What is the cheapest ordinals marketplace?

Headline taker fees range roughly 1% – 2.7% in 2026. OKX and Unisat sit at the low end (~1%); Magic Eden is around 2%; Gamma is around 2.5%; Ordinals Wallet is 2.7% (with a 1,000-sat minimum). But the cheapest total cost depends on the royalty rate of the specific collection, the marketplace’s royalty enforcement, and the Bitcoin network fee at the moment you settle. Low-fee venues can still cost more on a small trade if the PSBT they construct uses more virtual bytes.

Are listing and cancellation fees real?

On every major non-custodial venue, listings and cancellations are off-chain signatures with no fee. You only pay a Bitcoin network fee when a trade actually settles. Any platform that charges to list or cancel is doing something unusual — check whether it’s custodial.

Who pays the network fee?

The buyer typically pays the entire Bitcoin network fee because they’re the one finalizing and broadcasting the transaction. Some marketplaces let the seller subsidize part of it for visibility.

How are royalties actually enforced?

Each marketplace adds a royalty output to the settlement PSBT, paying the configured percentage to the creator address. Because enforcement is off-chain, different marketplaces honor royalties differently — Magic Eden made them opt-in for creators, while Ordinals Wallet, Gamma, OKX, and Unisat honor them by default.

Why is the network fee sometimes higher than the marketplace fee?

Bitcoin network fees vary with mempool congestion. On a quiet day, a trade settles for a few thousand sats; on a busy day during a Runes mint or BRC-20 frenzy, the same trade can cost 100,000+ sats. For a small-value inscription, the network fee can easily exceed the marketplace fee.

How do aggregator fees stack up?

Aggregators (like Magic Eden’s BTC aggregator) typically charge their own taker fee on top of the underlying marketplace’s. The trade settles on the underlying venue, so you pay both — useful for sweeping across venues, expensive for single-listing buys.

Bitcoin Ordinals Guide

Ordinals Marketplace Fees Compared (2026)

Last updated May 12, 2026

TL;DR

Marketplace taker fees in 2026 sit roughly between 1% and 2.7%. Royalties (off-chain enforced) add another 0 – 5% depending on the collection and the venue. The Bitcoin network fee is the volatile component — at high mempool congestion it can dwarf the marketplace fee on a small trade. The cheapest place to settle a given trade depends on all three together, not just the headline percentage.

The four components of a trade cost

Marketplace taker fee. Charged to the buyer when a listing is filled. Usually a percentage of the trade price.
Marketplace maker fee.Charged to the seller. Most non-custodial venues don't take one because a listing is just a signature.
Royalty. Paid to the original creator, configured per collection, enforced off-chain by the marketplace.
Bitcoin network fee. Paid in sats/vB to miners. Variable with mempool congestion.

Headline fees across the major venues

Approximate figures as of May 2026 — verify on the marketplace before trading. Fees change.

Marketplace	Taker fee	Maker fee	Royalty
Ordinals Wallet	2.7% (min 1,000 sats)	None	4.2% if creator set
Magic Eden	~2%	None	Opt-in for creators
Gamma	~2.5%	None	Honored
OKX	~1%	None	Honored
Unisat	~1%	None	Honored
Magisat	Varies	None	Honored

Royalties: enforcement is off-chain

Royalties on Bitcoin Ordinals are not a protocol-level feature. The marketplace constructs the settlement PSBT with an extra output paying the configured percentage to the creator's address. If a marketplace chooses not to add that output, the royalty doesn't get paid. Magic Eden moved royalties to opt-in for creators, which makes BTC trading cheaper for buyers but reduces creator revenue. Ordinals Wallet, Gamma, OKX, and Unisat honor royalties by default.

