What this worksheet is for
This page used to rank categories by volume and liquidity. Those rankings had no point-in-time order-book evidence behind them, so we removed them. What replaces them is a worksheet you fill in yourself for one contract, at one moment. It is independent guidance, not an official Kalshi tool, and not a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Nothing here sends requests, places orders, or collects what you write down. Sources reviewed October 27, 2026. For the vocabulary (tick size, notional, slippage, CLOB), see our prediction market glossary.
Why volume is not current depth
Volume counts contracts that already traded. Depth is the quantity resting in the book at each price right now. A market can show large past volume and still have little resting at the price you want, and a busy category does not tell you about any one market's book. Kalshi's help center describes the order book as the resting orders available on a market, with a quantity at each price (The Orderbook). Those orders can change or be canceled at any time, so a reading is only true when you take it.
Reading bids and asks
In the app, the order book can be switched between a bids view and an asks view (Kalshi help, The Orderbook). The API is different: Kalshi's orderbook response docs return YES bids and NO bids only. For a plain binary market, those docs explain that a YES ask equals $1.00 minus the best NO bid, and a NO ask equals $1.00 minus the best YES bid. Write down which view you read, and which side (YES or NO) your figures refer to.
Contract evaluation worksheet
Fill in one row per field for each contract you check, and write down the UTC time you read it. Leave a field blank or write "unknown" if you could not see it; never treat it as zero. An empty book side means nothing is resting there at that moment, not that you can trade at some default price.
Scroll the table sideways if needed.
| Field | What to record (unknown stays unknown) |
|---|---|
| Market, ticker, outcome, rules | The market title, ticker, the exact outcome the contract pays on, and a link to its rules, including the resolution source. |
| Displayed UTC time | The time you read the book, converted to UTC. Every figure below belongs to this moment only. |
| Market state | Active, paused (inactive), closed, determined, or finalized, as shown at that time. Write "unknown" if you could not see it. |
| Side | Exactly YES or NO, and whether you mean buying or selling that side. |
| Bids and asks with quantity | Each displayed price with the quantity available at it, for the side you mean. Note whether you read the bids view or the asks view. |
| Intended quantity | How many contracts you are evaluating. Compare this with the quantity at each price. |
| Snapshot cost and weighted average | Sum of price times quantity at each level needed to reach your quantity, then divide by the quantity. If the displayed depth is less than your quantity, write how much is missing rather than assuming the rest fills. |
| Fees (separate) | Record fees on their own line, from the current official fee schedule and the order preview. Do not fold them into the snapshot cost. Use our fee worksheet for the per-leg arithmetic. |
| Order, fill, and cancellation status | After any order: resting, partially filled, executed, or canceled, as shown in your official account. A canceled order can still have earlier fills. |
| Resolution, close, and settlement | Resolution source, close time, and when determination and settlement are expected. Close time is not the same as determination or final settlement. |
| Eligibility | Verified or unknown, for your account, location, and this market. Do not fill this in by assumption. |
Worked hypothetical book
This book is invented for illustration. It is not a live quote, not a forecast, and not a recommendation. Suppose the YES side shows asks of 40 contracts at $0.50 and 60 contracts at $0.54, and a YES bid of 100 contracts at $0.48. You are evaluating buying 100 YES.
- Snapshot cost: 40 × $0.50 = $20.00, plus 60 × $0.54 = $32.40, total $52.40.
- Weighted average: $52.40 ÷ 100 = $0.524 per contract.
- Best quoted spread: $0.50 best ask − $0.48 best bid = $0.02.
- Walking the book: 100 at $0.50 would be $50.00, so reaching 100 contracts adds $52.40 − $50.00 = $2.40 in this snapshot.
- Immediate hypothetical sale: 100 × $0.48 = $48.00, an illustrative gap of $52.40 − $48.00 = $4.40 before fees.
- None of this is guaranteed. The 100 contracts may not be there a moment later, orders can change or be canceled, and there is no assurance you could sell at $0.48 or at all. Fees come on top and are checked separately.
Quick orders and limit orders
Kalshi's help center says a quick (market) order buys at the best available price and can span several prices when the best level is too small, showing an average price in the order panel (Quick Orders). A limit order sets the most you will pay, and Kalshi notes there is no guarantee it fills (Limit Orders). A limit price caps your price; it does not secure a fill. Not every limit order is fee-free as a maker: older help articles describe conditional maker exceptions, and the current official fee schedule is what applies.
Market state and timing
Kalshi's market lifecycle docs list states including active, inactive (trading paused, not closed), closed (no new orders), determined, disputed, amended, and finalized. Per those docs, once close time passes, order operations including cancellations are rejected, and close time can move earlier for some markets. Reactivating a paused market cancels resting orders. Determination and final settlement happen after close and may involve a dispute window. Check the current lifecycle docs rather than relying on this summary.
If an order outcome is uncertain
Do not resubmit. Check Orders and fills in your official account first, and follow our decision checklist. For product, account, and jurisdiction checks, see how Kalshi works.
Sources reviewed October 27, 2026
Kalshi Help Center: The Orderbook; Kalshi Help Center: Quick Orders; Kalshi Help Center: Limit Orders; Kalshi API docs: Orderbook Responses; Kalshi API docs: Market Lifecycle; Kalshi fee schedule. The official pages take precedence over this summary.