Maker vs taker fees, explained with real published rates

Market makers provide liquidity by placing limit orders that sit in the order book, while market takers remove liquidity by executing against existing orders. This distinction drives the fee structure on digital asset exchanges, where makers typically pay less to incentivise order book depth. However, the gap between these two roles varies significantly across platforms at the entry level. On Bybit, the spot maker fee sits at 0.1000% and the taker fee is also 0.1000% for regular users, meaning there is no discount for providing liquidity at this tier. In contrast, OKX charges a spot maker fee of 0.20% but demands a higher spot taker fee of 0.35% from standard accounts, creating a clear cost penalty for immediate execution. Binance offers a flat spot fee of 0.100% for the Regular tier, which applies regardless of whether the trade adds or removes liquidity. These figures represent the baseline costs before any volume-based discounts or loyalty rebates apply. Understanding whether an exchange charges a maker fee or a taker fee is essential for calculating true trading costs, as the difference can accumulate rapidly with high-frequency activity. Traders must examine the specific maker and taker rates for their chosen venue rather than assuming a standard model applies universally across the industry.