Kalshi and Polymarket are the two prediction markets with real CS2 volume. Both sell yes/no contracts that settle at $1 or $0, and both run order books where users trade against each other. The differences that matter are who is allowed in, what you pay per trade, and what happens to your money when a match does not go ahead. Polymarket is really two products here, the international crypto site and the US app, so this page covers three venues.
At a glance
| Kalshi | Polymarket | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can sign up | US residents plus many other countries, with ID checks | Intl site: not US, UK, FR and others. US: Polymarket US app |
| US regulator | CFTC (exchange since 2020) | Polymarket US: CFTC. Intl site: not CFTC |
| Taker fee | 0.07 x C x p x (1 - p), rounded up | Intl: 0.05 x C x p x (1 - p). US: 0.0695 |
| Maker fee | None on CS2 contracts | Intl: none. US: rebate |
| Match canceled | Last fair price | Intl: 50-50. US: last fair price |
| Postponement window | 48 hours | Intl: 14 days on current markets |
| Funding | US: bank, card, more. Intl: card, wire, crypto | Intl: crypto. US: card, bank, PayPal, more |
C is the number of contracts and p the price in dollars. The fee formulas are for takers, meaning orders that fill immediately against the book.
Who can use each
- Kalshi serves US residents and, since opening to international users, people in many other countries. Eligibility depends on the Kalshi member agreement, which lists the restricted countries. Everyone goes through identity verification and confirms their country of residence at sign-up.
- Polymarket's international site blocks the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and others, along with Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. In Singapore, Poland, Thailand and Taiwan it is close-only, so you can exit positions but not open them. Its help center says using a VPN to bypass the block violates the terms.
- Polymarket US is for US residents. You sign up with a Google or Apple account, then give your legal name, address, date of birth and Social Security number for identity checks before you can deposit.
Kalshi and Polymarket US also bar people connected to an event, such as players, staff and anyone with inside information, from trading on it.
Regulation
Kalshi has been a CFTC designated contract market since November 2020. Polymarket US runs as a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearing house, built on QCEX, an exchange Polymarket bought in July 2025. It launched to a waitlist in December 2025 and opened to all US users in May 2026. Polymarket's international site is a separate crypto product that is not part of that US framework.
Federal regulation does not end the argument with the states. Several state gaming regulators say sports event contracts, which on these exchanges include esports, are unlicensed sports betting. The federal appeals courts have split: the Third Circuit sided with Kalshi against New Jersey in April 2026, while the Ninth Circuit (Nevada, August 2026) and the Sixth Circuit (Ohio and Tennessee, September 25, 2026) sided with the states. New Jersey has asked the Supreme Court to take the case. If you are in the US, check that your state is supported in the app before depositing, and expect this to keep changing.
Fees compared
All three use the same shape of formula: a coefficient x contracts x price x (1 − price).
- Polymarket international: 0.05 on CS2, which Polymarket files under sports. Makers pay nothing and share in a rebate pool.
- Polymarket US: 0.0695 for takers since October 1, 2026, and makers receive a rebate of 0.0125 x contracts x price x (1 − price). Takers above $250,000 of monthly volume get part of their fees back.
- Kalshi: 0.07 for takers, rounded up to the next cent. Kalshi's CS2 series carry the standard multiplier of 1 and no maker fee at the time of writing; the exact fee shows in the order ticket before you confirm.
Here is what each charges on 100 contracts bought at 60¢, a $60 position paying $100 if it wins:
| Venue and order type | Fee | Odds after fee |
|---|---|---|
| Polymarket intl, taker | $1.20 | 1.63 |
| Polymarket US, taker | $1.67 | 1.62 |
| Kalshi, taker | $1.68 | 1.62 |
| Any of the three, filled limit order | $0 or a rebate | 1.67 or better |
The working: 0.05 x 100 x 0.60 x 0.40 = $1.20, so $61.20 for $100, or odds of 1.63. Kalshi's 0.07 gives $1.68 and odds of 1.62; Polymarket US's 0.0695 gives $1.67 and also 1.62. A filled limit order costs nothing on the international site and on Kalshi's CS2 contracts (odds 1.67), and earns a $0.30 rebate on Polymarket US.
