Maker and taker are roles in a trade on an order book. A maker first leaves an offer available to others; a taker trades with an offer already waiting. An exchange may charge the same or different fees for these roles. Neither role alone guarantees a good price, a profit or a fully filled order.
Jana opens the order book, the list of waiting buy and sell offers. If she accepts an available offer, she is the taker for that fill: she consumes liquidity, the opportunity to trade with someone now. If her order instead waits on the book until someone else accepts it, she is the maker. Kraken distinguishes the roles by this matching process. Buyers and sellers can take either role; it is not a permanent label for a person or account. [1]
Jana sets a Limit order because she wants to specify her maximum purchase price. If someone already offers bitcoin at that price or less, a trade may happen immediately. Her order is taking an existing offer. Coinbase classifies that fill as taker. The limit answers “at what price may I trade?”, while maker or taker describes where the counterparty came from. The order type alone does not determine the fee. [2]
There may not be enough bitcoin available at Jana’s acceptable price. She may buy part immediately and leave the remainder on the book, if the order’s validity rules allow it. A new seller accepting that remainder later creates another fill. Coinbase explicitly describes this situation: the immediate portion pays the taker rate and the portion that rested on the book pays the maker rate when filled. Both roles on a single order’s statement need not mean the exchange made a mistake. [2]
If Jana only wants to place an offer on the book, she can choose post-only where supported. Coinbase Exchange rejects the whole such order if any part would immediately take liquidity. Kraken describes a similar post limit option. This safeguard does not summon a buyer or seller, however. An accepted offer can wait and ultimately remain unfilled. The specific interface rules matter more than a similarly named option elsewhere. [3] [1]
Before calculating anything, Jana needs the rate for her product and account. Coinbase Advanced lists separate 30-day volume tiers for different products and, where applicable, qualification by USDC balance. The tier at order placement matters. Maker and taker rates can be equal; a negative maker rate means a rebate for providing liquidity. Kraken also notes that certain purchases do not count towards volume discounts. An old screenshot of a fee table is therefore an unreliable starting point. [2] [1]
Jana might wait for a maker fill to obtain a lower fee, if her schedule offers one. Meanwhile, the price may rise or the purchase may never happen. CFA Institute therefore separates visible fees from other costs: the spread, or gap between buy and sell quotes, the trade’s own price impact, delay and non-execution. A meaningful comparison uses the same intended amount and starting moment. The lowest fee rate alone does not establish the best outcome. [4]
When Jana’s resting offer finds a counterparty, that fill has the maker role. It does not make her a professional market maker. Kraken describes how an order executes; CFA separately discusses dealers supplying liquidity by taking the other side of trades. One maker fill says nothing about continuously quoting both purchases and sales or being committed to quote in difficult conditions. Similar words here describe activities of different scope. [1] [4]
Jana finally checks what she actually bought. Coinbase Exchange distinguishes order acceptance from execution and assesses actual fees at the trade. In the history, she compares quantities, individual execution prices, applied rates and fee currency. She also checks the unfilled remainder. Funds temporarily held for an order are not the same as a paid fee, and an estimated preview is not the final bill. [3]
Two purchase portions, two rates
In this purely hypothetical example, Jana’s order eventually fills completely. She buys 0.01 BTC immediately as taker and 0.02 BTC later as maker, both at 100000 USD/BTC. Assume fictional rates of 0.2 % and 0.1 %. The first portion is worth 1000 USD with a fee of 2 USD; the second is worth 2000 USD with a fee also of 2 USD. The total is therefore 2 + 2 = 4 USD. Equal dollar fees here result from different amounts and rates. This is neither a current fee schedule nor a promise of later execution; it leaves out the spread, price movement, rounding and other costs.
For the clearest picture, read this entry together with Limit order, Market order, Post-only order, Order book, Market maker, Bid–ask spread. The reverse links also lead from Market microstructure, Stop-limit order, Post-only order.
01Is every Limit order a maker?+
No. If its price allows an immediate trade with a waiting offer, that fill can be taker. Under the applicable rules, the unfilled remainder may then rest on the book and gain the maker role in a later trade. Actual matching matters, not just the order’s name.
02Does maker mean a free or profitable trade?+
No. The applicable fee depends on the specific schedule, product and account tier. A lower fee, or even a rebate, may not offset a worse price, market movement or an incomplete purchase. The fee role does not guarantee the result.