Kalshi vs Robinhood prediction markets: one is an exchange, the other a broker, and the fee gap depends on the price

Guide · Updated October 28, 2026 · 18+ · Not legal advice · By BetG8 Editorial · Prediction Markets

Kalshi vs Robinhood prediction markets: fees, access and where the contracts trade — The same $1 contract can cost a different amount to trade depending on whose app you use.

Short answer: Kalshi is a CFTC-designated exchange: you open an account with it and trade on its order book. Robinhood is a broker: its unit Robinhood Derivatives, LLC routes your order to an exchange, which can be Kalshi, ForecastEX, Rothera or the North American Derivatives Exchange. The contracts work the same way, paying $1 if the event happens and $0 if not, and both platforms take customers from 18. The costs differ. Kalshi charges takers 0.07 × price × (1 − price) per contract, rounded up. Robinhood charges a commission of 10 percent of the same price term (5 percent with Gold), capped at 1 cent per contract, plus an exchange fee of up to 1 cent. On 100 contracts at 50 cents that is $1.75 on Kalshi against up to $2.00 on Robinhood; at 10 or 90 cents it is $0.63 against up to $1.90. Figures are as of October 2026.

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People search “Kalshi vs Robinhood” as if they were rival exchanges. For most of the products on Robinhood’s prediction markets hub they are not: Robinhood is one of the ways into Kalshi’s market, and since June 2026 it also sends some orders to an exchange it part-owns. This guide sets out who you are dealing with on each, how each charges, where each is restricted, and what the difference costs on a worked trade.

Exchange and broker: the structural difference

Kalshi, through KalshiEX LLC, is a designated contract market regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It lists the contracts, runs the order book, and settles them. A Kalshi account is an account with the exchange.

Robinhood does not run the order book for most event contracts. Its support page says Robinhood Derivatives offers event contracts through KalshiEX LLC, ForecastEX LLC, Rothera Exchange and Clearing LLC, or North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. You need an approved Robinhood Derivatives account, which you apply for inside the app after opening an individual investing account; repeated applications or toggling trading on and off can trigger a 30-day wait. Rothera is the newest venue: Robinhood began routing World Cup and baseball contracts to it on June 4, 2026, describing it as a CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse owned by a joint venture managed by Robinhood Markets and Susquehanna International Group.

Question	Kalshi	Robinhood
What it is	CFTC-designated exchange (KalshiEX LLC)	Broker (Robinhood Derivatives, LLC) routing to exchanges
Where the contract trades	Kalshi	Kalshi, ForecastEX, Rothera or North American Derivatives Exchange, depending on the contract
Account	Direct Kalshi account	Approved Robinhood Derivatives account on an individual investing account
Minimum age	18	18
Extra limits for 18 to 20 year olds	$2,500 monthly deposit cap announced October 27, 2026	None published on the support page
Trading fee	Taker: 0.07 × P × (1 − P), rounded up; lower maker fee on some markets	Commission k × P × (1 − P), k = 10% or 5% with Gold, max 1¢ per contract, plus exchange fee up to 1¢
Payout	$1 or $0 per contract	$1 or $0 per contract
Published state limits	Sports contracts unavailable in some states under court orders or settlements	No sports contracts for Maryland and Nevada residents; no new Michigan sports positions since September 9, 2026

How each one charges

Kalshi’s fee schedule charges takers, the side whose order fills immediately against a resting order, a fee of 0.07 × C × P × (1 − P), rounded up to the next cent, where C is the number of contracts and P the price in dollars. The P × (1 − P) term peaks at 50 cents, so the fee is highest on coin-flip contracts and smallest on long shots and near-certainties. On markets where Kalshi charges makers, the side whose order rests on the book, the multiplier is 0.0175, a quarter of the taker rate. Our Kalshi fees guide covers the rounding in detail.

Robinhood moved to a probability-weighted commission on June 1, 2026. The commission is k × P × (1 − P) × C, with k at 10 percent, or 5 percent for Robinhood Gold members, rounded up to the nearest cent and capped at $0.01 per contract. On top of that, Robinhood passes through an exchange fee that varies by exchange and can be up to $0.01 per contract, charged on opening and closing trades. Robinhood’s own example: 100 Yes contracts at $0.90 carry a $0.90 commission, or $0.45 with Gold.

A worked example: 100 contracts at three prices

Take an order for 100 contracts, filled as a taker, at 10 cents, 50 cents and 90 cents. For Robinhood we assume the maximum 1-cent exchange fee, because the actual fee depends on which exchange the order is routed to and Robinhood does not publish it per venue.