Two details change the picture on small orders and thin markets. Kalshi rounds up, so a single contract at 60¢ pays $0.02, not $0.0168, which is a higher rate than on 100. And the gap between the three fees, about half a cent per contract at most, is smaller than the spread on most CS2 markets. Compare the ask on each venue before you compare fees.
How CS2 markets settle
This is where the venues differ most, and it decides what you get back when a match is canceled, postponed or forfeited.
Kalshi
- Sources: the tournament organizer first, then the official stats provider, the official broadcast, Liquipedia and HLTV, in that order.
- Postponed: if the match does not start within 48 hours of its original start, the contract settles at the last fair price set by the exchange.
- Canceled or forfeited before play: last fair price. If the match starts and is then forfeited, it settles on the organizer's official result.
- Timing: settlement is no later than the day after the contract expires, unless the outcome is under review.
Polymarket international
- Source: HLTV, with credible reporting as a fallback if HLTV has not posted within two hours.
- Canceled, tied, forfeited before play, or not rescheduled within 14 days: resolves 50-50, so every share pays $0.50 whichever side you hold.
- Process: a result is proposed through UMA's optimistic oracle with a two-hour challenge window. A disputed result goes to a vote of UMA token holders and can take several days.
Polymarket US
The US exchange settles on official results. Its sports FAQ says contracts with no official result settle at the last fair market price, typically measured at the moment of an announcement such as a cancellation or walkover. That is the prevailing fair price on the exchange, not the last trade, so trades placed after the news do not change it. Read the rules on each CS2 contract in the app.
The practical difference: on Polymarket's international site, a favorite bought at 80¢ is worth only 50¢ if the match is called off. On Kalshi or Polymarket US it settles near where it was trading. Our Polymarket CS2 guide walks through the 50-50 rules in more detail.
Coverage and liquidity
Both venues list far more than tier-one CS2. On any given day you will find ESL Pro League and other top events next to regional qualifiers and academy leagues.
- Kalshi has separate CS2 series for match winners, map winners, map spreads, total maps and tournament winners. In the week of June 1 to 7, 2026, during the IEM Cologne Major, Kalshi's CS2 markets traded about $23.7 million, roughly two thirds of its $36.2 million esports volume that week.
- Polymarket bundles the match winner, map winners, map handicap, total maps and round totals into one event page for bigger matches. One analysis put CS2 at about $431 million of volume across 455 matches in the 365 days to July 30, 2026, or about $947,000 per match. Polymarket's esports volume across all titles reached about $790 million in July 2026.
Those numbers come from different windows and methods, so do not read them as a head-to-head ranking. What matters on the day is the order book for your match. Tier-one matches usually show spreads of a few cents on both venues. Qualifiers can show spreads of 30¢ or more, or no real book at all, and the quoted price there tells you little.
Deposits and withdrawals
- Kalshi, US users: bank transfer, wire, debit card and other methods. Kalshi does not charge for bank or wire deposits; debit card deposits can carry a 2% processing fee, with a $10 minimum.
- Kalshi, international users: debit card (Visa or Mastercard), wire transfer with a $1,000 minimum, or crypto. ACH, PayPal and Venmo are not available.
- Polymarket international: you send crypto from a supported network and your balance is held as pUSD, a token backed by USDC on Polygon. Polymarket charges no deposit or withdrawal fee, although the exchange or wallet you use may.
- Polymarket US: debit card, bank transfer, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, wire or USDC, all in your own name. Card deposits are limited to $25,000 per transaction and $50,000 per day. Withdrawals are free.
Which to use
- You are in the US: Kalshi or Polymarket US. Taker fees are almost identical, so compare the price on the match you want, and check your state.
- You are outside the US and Polymarket is available to you: the international site has the lowest taker fee and deep CS2 books, but accept the 50-50 rule on canceled matches and the crypto funding.
- Polymarket blocks your country: check whether Kalshi accepts it before signing up anywhere. Do not use a VPN.
If one of them fits, you can open a Kalshi account or open a Polymarket account. Lower fees do not make a trade profitable on their own. Our picks come from SkinBetHub's proprietary signal model, built on prediction-market data, are posted with their odds before the match starts, are graded at a flat 1 unit, and every result stays on the results page. To compare either venue with a bookmaker line, see Polymarket vs sportsbook for CS2 and the Polymarket odds converter.