Kalshi vs Robinhood
Pick Kalshi if you are uS residents who want CFTC-regulated, dollar-denominated event contracts on sports, politics, economics and weather. Pick Robinhood if you are uS users who already invest with Robinhood and want a simple way to buy major coins and listed memecoins (DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, BONK, WIF, TRUMP) without a separate exchange account. For US users: Robinhood is available; Kalshi is partly available.
Checked 2026-10-16 · both venues' fee pagesKalshi is a US prediction-market exchange regulated by the CFTC as a Designated Contract Market, where users trade event contracts on sports, politics, economics, weather and other outcomes in US dollars. It also offers perpetual futures to approved US users through its FCM, Kalshi Prime.
Robinhood is a US brokerage app whose crypto unit (Robinhood Crypto, LLC) began live trading in February 2018 and now sells ~90 coins, including memecoins such as DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, BONK, WIF and TRUMP. Default trades have no explicit fee: Robinhood is paid inside the spread, keeping 0.95% of notional from its market makers as of June 2026. Optional exchange routing instead charges 0.00%-0.95% fee tiers. A separate non-custodial Robinhood Wallet app charges a 0.80% swap fee.
Side by side
| Kalshi | Robinhood | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Prediction market | Exchange |
| Status | live | live |
| Chains | Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, Dogecoin, Arbitrum, Polygon, Optimism, BNB Chain, Base, Robinhood Chain | |
| Platforms | web | web, ios, android, desktop |
| Custody | custodial | custodial |
| KYC | required | required |
| Platform fee, round trip | — | 1.9% |
| $1,000 round trip | — | $19.00 |
| Sign-up perk | Predictions: a sign-up bonus credit that varies by offer. Perps: a discount on the referee's own perps fees, rate not published. | A separate sign-up stock reward after opening an eligible account and linking a bank or debit card |
| Perps taker / maker | 0.12% / 0.05% | — |
| United States | Partly available | Available |
| United Kingdom | Not available | Available |
| European Union | Partly available | Available |
| Launched | 2021-07 | 2018-02 |
| Reported incidents | 3 | 3 |
Features
| Feature | Kalshi | Robinhood |
|---|---|---|
| prediction markets | ✓ | — |
| sports contracts | ✓ | — |
| combos | ✓ | — |
| perps | ✓ | — |
| order book | ✓ | — |
| liquidity incentives | ✓ | — |
| market maker program | ✓ | — |
| API | ✓ | — |
| FIX | ✓ | — |
| social feed | ✓ | — |
| mobile app | ✓ | — |
| fiat deposits | ✓ | — |
| crypto deposits | ✓ | — |
| interest on balances | ✓ | — |
| commission-free crypto (spread) | — | ✓ |
| exchange routing fee tiers | — | ✓ |
| maker/taker limit orders | — | ✓ |
| robinhood legend desktop | — | ✓ |
"—" means the feature was not in the sources we checked, not proof it's missing.
Kalshi: watch out for
- Sports contracts are restricted or under injunction in Nevada, Massachusetts and Washington, and New York's AG is suing.
- Full KYC with a government photo ID is required for every user.
- Referral bonus amounts vary by offer and are not published as a fixed rate.
Robinhood: watch out for
- The default route's spread includes 0.95% per side that goes to Robinhood (as of June 2026), about 1.9% round trip.
- Robinhood Crypto received integration fees for listing some assets, such as FLOKI, ONDO, ENA, SUI and ZORA.
- The Robinhood Wallet swap fee (0.80% same-chain) is high compared with many DEX aggregators.
FAQ
Is Kalshi better than Robinhood?
Pick Kalshi if you are uS residents who want CFTC-regulated, dollar-denominated event contracts on sports, politics, economics and weather. Pick Robinhood if you are uS users who already invest with Robinhood and want a simple way to buy major coins and listed memecoins (DOGE, SHIB, PEPE, BONK, WIF, TRUMP) without a separate exchange account. For US users: Robinhood is available; Kalshi is partly available.
Which is cheaper, Kalshi or Robinhood?
We could not compare published fees for both.
Can I use Kalshi or Robinhood in the US?
Kalshi: partly available. Robinhood: available. Based on each venue's own terms.
Sources
Last checked . Fees and terms change often; the venue's own page wins if it disagrees with ours.
- Kalshi Help: How is Kalshi regulated? — checked 2026-10-16
- Kalshi Help: Fees — checked 2026-10-16
- Kalshi Help: Perps Fees Explained — checked 2026-10-16
- KalshiEX CFTC filing: Exchange Fee Schedule (Perpetual Futures Contracts), 2026-06-24 — checked 2026-10-16
- Kalshi Help: Applying for Perpetuals Access — checked 2026-10-16
- Kalshi Help: Your Perpetuals Margin Account — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood - Crypto order routing (0.95% market-maker payment, spread example) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood - Crypto fee tiers (0.00%-0.95%) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood - Crypto fee tiers promo terms (range 0.85%-0.03% in Nov 2025) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood - Crypto availability (supported coins, NY/TX restrictions, integration fees) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood Wallet - Send, receive, and swap crypto (swap fees) — checked 2026-10-16
- Robinhood Wallet FAQ — checked 2026-10-16