Bitcoin network fees: the variable wildcard

A typical PSBT-settled ordinals trade weighs 200 – 300 virtual bytes. At a calm 20 sats/vB, that's 4,000 – 6,000 sats per trade — under a dollar at $80k BTC. At 300 sats/vB during heavy demand, the same trade costs 60,000 – 90,000 sats, easily $50+. For a $200 inscription, that network fee outweighs the entire marketplace and royalty stack.

The takeaway: check the current sats/vB before trading low-value items. The mempool fee strip in the Ordinals Wallet footer is one place to watch.

Hidden costs to watch for

Failed sweeps.When a buyer tries to sweep multiple listings, some may have been bought by other parties mid-flight. The portion that doesn't fill still costs the proportional network fee.
RBF replacements. If you bump a stuck transaction with replace-by-fee, the cost is the higher fee, not the sum.
Aggregator markups.Sweeping through an aggregator adds its taker fee on top of the underlying marketplace's.
Cross-listing rebroadcasts. If you cancel a stale listing and re-list at a new price, no on-chain transaction is needed on a non-custodial venue. Any platform that requires one is doing something custodial.

Worked example — Ordinals Wallet

A $1,000 listing at 50 sats/vB (roughly $4 of network fee). On Ordinals Wallet, the marketplace fee (2.7%) and the creator royalty (4.2%, when the collection has a registered creator) are both deducted from the listing price— they come out of the seller's proceeds, not added on top of the buyer's payment.

Collection with a registered creator:

Seller receives: $1,000 − $27 (2.7% market fee) − $42 (4.2% royalty) = $931, or 93.1% of the listed price.
Buyer pays: $1,000 listing price + ~$4 Bitcoin network fee = ~$1,004.

Collection without a registered creator:

Seller receives: $1,000 − $27 (2.7% market fee) = $973, or 97.3% of the listed price.
Buyer pays: $1,000 + ~$4 network = ~$1,004.

Other venues structure the split differently — some add the marketplace fee on top of the buyer's payment, some deduct it from the seller, some let creators opt in or out of royalties. Check each marketplace's docs for the exact mechanics before trading. The headline percentages in the table above are the marketplace's cut on either side.

Frequently asked questions

What is the cheapest ordinals marketplace?: Headline taker fees range roughly 1% – 2.7% in 2026. OKX and Unisat sit at the low end (~1%); Magic Eden is around 2%; Gamma is around 2.5%; Ordinals Wallet is 2.7% (with a 1,000-sat minimum). But the cheapest total cost depends on the royalty rate of the specific collection, the marketplace’s royalty enforcement, and the Bitcoin network fee at the moment you settle. Low-fee venues can still cost more on a small trade if the PSBT they construct uses more virtual bytes.
Are listing and cancellation fees real?: On every major non-custodial venue, listings and cancellations are off-chain signatures with no fee. You only pay a Bitcoin network fee when a trade actually settles. Any platform that charges to list or cancel is doing something unusual — check whether it’s custodial.
Who pays the network fee?: The buyer typically pays the entire Bitcoin network fee because they’re the one finalizing and broadcasting the transaction. Some marketplaces let the seller subsidize part of it for visibility.
How are royalties actually enforced?: Each marketplace adds a royalty output to the settlement PSBT, paying the configured percentage to the creator address. Because enforcement is off-chain, different marketplaces honor royalties differently — Magic Eden made them opt-in for creators, while Ordinals Wallet, Gamma, OKX, and Unisat honor them by default.
Why is the network fee sometimes higher than the marketplace fee?: Bitcoin network fees vary with mempool congestion. On a quiet day, a trade settles for a few thousand sats; on a busy day during a Runes mint or BRC-20 frenzy, the same trade can cost 100,000+ sats. For a small-value inscription, the network fee can easily exceed the marketplace fee.
How do aggregator fees stack up?: Aggregators (like Magic Eden’s BTC aggregator) typically charge their own taker fee on top of the underlying marketplace’s. The trade settles on the underlying venue, so you pay both — useful for sweeping across venues, expensive for single-listing buys.