Polymarket Review

Polymarket is the prediction market most people have heard of — the one whose odds get quoted on cable news during elections. Founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan, it grew on the crypto blockchain outside the US, was fined by the CFTC in 2022 and blocked Americans for years. In July 2025 it bought QCX LLC, a CFTC-licensed exchange, for $112 million, and rebuilt itself as Polymarket US. After a long waitlist, the US iOS app opened to everyone in May 2026.^[1]

That history means there are really two Polymarkets. This review covers both, with a focus on the US app.

Polymarket US vs the international site

If you're in the US, only use the US app. Using a VPN to reach the international site breaks its terms and leaves you without any regulatory protection.

Markets and liquidity

Polymarket's speciality is politics and world events: elections everywhere, wars and ceasefires, central banks, court cases, tech launches, celebrity news. It's also big in crypto and sports, and it was early to quirky video game and entertainment markets.

Liquidity on the headline political markets is among the deepest anywhere — millions of dollars sit in some order books (we haven't measured order-book depth ourselves). Polymarket US overtook Crypto.com in March 2026 to become the second-largest CFTC-regulated prediction market, behind Kalshi.^[1] The US app's catalogue is smaller than the international one, but growing quickly, and the 2026 midterms are its biggest test yet.

Fees

Polymarket built its reputation on being nearly free, but that's no longer the whole story. Since 7 October 2026 the US app's standard taker fee is 0.0695 × contracts × price × (1 − price), rounded to the nearest cent — $1.74 on 100 contracts at 50¢, practically the same as Kalshi's $1.75. Table tennis markets use a higher 0.10 coefficient, combos have their own curve, and makers earn a rebate (0.0125 on the same formula).^[2] Before 7 October the coefficient was 0.05, so older articles quote lower numbers.

The international site has a separate, category-based schedule: in mid-2026 most categories charged takers between 0.04 and 0.07 on the same price formula, with geopolitics markets fee-free. Fee schedules change, so check the fee screen before you trade. Our fee calculator guide compares every major platform side by side.

Settlement and resolution

On Polymarket US, markets settle under rules filed with the CFTC, much like Kalshi.

On the international site, outcomes are confirmed by UMA's optimistic oracle: anyone can propose a result, others can dispute it, and disputes go to a vote of UMA token holders. It usually works, but there have been well-publicised arguments over ambiguous wording and accusations that large token holders could sway votes. That's one reason we score Polymarket's settlement lower than Kalshi's. Our guide to prediction market resolution explains how to spot risky wording.

Deposits and withdrawals

App and tools

The Polymarket US app is clean and fast, with charts, the order book, limit orders and a news-style feed that makes browsing fun. The catch is reach: it launched on iOS first; in autumn 2026 Android access was still rolling out and the desktop site was reported to be mainly for browsing, with trades placed in the app. The international site has the richer toolset, including comments under each market and a public API.

Legality and safety

Polymarket US is regulated by the CFTC, but it's more exposed to state pushback than Kalshi. In October 2026, after a federal appeals court ruled for Ohio, the state's Casino Control Commission ordered it and nine other platforms to stop offering sports contracts to Ohio customers by 16 October. In October 2026 it wasn't offering markets in states including Nevada (court injunction), Maryland, Tennessee and Connecticut, and it didn't offer sports contracts in Arizona.^[3] New York sued both Polymarket and Kalshi, alleging unlicensed gambling. Our guide are prediction markets legal? has the full state-by-state picture.

Outside the US, Polymarket is blocked or restricted in several countries. In October 2026 the UK's Financial Conduct Authority confirmed it was in talks with prediction market firms, while warning that some financial contracts look like banned binary options.^[4]

How to open an account

1. Download Polymarket US from the App Store (Android access was rolling out in 2026).
2. Sign up and confirm you're 18+ in an eligible state.
3. Verify your identity (KYC is required for all US users).
4. Fund with ACH, card or Apple Pay.
5. Trade in dollars — the US app doesn't use crypto.

Support: Support is through the app's help centre. Don't use the international crypto site from the US — see how to use Polymarket from the US.

Polymarket vs the alternatives

• Kalshi — available in more states, more funding options and full Android and web apps; standard taker fees are now almost identical.
• PredictIt — the old-school political market; much more expensive.
• Robinhood — simpler, but a much smaller menu.

Want to use it from the US? Read how to use Polymarket from the US.

Polymarket: our verdict

Polymarket remains the place where the world's political and news bets are made, and the regulated US app finally gives Americans a safe, legal way in, with taker fees now in line with Kalshi's and rebates for makers. It loses points for limited Android and desktop access in the US, for patchier state coverage and for the occasional oracle drama on the international side. For politics fans, it's essential; for everything else, it's a strong second account next to Kalshi.