PolyTerminal
What a terminal is
Polymarket publishes its market data and its order endpoints, and any developer can build an interface on top of them. A trading terminal is such an interface, usually aimed at people who trade often: it adds its own screens and tools for trading, and it may combine different products, as PolyTerminal does with Perps and prediction markets.
What a terminal does not do is run its own market. The order you send is matched on Polymarket's order book and settles under Polymarket's rules, and the fees, resolution process, limits and restrictions described in the other guides on this site apply to you however you place the order.
What changes when a third party sends your orders
Four things change, and they are worth understanding before you compare screens.
Who signs your orders. On prediction markets, Polymarket accounts use smart wallets. A Deposit Wallet is the default smart wallet for trading on Polymarket, and it applies to account wallets deployed from May 4, 2026. Older accounts use legacy proxy or Safe wallets. For a Deposit Wallet, the owner can authorize a separate signer that has scoped, time-limited trading access, which is one way to let an application trade without handing over the owner key. On Perps, a Perps account is tied to a signer account, which controls private actions such as trading and withdrawals. How a given interface connects to your wallet, and what it can do with it, is the most important thing to learn about it.
What it costs. On prediction markets, an interface that routes orders to Polymarket can take part in the Builder Program: it attaches a builder code to each order, and the code is part of the signed order. Builders set their own fees as flat percentages of the trade value, and they stack on top of platform fees and never replace them. Polymarket caps the rate at 1% for takers and 0.5% for makers, and the rates are publicly queryable, so you can see what an interface charges before you use it. The fee guide has the details.
Where you may trade. Restrictions follow you, not the interface. For Perps, Polymarket's documentation says that orders cannot be placed from the United States, Canada, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, that the list can change and other restrictions may apply, and that builders are responsible for verifying user location before submitting orders. For prediction markets, a separate documentation page lists restricted places under a complete block, where users can neither open nor close positions, or close-only rules, where users can close existing positions but cannot open new ones. An interface cannot give you access that the rules do not give you.
What you can see. Prices, books and resolution details come from Polymarket's data, but an interface chooses how to show them and how often to refresh them. A screen that lags, or hides the rules of a market, can cost you money even when the underlying market is fine.
A checklist before you connect a wallet
| Question | Why it matters | What a good answer looks like |
|---|---|---|
| How are my orders signed, and who can move my funds? | The permissions you grant decide the worst case | A plain description of the signer, whether limited access such as a session key is used, and how to revoke it |
| What does it charge on top of Polymarket's fees? | Builder fees stack on top of platform fees | A plain statement of whether a builder fee applies and where its rate can be checked, since Polymarket says builder fee rates are publicly queryable |
| Which markets and order types does it support? | A missing order type changes how you can exit | A list that includes limit and market orders, post-only and reduce-only where the market allows them |
| Where do prices come from, and how fresh are they? | Stale quotes lead to bad fills | A named data source and a visible sign when data is delayed or reconnecting |
| Does it show a market's rules before I trade? | The rules, not the title, decide the result | The resolution source and the end time on the order screen |
| How does it handle regions where trading is restricted? | The restriction applies to you | A plain statement that it is not available in all regions, and which location check it uses |
| What happens when Polymarket changes a rule? | Rules change often, and a lagging interface misleads | Pages and tools that carry the date they were checked against the official documentation |
| Can I leave easily? | Where your money sits depends on the product, as the FAQ below explains | A clear way to close positions and to withdraw, and the freedom to use Polymarket directly |
None of these questions has a single right answer for everyone. They tell you what you are accepting.
How to compare interfaces fairly
Pick one market you know well and look at the same order on each interface: the price it shows, the fees it adds, the rules it displays and the way it confirms the order. Read how each interface describes what you are asked to sign and what it charges, and look for a person you can write to. Compare any builder fee it states with the limits in Polymarket's documentation, instead of relying on a single sentence on a landing page. And look at how an interface behaves when something goes wrong: a rejected order, a lost connection, a market that is resolving.
Where PolyTerminal stands on these questions
PolyTerminal is an independent interface for Polymarket Perps and Predict, on the web and on the phone. It is not operated or endorsed by Polymarket.
