What is Maker / Taker?
A typical exchange consists of buyer and sellers. For example, anytime you place an order to buy crypto on Alpaca, there is someone else on the other side of the trade that is placing a sell order for you to take. What the seller is doing here is providing liquidity for the trade to take place (i.e. another user or a market maker), making it possible for you to buy crypto. A maker is someone who adds liquidity, and the order gets placed in the order book. Taker on the other hand removes the liquidity by placing a market order.
What is Alpaca’s Maker/Taker Fee Model?
| 30-Day Crypto Volume (USD) | Maker | Taker |
|---|---|---|
| 0 - 100,000 | 0.15% | 0.25% |
| 100,000 - 500,000 | 0.12% | 0.22% |
| 500,000 - 1,000,000 | 0.10% | 0.20% |
| 1,000,000 - 10,000,000 | 0.08% | 0.18% |
| 10,000,000 - 25,000,000 | 0.05% | 0.15% |
| 25,000,000 - 50,000,000 | 0.02% | 0.13% |
| 50,000,000 - 100,000,000 | 0.02% | 0.12% |
| 100,000,000+ | 0.00% | 0.10% |
This will be effective from March 13th 2023.
How Does my 30-Day Volume Get Calculated?
The amount Alpaca charges per trade is based on your total crypto trading volume of the past 30 days. Equities trading volume is not included in this calculation. For example if your trading volume for the past 30 days is $99,500 (all crypto buys and sells) then you would be charged based on the maker/taker fee for Tier 1. If you trade an additional $50, then any transaction starting the next trading day (as long as your 30-day trading volume doesn’t dip below $100,000) will be charged based on the maker/taker fee for Tier 2.
You can always find out your tier, and 30-day volume from the Dashboard.