Master Maker vs Taker Orders: A Trader's Guide to Lower Fees and Better Execution

In cryptocurrency trading, two fundamental order types shape your costs, execution speed, and overall profitability: maker and taker orders. Understanding the distinction between these order types isn’t merely academic—it directly impacts your trading fees and bottom-line returns. Whether you’re executing a quick entry or patiently waiting for an ideal price point, your order choice carries real financial consequences.

The Speed Trap: Why Taker Orders Cost More

When you need to enter or exit a position immediately, you submit a taker order. A taker order matches instantly with existing orders already sitting on the order book, “taking” the available liquidity that market makers have provided. This immediacy comes at a premium: taker orders typically incur higher fees because you’re prioritizing speed over cost.

Think of it this way: you’re essentially paying for convenience. The exchange charges roughly 0.055% on taker orders because you’re removing liquidity from the market rather than adding to it. This might seem negligible on a single trade, but across dozens or hundreds of trades annually, the difference compounds significantly. Consider a trader executing 100 trades per year—that fee differential alone could exceed thousands of dollars depending on your trading volume.

Building Market Depth: The Maker Order Advantage

Conversely, maker orders work differently. When you place a maker order, you’re adding your order to the order book before it matches with another trader. You’re providing liquidity to the market, allowing others to trade against your order. In recognition of this contribution to market health and stability, exchanges reward makers with substantially lower fees—typically around 0.02%.

Maker orders embody patience. Rather than demanding immediate execution, you’re submitting a limit order at a price you deem fair and waiting for market conditions to move in your favor. This patient approach creates genuine value for the market ecosystem while simultaneously reducing your trading costs. The spread between maker and taker fees (roughly 0.035%) might seem small, but it’s the exchange’s way of incentivizing participation and market-making activity.

Fee Impact On Real Trading: Maker vs Taker in Action

The theoretical difference becomes starkly real when you examine an actual trade scenario. Consider a BTCUSDT perpetual contract position:

Trading Parameters:

• Contract: 2 BTC (BTCUSDT Perpetual)
• Entry: $60,000 per BTC
• Exit: $61,000 per BTC (1,000 USDT profit per BTC before fees)
• Base Position P&L: 2 × ($61,000 − $60,000) = $2,000

Scenario A: Using Maker Orders Throughout

• Opening Fee: 2 × $60,000 × 0.02% = $12
• Closing Fee: 2 × $61,000 × 0.02% = $12.20
• Final Closed P&L: $2,000 − $12 − $12.20 = $1,975.80

Scenario B: Using Taker Orders Throughout

• Opening Fee: 2 × $60,000 × 0.055% = $66
• Closing Fee: 2 × $61,000 × 0.055% = $67.10
• Final Closed P&L: $2,000 − $66 − $67.10 = $1,866.90

The difference: $108.90 on a single trade. Extrapolate this across an active trading account executing dozens of trades monthly, and the maker order advantage becomes your most cost-effective optimization strategy.

How Market Dynamics Shape Your Order Choice

The comparison between maker and taker orders extends beyond simple fee arithmetic. Taker orders can be either market orders (instantly executing) or limit orders (that immediately match), while maker orders must be limit orders placed at prices away from current market rates.

When you place a taker order, you’re essentially saying, “I value speed more than price optimization.” When you place a maker order, you’re stating, “I’m willing to wait for a better price to reduce my costs.” Both approaches have merit depending on your trading context—scalpers might favor takers despite higher fees, while swing traders and position holders should systematically utilize maker orders.

Strategically Placing Maker Orders: Step-by-Step Guide

To consistently execute maker orders and capture lower fees:

1. Use Limit Orders within your platform’s order placement interface
2. Enable Post-Only Mode to ensure your order adds liquidity rather than immediately matching with existing orders
3. Set Your Limit Price Strategically:
   • For buy long positions: place your order below the best available asking price
   • For sell short positions: place your order above the best available bidding price
4. Verify Price Advantage: Your price should represent a genuine improvement over current market rates

An important caveat: if your limit order executes immediately despite Post-Only selection, the system will categorize it as a taker order and may cancel it. This occurs when the market moves sharply in your direction—not necessarily a negative outcome, but it means you paid taker fees instead of the anticipated maker fees.

Optimizing Your Order Strategy

The maker versus taker decision fundamentally shapes your trading economics. While taker orders provide unmatched execution speed, maker orders deliver cost efficiency that can meaningfully enhance your returns. The most sophisticated traders don’t choose one over the other exclusively—they deploy each type strategically based on market conditions, position urgency, and acceptable price ranges.

By understanding how maker and taker orders function, you’re equipped to make informed decisions that extend beyond individual trades, compounding into substantial long-term profitability improvements. The fee structure exists for a reason: to encourage market participation and liquidity provision. Aligning your order strategy with these incentives represents one of the most direct paths to trading efficiency.