- Cost. PolyTerminal is free to use. Orders placed through PolyTerminal carry PolyTerminal's Polymarket builder code, and PolyTerminal may charge a builder fee on top of Polymarket's own fees.
- Markets. The Perps tab lists every market that Polymarket lists, each with its own maximum leverage. Predict covers crypto markets from 5 minutes to a year in four event types: Up/Down, Above/Below, Price Range and Hit Price. The order form for Predict takes an amount in pUSD with limit and market order types and previews the average cost, the total payout and the profit.
- Rules and dates. The guides and calculators on this site carry the day they were checked against the official documentation, and a weekly check re-reads the sources. The editorial policy describes how.
- Regions. PolyTerminal uses Polymarket's official geoblock check and is not available in all regions.
- Sign-in. You sign in and connect a crypto wallet through Privy, and any crypto wallet can be used. If a point on the checklist is not answered here, write to support@poly-terminal.com before you connect one, and ask the same questions of every interface you consider.
FAQ
Do orders from a third-party terminal go to a different market?
No. An interface sends your order to Polymarket, where it is matched against the same order book as orders placed on Polymarket's own website. The fees, resolution rules and restrictions that Polymarket publishes apply in the same way.
Where are my funds when I trade through a terminal?
That depends on the product. On prediction markets, Polymarket's documentation says that assets are held in your wallet. On Perps, you move margin from your Polymarket wallet into a Perps account: the Perps documentation says that deposits move pUSD from your Polymarket wallet into the Perps account. In both cases, what an interface can do depends on the permissions you give it, so read what you are asked to approve and how to revoke it.
Do I pay more through a terminal?
You may. On prediction markets, an interface that takes part in the Builder Program can add a builder fee on top of Polymarket's own fees. The fee is a percentage of the trade value, Polymarket caps it, and Polymarket's documentation says the rates are publicly queryable. Ask any interface whether it charges one and where you can check the rate.
Does a terminal change where I can trade?
No. Restrictions apply to order placement and follow the person placing the order, not the interface. Polymarket lists its restricted places in its documentation, separately for Perps and for prediction markets, and says that the Perps list can change. PolyTerminal uses Polymarket's official geoblock check and is not available in all regions. Check the rules that apply where you live before you trade.
Sources and checks
Every rule quoted in this article comes from the registry below. Each row names the official page and the day it was compared with the text.
All 15 rules used in this article
| Rule | Value | Official source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallet type for new Polymarket accounts | the default smart wallet for trading on Polymarket | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Deposit wallets apply to accounts created from | May 4, 2026 | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| What a session key gives a separate signer | scoped, time-limited trading access | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| What a Perps account is tied to | a Perps account is tied to a signer account, which controls private actions such as trading and withdrawals | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Where the builder code sits | is part of the signed order | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| How builder fees combine with platform fees | they stack on top of platform fees and never replace them | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Highest builder fee on taker orders (prediction markets) | 1% | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Highest builder fee on maker orders (prediction markets) | 0.5% | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Builder fee rates | are publicly queryable | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Countries where Perps orders cannot be placed | the United States, Canada, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| The Perps list of restricted places can change | the list can change and other restrictions may apply | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Who checks where a Perps user is | builders are responsible for verifying user location before submitting orders | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| How restrictions on prediction markets are grouped | a complete block, where users can neither open nor close positions, or close-only rules, where users can close existing positions but cannot open new ones | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| Where assets are held on prediction markets (Polymarket's description) | assets are held in your wallet | docs.polymarket.com/ | |
| How a Perps account is funded | deposits move pUSD from your Polymarket wallet into the Perps account | docs.polymarket.com/ |
Keep reading
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PolyTerminal is an independent interface for Polymarket and is not operated or endorsed by Polymarket. Orders placed through PolyTerminal carry PolyTerminal’s Polymarket builder code, and PolyTerminal may charge a builder fee on top of Polymarket’s own fees. This page is educational and is not investment advice. Rules were compared with the official documentation on Oct 19, 2026; check the source before you act on a number.