Home › Polymarket vs Robinhood
Facts checked September 24, 2026 against each platform's own pages, filings and news reports · numbered sources below
Robinhood is a broker, not a prediction market of its own: its event contracts are executed on CFTC-licensed exchanges such as Kalshi, ForecastEX and Rothera through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC [1]. Polymarket is the venue itself: the international Polymarket.com, closed to US residents, and Polymarket US, a CFTC-regulated exchange [2][3]. Robinhood charges k x p x (1-p) per contract, capped at 1 cent, plus exchange fees; Polymarket US charges takers 0.0695 x contracts x p x (1-p) and pays makers a rebate [1][4].
| Polymarket | Robinhood | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Two products: the international Polymarket.com, and Polymarket US, operated by QCX LLC [5][6] | Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant and NFA member; trades execute on KalshiEX, ForecastEX or Rothera [1] |
| Regulation | Polymarket.com says it is not regulated by the CFTC; Polymarket US is a CFTC designated contract market and clearing organization [5][3] | A CFTC-registered broker routing to CFTC-licensed exchanges; Robinhood's joint venture Rothera became a licensed exchange in 2026 [1][16] |
| Who can use it | Polymarket.com is blocked in 39 countries, including the US, UK, France and Germany; US residents use the separate Polymarket US app (18+, identity check) [7][2][6] | US residents 18 and older with a Robinhood brokerage account and an approved derivatives account; no sports contracts in Maryland and no new ones in Nevada since December 1, 2025 [1] |
| Money | Polymarket.com: pUSD, a token backed 1:1 by USDC on Polygon; Polymarket US: US dollars [8][3] | US dollars from a Robinhood account; instant deposits may not count, so settled cash can be needed [17] |
| Trading fees | Polymarket.com: takers pay shares x rate x p x (1-p), with a rate from 0 (geopolitics) to 0.07 (crypto); Polymarket US: takers pay 0.0695 x contracts x p x (1-p) and makers get a rebate [9][4] | k x p x (1-p) x contracts with k = 10% (5% with Robinhood Gold), rounded up to the cent and capped at $0.01 per contract, plus an exchange fee of up to $0.01 per contract per side [1] |
| Deposits and withdrawals | Polymarket.com: crypto deposits from several chains, no Polymarket fee; Polymarket US: card or ACH up to $50,000 a day, wire from $1,000, free withdrawals [10][9][11][12] | Bank transfer (1 to 5 business days), debit card or wire; payouts are generally withdrawable within 1 business day of settlement [17][18] |
| Limits | Polymarket US sets no trading size limits [13] | Some events cap positions, for example 50,000 contracts per side [17] |
| Markets | Politics, sports, crypto, economics, culture, weather, tech and more [3][9] | Sports, elections and politics, economics, financial, crypto, commodities, metals, climate, entertainment, education and technology [19] |
| How markets settle | Polymarket.com: UMA optimistic oracle with a 2-hour challenge window and a UMA vote on disputes; Polymarket US: the exchange applies each market's listed sources [14][15] | The partner exchange decides from the contract's official source and Robinhood cannot override it; contracts settle at $1 or $0 [20][18] |
All current prices: Polymarket odds today · fees on a real order: Polymarket fee calculator · where Polymarket is available
Robinhood routes event contracts to several CFTC-licensed exchanges, including KalshiEX, ForecastEX and Rothera; its prediction markets hub launched on March 17, 2025 with contracts from Kalshi. [1][21]
Robinhood's commission is k x p x (1-p) per contract (k = 10%, or 5% with Gold), capped at $0.01 per contract, plus an exchange fee of up to $0.01 per contract per side. Polymarket US charges takers 0.0695 x contracts x p x (1-p), at most $1.74 per 100 contracts at 50 cents, and pays makers a rebate. [1][4]
No. Robinhood says Maryland residents can't trade sports event contracts, Nevada residents can't open new ones since December 1, 2025, and other state restrictions may apply. [1]
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