How are Binance fees calculated? Spot / futures rates + how to cut them
A lot of people watch only the price when buying and overlook that every single trade quietly pays a fee. This guide breaks down how Binance fees are calculated: how spot charges, how futures differ, and three concrete ways to actually save.
First, to be clear: this article is about Binance's fee rules. Those rules change as the exchange adjusts them, so the rates and discounts here are typical figures at the time of writing; before you actually trade, go by what your account's "fees" page shows. But the logic of the calculation doesn't change — understand the logic and you'll be able to work it out whatever the numbers do.
Fees are charged on trade value
The first misconception to fix: fees are not a flat amount per trade, but a percentage of that trade's value. For the same kind of order, buying $100 and buying $100,000 differ a thousandfold in fees.
And it's charged once on the buy and once on the sell. You pay once when you buy a BTC and again later when you sell it. So what you should really care about isn't "how much per trade" but "how much in total is taken on a round trip". Here's the math with concrete numbers.
Spot rate: what a $10,000 round trip actually costs
The standard spot rate (just buying and selling coins, no leverage) is around 0.1%. Let's work it out the most down-to-earth way:
| Action | Trade value | Rate | Fee on this step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy BTC | $10,000 | 0.1% | $10 |
| Later sell BTC | $10,000 | 0.1% | $10 |
| Round-trip total | — | — | $20 |
So a full round trip of buying and selling costs about $20 on $10,000. Doesn't sound like much, right? But if you're the kind who goes back and forth several times a day — say 5 round trips a day at $10,000 each — that's 5 × $20 = $100 a day, and over a month, thousands just in fees. That's why the more often you trade, the more the fees are worth squeezing. Here are three savers, ordered from smallest to biggest impact.
Why futures rates are different
Futures (the leveraged kind) have a separate fee system from spot, and it's usually lower than spot. The reason is that futures is itself a high-frequency, high-value market, so rates are set lower to make frequent trading worthwhile.
Futures rates also come in two prices: maker is cheaper, taker is more expensive. This maker/taker distinction exists in spot too, and it's the most overlooked piece of saving on fees — we wrote a dedicated guide to make it clear: what maker and taker orders are; read it and you'll see why being a maker is the better deal.
One reminder here: futures can magnify gains, and it can take your capital to zero in minutes, and you may lose all of your capital. While you're a beginner, get comfortable with spot first; don't touch leverage just to chase that slightly lower futures fee — it's not worth it.
Saver one: the BNB discount
BNB is Binance's own platform token. Binance offers a long-running perk: turn on "pay fees with BNB" in settings and your spot fees get a further discount (at the time of writing, commonly around 25% off; the exact ratio follows the current rules).
How to use it? Keep a small amount of BNB in your account as the discount balance, and when the system charges a fee it deducts from that BNB first and automatically applies the discount. Using the same example:
| Method | Fee on a $10,000 round trip |
|---|---|
| Without the BNB discount | about $20 |
| With the BNB discount (est. 25% off) | about $15 |
Five dollars saved per round trip looks small, but it applies automatically to every trade. Flip the switch in settings, keep a little BNB, and it keeps saving from then on. This one is almost zero-cost — worth turning on.
Saver two: be a maker more often
Still on spot: if you use a limit order to post a price that hasn't filled yet (providing liquidity to the market), the system counts you as a maker, with a lower rate; if you use a market order to instantly take someone's posted order, you're a taker, with a higher rate.
For a beginner, this means: when you're not in a hurry, posting a limit order and waiting to fill is cheaper than buying at market. Same trade, only the order type differs, and over time it adds up to real money. For exactly how to do it and how to reliably be the maker, see what maker and taker orders are: a must-know for saving on fees.
Saver three: enter an invite code at sign-up
This one is the easiest to miss, because there's only that ten-second window at sign-up to do it. In the "invite / referral code" field at sign-up, enter a valid code and you get a long-term fee discount, locked to your account, applying to every trade from then on.
The catch: this discount usually can't be added later. Once the account exists and the code wasn't entered, you've missed it. So have the code ready before signing up. The ones we use: Binance / OKX / Bitget / Bybit use GOD166, and Gate.io uses GATEOKKK (all in the right sidebar). For what invite codes and rebates actually are and how much they save, we explain it fully in what invite codes and rebates are.
Stack all three: code discount (set once at sign-up) + BNB discount (automatic) + being a maker (an ordering habit) — combined, the long-term saving is more than you'd think.
That day on Binance spot we bought about $100 worth of BTC at market, and the receipt showed the fee charged at the taker rate; we then sold with a limit order, and once it filled the receipt's rate was clearly lower than that market order. Same account, just a different order type, and the numbers diverged. We also kept a little BNB in the account, and the fee was indeed deducted from the BNB first, with the discount applied — those two habits together save enough fees in one active month to cover a few meals.
A few common questions
How much are Binance fees, really?
Standard spot is around 0.1%, charged once each on buy and sell, so about $20 round-trip on $10,000. Futures is lower, and maker is cheaper than taker. After the BNB discount and an invite code, what you pay is less.
How much does the BNB discount save?
Once on, spot fees get a further discount (commonly around 25% off, per current rules), provided you keep a little BNB as the discount balance.
If I didn't enter an invite code at sign-up, can I add it?
Basically no — the discount is locked in at the moment you register. Have the code ready beforehand; the Binance code we use is GOD166.
Want to understand the whole sign-up process first?
See: how to sign up for Binance: phone / email + identity verification, which walks you from sign-up to verification and entering the code.
Saving on fees starts at sign-up
The BNB discount and the maker habit can be added anytime, but the invite-code discount can only be claimed at sign-up — never after. If you're opening Binance, enter the code GOD166 at sign-up to lock in that long-term discount. The ones we use are in the right sidebar.
This is independent editorial content from Xiaoyumi Academy and contains exchange referral (affiliate) links: if you sign up and trade through our links, we may earn a commission and you get a matching fee discount — this is the site's only income and it doesn't shape our judgment. This site is not the official website of Binance, OKX, Bitget, Bybit or Gate.io. The rates and discount ratios here are typical figures at the time of writing; go by Binance's current official rules. Crypto prices are highly volatile and you can lose all of your capital, with leverage especially dangerous; this article is for educational reference only, is not investment advice, and you should decide for yourself in line with the laws of your region. If any figures are updated, you'll see it in the corrections log.