Maker vs taker fees, slippage and funding: what a trade costs

Short answer: Maker vs taker fees depend on whether your order rests on the order book or fills against an order already there. But the fee is only one part of a trade’s cost: add the entry and exit fees, execution slippage, and funding if you hold a perpetual futures position. On Binance, the result can take a meaningful share of a small target move.

What is the difference between maker and taker fees?

A maker order rests on the order book and adds an available offer to buy or sell. A taker order fills immediately against offers already waiting there. The exchange classifies each fill by what it does, not just by the order label: a limit order that fills immediately can pay the taker rate (Binance Futures fee guide, 2026).

A partially filled order can have both kinds of fill. The part that matches immediately is taker; any remainder that rests on the book may later be maker. Check the actual fills in your trade history instead of assuming that every limit order earned a maker rate.

How do you calculate maker vs taker fees on Binance?

Multiply each fill’s notional value by its fee rate, then add the entry and exit. Notional, or position value, is the full size of the position at the execution price, not the margin you set aside; futures fees are charged on position value (Binance Futures fee guide, 2026).

The table uses Binance trading fees for a Binance.com Regular User, checked October 2026. For Binance futures fees, the rates are the example figures from the futures fee guide, so confirm your account’s current rate on Binance’s fee page before trading. Rates vary by tier and pair.

The spot page shows a 25% discount on eligible spot fees paid in BNB; the futures guide describes a separate 10% USDⓈ-M discount when BNB is available in the USDⓈ-M Futures Account (Binance spot fee schedule, 2026, Binance Futures fee guide, 2026).

Market and fill at entry → exit	Rate at entry → exit	Entry fee on 1,000 USDT	Exit fee on 1,010 USDT	Round-trip fee
Spot, maker → maker	0.10% → 0.10%	1.00	1.01	2.01
Spot, taker → taker	0.10% → 0.10%	1.00	1.01	2.01
USDⓈ-M Futures, maker → maker	0.02% → 0.02%	0.20	0.20	0.40
USDⓈ-M Futures, maker → taker	0.02% → 0.05%	0.20	0.51	0.71
USDⓈ-M Futures, taker → taker	0.05% → 0.05%	0.50	0.51	1.01

These are illustrative USDT-equivalent fees rounded to cents; spot fees may be deducted in the asset you receive (Binance Spot fee guide, 2022). Binance’s regular-user spot rates are the same for maker and taker in this schedule, so choosing a maker order doesn’t lower that example’s fee rate. On USDⓈ-M Futures, the sample taker rate is higher. A BNB discount changes the fee calculation, but it doesn’t remove execution or funding costs.

What is slippage in crypto, and how do you estimate it?

Slippage is the difference between the price you expect and the average price you actually receive. It can rise when your order is large relative to the available orders near the current price, or when prices move while the order is filling (Binance Academy, 2026).

For an estimate, compare each expected average fill with the mid-price when you plan the trade. Multiply that price difference by the order size for each side, then add entry and exit. Comparing with the midpoint counts the spread and any extra price impact together; don’t add the spread a second time. Before placing a market order, check how much quantity is available at nearby price levels. A larger order may walk through several levels and get a worse average price.

A limit order sets the worst price you’ll accept, but it may not fill. On Binance Spot’s website, the documented maker control is Post Only: open Spot Trading, choose Settings → Layout → Advanced under Order Mode, then check Post Only. Binance says an order that would execute immediately is cancelled rather than posted (Binance Post Only guide, updated 2026). This can prevent an accidental taker fill, but it can’t guarantee that you enter or exit the trade.

For a round-trip estimate below, assume an illustrative 0.05% execution drag on entry and another 0.05% on exit. That’s not a Binance quote. Replace it with an estimate from the pair’s current order book and your intended size. If you use a price-limited order, account for the possibility of no fill as well as the lower expected price cost.

What does a funding rate add to a futures trade?

A funding rate is a scheduled payment between traders holding opposite sides of a perpetual contract. On Binance, a positive rate means longs generally pay shorts; a negative funding rate reverses the payment direction. Funding amount is position notional multiplied by the rate, and the payment occurs only if you hold the position at a funding time (Binance Futures funding guide, 2026).

Use the actual next funding time, interval, and rate shown for your contract. Binance’s default is every eight hours, but it can change the interval. A 30-day example at a constant 0.01% rate and 90 eight-hour payments costs a long with a constant 1,000 USDT notional 1,000 × 0.0001 × 90 = 9 USDT.

This is an illustrative calculation, not a forecast: real rates and position value can change, and a negative rate may pay a long instead. The trading screen’s current rate isn’t a promise that the same rate will apply for the full month.

How much of a 1% target can costs use up?

Add the components on a like-for-like notional basis, then compare them with the gross target. In this example, an illustrative 1,000 USDT position reaches 1,010 USDT after a 1% favorable move, for a 10 USDT gross gain.

For a USDⓈ-M taker entry and taker exit, the estimated fees are 0.50 USDT on entry plus 0.505 on exit. Add 0.50 and 0.505 USDT of assumed execution drag, then 9 USDT of assumed funding over 30 days. The total is 11.01 USDT, or 110.1% of the 10 USDT target.

Under those assumptions, the trade would be about 1.01 USDT below break-even after these costs, before any other charges or tax.

The same spot example has 2.01 USDT of fees and 1.005 USDT of execution drag, or 3.02 USDT total. Spot has no perpetual funding payment in this comparison. The futures example shows why a lower headline fee doesn’t automatically mean a cheaper trade: holding time and funding can dominate the entry-and-exit commission.

Put your own numbers beside the risk-reward ratio and the position size before comparing the expected move with costs. If you use a protective order, remember that an exit order can also take liquidity or fill at a different price; see stop loss vs stop limit for that trade-off.

When is paying the taker fee worth it?

Pay the taker rate when getting the fill now matters more than the extra fee and the order book offers an acceptable price. At the Binance USDⓈ-M sample rates, taker instead of maker adds 0.03 percentage points per fill: about 0.30 USDT on a 1,000 USDT entry. The same decision at a 1,010 USDT exit adds about 0.30 USDT. If you wait for a maker fill, compare that fee saving with the price movement you may miss and the risk that the order never fills.

Recalculate with your account’s rate, intended notional, actual order-book depth, holding time, and the next funding estimate.

We run Cointrapper, a private trading pool on Binance. Participant analytics shows trading fees as a share of gross results and funding costs; the pool index guide explains how the share value is tracked after trading costs.

Crypto trading and pooled investing are high risk; you can lose your entire investment, and capital is not insured. Past performance does not guarantee future results; this article is not individual investment advice.