Bot trading · Execution · Updated July 2026
Post-only / maker-only strategy: cut trading fees to near-zero
The cheapest basis point in trading is the one you never pay. A post-only order refuses to cross the spread, so it can only ever add liquidity — which means you pay the maker fee instead of the taker fee, and at the right tier the exchange can even pay you. It isn't free money: you trade certainty of fill for cost. Here's exactly how the flag works on Binance and OKX, the worked cost comparison, which strategies it suits, and how a fee rebate stacks on the maker legs you still pay.
The short version
- Post-only = maker guaranteed. If the order would fill immediately (taker), the exchange rejects/repositions it instead. You never pay the taker fee.
- Maker is roughly half of taker — and can be negative at high tiers. On futures that's ~0.02% maker vs ~0.05% taker.
- The cost is fill risk. You only trade if the market comes to you. That's fine for patient strategies, wrong for anything that must execute now.
- Rebate stacks on top. Whatever maker fee you do pay, a rebate returns up to 40% of it.
How the post-only flag works
Every fill is either a maker (you posted a resting limit order and someone else hit it — you added liquidity) or a taker (you crossed the spread and removed liquidity that was already there). Taker is the expensive side of the book because you're paying for immediacy.
A post-only order (also called maker-only) is a limit order with one rule bolted on: if any portion would execute on placement, don't fill it — reject it or slide it to the top of the book instead. The consequence is absolute: a post-only order can never be a taker fill. On Binance and OKX it's a checkbox in the order ticket and a single flag in the API (timeInForce/order-type parameter). Set it, and you have mathematically removed the taker fee from that order.
The cost comparison: taker vs post-only maker
Take a bot doing a round trip on USDT-M futures at standard tier. Compare all-taker execution against all-maker (post-only) execution:
| Execution | Entry | Exit | Round-trip fee | vs taker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Both legs taker (market) | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.100% | — |
| One leg maker, one taker | 0.02% | 0.05% | 0.070% | −30% |
| Both legs post-only maker | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.040% | −60% |
| Both maker + 40% rebate | 0.012% | 0.012% | 0.024% | −76% |
Going fully post-only cuts the round-trip fee by 60% before any rebate. Add a rebate on the maker legs and you're at roughly a quarter of the all-taker cost. On a book that turns over $10M a month, moving from all-taker (0.10%) to post-only-plus-rebate (0.024%) is the difference between about $120,000 and $28,800 a year in fees — roughly $91k saved, with no change to the underlying signal.
The trade-off: fill risk is real
Post-only isn't free — you pay for the saved fee in execution uncertainty:
- You might not fill at all. If the market never trades back to your price, the order sits and expires.
- Partial fills. Only part of your size may get hit, leaving you with unwanted exposure or an incomplete position.
- Adverse selection. Resting orders tend to fill when the market is moving against you — the fills you get are slightly worse than random.
For a strategy where a missed fill costs more than the taker fee saved — momentum entries, stop-outs, latency arbitrage — post-only is the wrong tool. Use it where you can be patient.
Which strategies suit maker-only
| Strategy | Post-only fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Grid bots | Excellent | Every grid level is a resting limit order by design — post-only is native |
| Market making | Excellent | The whole business is posting liquidity; taker fills are the exception |
| Mean reversion | Good | You want to buy weakness / sell strength — patience is the edge |
| DCA / accumulation | Good | No urgency; post below mid and let fills come |
| Momentum / breakout | Poor | Must execute now; a missed fill misses the move |
| Latency arbitrage | Poor | The gap closes in milliseconds; you have to take |
The discipline is per-order, not per-strategy: even a mostly-taker book usually has some legs — the non-urgent ones — that can be posted maker. Grid bots get this for free, which is why the grid bot fee optimization playbook leans so hard on maker share.
Where the rebate fits
Post-only handles the fees you can choose to avoid. A rebate handles the fees you can't:
- Patient legs → post-only. Pay the maker fee, not the taker fee. Cost cut ~60% on those fills.
- Urgent legs → rebate. The taker fills a fast strategy must cross still get up to 40% back, weekly in USDT.
- Maker legs → rebate too. The rebate applies to whatever fee you pay, so even your post-only maker fee shrinks further.
Post-only is code; the rebate is an account setting that requires no code change and no strategy risk. Together they attack the fee from both ends. See the mechanism on the OKX rebate and Binance rebate pages, and the broader logic in our maker vs taker breakdown. If you run a self-hosted bot, the API-key rebate guide shows how to attach one to your own keys — and once you've cut cost this far, our note on how fees destroy backtest returns shows how much net edge you just recovered.
Setup checklist
- Identify which orders are time-critical (must take) vs patient (can post).
- Set the post-only flag on the patient legs — UI checkbox or API order-type parameter.
- Handle rejections: your bot must expect post-only orders to bounce and re-post, not crash.
- Monitor your maker/taker fill ratio — it's the KPI that proves the strategy is working.
- Attach a rebate so both maker and unavoidable taker fees shrink further.
- Check whether your tier shows a negative maker rate — if so, post-only literally pays you.
Frequently asked questions
What does a post-only order actually do?+
How much cheaper is maker than taker?+
What is the downside of a maker-only strategy?+
Can I combine post-only with a fee rebate?+
Does post-only guarantee a maker rebate?+
Stack a rebate on your maker legs
Post-only cuts the fee you can avoid; a rebate cuts the rest — up to 40% back on every fill, maker or taker, settled weekly in USDT. No code change, no strategy risk, fully reconcilable.
Disclaimer: Fee schedules, maker/taker rates and rebate percentages reflect published rates at the time of writing and may change without notice. Examples are illustrative; your real costs depend on venue, product, VIP/market-maker tier, fill ratio and slippage. Negative maker fees require qualifying tiers and are not guaranteed. This article is educational and not investment advice. JackTrader is an independent referral / sub-broker partner and is not Binance or OKX. Single-tier referrals only, no downline or multi-level structure.