Only once you qualify. Volume tiers, discounts for staking the venue’s token and maker rebates all need volume, a stake or a set share of maker volume. Start from the base rate. Count a discount only when you already have it.

How do fees fit into a points farm?

Divide what you pay by what you earn: fees for the period divided by points earned is your cost per point. Two things move it most:

• Maker or taker. On a venue with a cheap maker side, the same volume can cost a fraction as much. Check whether the campaign counts maker fills: some count taker volume only.
• Hold time. Fees are fixed per fill, so a short hold pays the same fees for less time in the position.

A cost per point is only useful next to what a point may be worth, and that value is never known in advance. Keep the cost low enough that a weak outcome still does not hurt.

Where are the current rates?

Each project page lists the base maker and taker fee with a link to the venue’s own fee page: Hyperliquid, Lighter, Aster, Paradex, Extended. Our funding scanner uses the same fees to show net funding after four taker fills.

Frequently asked

Is a limit order always a maker order? No. A limit order that fills at once is a taker fill. Use post-only to be sure.

Why do makers pay less? They add the liquidity that takers trade against.

Is the fee charged on my margin or my position? On the position. A 10x position pays ten times the fee of the same margin at 1x.

What is a maker rebate? A negative fee: the venue pays you for a maker fill, usually only above a set share of maker volume.