Price	Kalshi taker	Kalshi maker	Robinhood commission	Robinhood Gold commission	Robinhood exchange fee (max)	Robinhood total (Gold)
10¢	$0.63	$0.16	$0.90	$0.45	$1.00	$1.90 ($1.45)
50¢	$1.75	$0.44	$1.00 (capped from $2.50)	$1.00 (capped from $1.25)	$1.00	$2.00 ($2.00)
90¢	$0.63	$0.16	$0.90	$0.45	$1.00	$1.90 ($1.45)

Three things follow. First, the cap matters only near the middle: at 50 cents both Robinhood tiers hit the 1-cent ceiling, so Gold saves nothing there. Second, the flat exchange fee dominates at the tails, where Kalshi’s price-scaled fee is smallest; a long-shot trader pays roughly three times as much through Robinhood in this example. Third, all of these are per side. Selling before settlement is a second trade, and on both platforms it is charged again. To run your own numbers, use our prediction market fee calculator.

Fees are not the whole cost. The spread between the best bid and offer is often larger than the fee, and it is the same order book whether you reach Kalshi directly or through Robinhood. Our guide to spread cost shows how to measure it.

Who can use which, and where

Both require you to be 18 and a US resident for their US products. Kalshi’s COO Luana Lopes Lara said on October 27, 2026 that the exchange will move users aged 18 to 20 into a separate account type with a $2,500 monthly deposit cap, education material and a prompt when a new trader commits more than a quarter of a balance above $1,000 to one trade. Robinhood’s support page lists no age-specific limits.

State access is where the two diverge most visibly. Robinhood publishes its own list: Maryland and Nevada residents cannot trade sports event contracts, and Michigan residents have not been able to open new sports positions since September 9, 2026; some contracts may be unavailable in other states. Kalshi’s sports contracts are unavailable in Illinois, Michigan and Nevada under court orders or settlements, and several states are suing or enforcing against it; the current map is in our 50-state tracker. Robinhood checks eligibility against the address on the account, and a contract routed to Kalshi is subject to whichever of the two rules is stricter.

Money in and out

A Robinhood event contract draws on the same settled cash as the rest of your Robinhood account; instant deposits cannot be used to buy event contracts, and a position-closing-only restriction can stop you opening new contracts while still letting you exit. Kalshi is a stand-alone account that you fund and withdraw from separately. Both settle a winning contract at $1 and a losing one at $0 once the outcome is determined under the exchange’s rules, so the settlement source for a Robinhood contract is the rulebook of the exchange it traded on.

Which one fits which user

Neither is better in general. Robinhood suits someone who already holds an investing account there, wants event contracts beside other assets, and trades mostly mid-priced contracts in small size, where the fee difference is a few cents. Kalshi suits someone who trades often, trades long shots or favourites, or wants maker pricing and the full range of Kalshi’s categories, some of which Robinhood does not carry. For anyone comparing a sportsbook price with an exchange price first, our price comparison tool does the conversion. None of this is a recommendation to trade.

What this guide does not cover

Tax reporting differs by account and is covered in our Kalshi tax guide; we have not reviewed Robinhood’s tax forms for event contracts. We do not cover the exchange fees charged by ForecastEX, Rothera or North American Derivatives Exchange individually, because Robinhood does not publish them per venue, nor Polymarket US, which is a separate exchange covered in our Kalshi vs Polymarket fees comparison. Fee formulas and state limits are as published in October 2026 and can change. This guide is not legal, tax or financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is Robinhood’s prediction market the same as Kalshi?

Partly. Robinhood is a broker, not an exchange for most of these contracts. Its unit Robinhood Derivatives routes orders to KalshiEX, ForecastEX, Rothera or North American Derivatives Exchange, so many Robinhood event contracts are Kalshi contracts traded through a different app.

Is Kalshi or Robinhood cheaper?

It depends on the price. On 100 contracts at 50 cents, Kalshi’s taker fee is $1.75 and Robinhood charges up to $2.00 including the exchange fee. At 10 or 90 cents Kalshi charges $0.63 against up to $1.90 on Robinhood, because Robinhood’s exchange fee is flat.

Does Robinhood Gold lower prediction market fees?

Yes, at most prices. Gold halves the commission multiplier from 10 percent to 5 percent, but the commission is capped at 1 cent per contract, so near 50 cents both tiers pay the same. The exchange fee is not affected.

What is the minimum age for Kalshi and Robinhood prediction markets?

18 for both. Kalshi announced on October 27, 2026 that users aged 18 to 20 will have a $2,500 monthly deposit cap and a separate account type with added safeguards.