Contents
What the calculator is actually countingA real example: 100 USDT at 10xWhy higher leverage means higher feesWhat this calculator does not include
What the calculator is actually counting
The number you want is the round-trip cost: the entry fee plus the exit fee for one complete trade. Both are charged on the size of the position — what you see as the trade value in the order window — and not on the margin the exchange holds while the trade is open. That is why 100 USDT at 10x leverage pays fees on a 1,000 USDT trade, not on 100.
The percentage you pay depends on how your order fills, not on what you called it. If your order takes a price that is already sitting on the market right now, you pay the taker rate. If your order just sits there waiting at your price until someone else trades against it, you pay the lower maker rate. That short version is enough here — the full mechanics live in what fees you pay when trading futures.
Type in your money and your leverage
Put in the money you are putting into the trade — say 100 USDT — and the leverage, say 10x. The calculator multiplies them to get the 1,000 USDT trade that the fee is actually charged on.
Set the entry and exit prices
Use the price you plan to enter at and the price you plan to close at. Rough numbers are fine here. The fee hardly changes if the price is a bit different, but the price you need just to break even does.
Choose maker or taker for each side
Most beginners tap buy or sell at market and are a taker on both sides. If you plan to enter with a limit order that waits for your price, set entry to maker and leave exit as taker.
Check the rates against your own account
The fee rates on the exchanges change, and your own level or a discount can change them again. Open the fee page in your exchange app, find the maker and taker numbers for futures, and type those in.
A real example: 100 USDT at 10x
Say you have 100 USDT and you open a long on bitcoin at 10x, so the trade is worth 1,000 USDT. You hit market both times and pay the taker rate of 0.05%. Entry costs 0.50 USDT, exit costs about the same, and the round trip is roughly 1 USDT — one percent of your money, gone before the price has moved at all. Illustrative numbers, but the shape is real.
Long 1,000.00 USDT, entry 84,000 → exit 84,840, fees 0.05% + 0.05% (example rates).
The same trade also has a break-even price — the price you have to reach just to come back to zero after paying both fees. At taker rates on both sides that is roughly 0.1% of movement, so from an entry of 84,000 you need about 84,084. Close anywhere below that and you lose money even though the chart went your way.
Why higher leverage means higher fees
This is the part people miss. Leverage doesn't change the fee percentage, but it changes the trade size that percentage is taken from. Keep 100 USDT in the account and turn the leverage dial up, and the cost of one round trip climbs with it.
| Leverage | Trade size | Round trip at 0.05% each way | Share of your 100 USDT |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1x | 100 USDT | 0.10 USDT | 0.1% |
| 5x | 500 USDT | 0.50 USDT | 0.5% |
| 10x | 1,000 USDT | 1.00 USDT | 1% |
| 20x | 2,000 USDT | 2.00 USDT | 2% |
At 20x, ten quick trades in a day cost about a fifth of your money in fees alone, whatever the market does. That is one of the quieter reasons beginners lose money: not one big loss, but many small costs on a position that was too big for the account.
Count the fee before you take the trade, not after. If your planned profit is 2 USDT and the round trip costs 1 USDT, half your idea is already spent. Either wait for a bigger move or trade less often — those are the only two honest fixes.
What this calculator does not include
Two things sit outside it. If you hold a perpetual contract through a settlement time, you also pay or receive funding, and that has its own funding calculator. And the price you actually get on a market order can be slightly worse than the one on screen, which is a real cost even though nobody calls it a fee. For profit after everything, use the profit and loss calculator.
If you are still choosing where to trade, the gaps between venues are smaller than most comparison pages suggest, and worth checking inside your own account rather than in a table — which exchanges have the lowest fees walks through it. The quickest way to see your real rate is to open a Binance Futures account and look at the fee line in the order window before you confirm anything.
How much is the fee on Binance futures?
At the base level on USDⓈ-M futures it is 0.02% as a maker and 0.05% as a taker, or 0.018% and 0.045% if you pay fees in BNB. That is per side, so entering and exiting at market at the base level costs about 0.1% of the trade value in total.
Is the fee taken from my margin or from the position size?
From the position size. Margin is just the part of your balance the exchange holds while the trade is open. With 50 USDT at 10x you have a 500 USDT position, and the fee is a percentage of 500.
Can I pay the lower maker rate?
Yes, if your order just sits there waiting at your price until someone else trades against it. A limit order placed away from the current price usually fills as a maker; a limit order that fills the moment you send it is a taker. The trade-off is explained in market or limit order.
Does a referral link really cut my futures fees?
Some exchange referral programs include a fee rebate, with conditions that change over time. Check what your own account shows rather than trusting a number on a website — how referral discounts work covers what to look for.
What does round-trip cost mean?
It is the fee for opening plus the fee for closing one position — the full cost of the trade from start to finish. People use it because looking at only one side makes a plan look cheaper than it really is.
Do fees change if I hold the trade for several days?
The entry and exit fees do not — they are charged once each, when you open and when you close. What grows over days is funding on perpetual contracts, which is a separate payment between traders at set times.