Bybit order types compared: market, limit, Post-Only, Chase Limit and Iceberg
Checked on against six Bybit help pages. See the sources. Ahead is a Bybit affiliate: how we make money.
Short answer
On Bybit, a market order fills at once and pays the taker fee. A limit order pays the lower maker fee only when it waits in the order book. If it fills at once, it pays the taker fee too.
Post-Only and Chase Limit are two ways to make sure a limit order waits. An Iceberg Order splits a large order into smaller ones: it hides the size, it doesn’t lower the fee rate.
For a regular account on perpetual contracts, the taker fee is 0.055% and the maker fee is 0.02% of the order value.
On this page
The five order types at a glance
| Order type | What it does | Fee it pays | Fills straight away? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market | Buys or sells now, at the best available price | Taker | Yes |
| Limit | Sets the price you are willing to accept | Maker if it waits in the order book. Taker if it fills at once | Only if your price crosses the market |
| Limit with Post-Only | A limit order that is cancelled instead of filling at once | Maker | No. It waits, or it is cancelled |
| Chase Limit | A limit order that keeps moving to the best bid or ask | Maker. It is Post-Only by default | No. It waits at the best bid or ask |
| Iceberg | Splits a large order into smaller sub-orders and shows one at a time | Maker or taker, depending on the preference you pick | Depends on the preference |
What the same trade costs each way
Take $100 of margin at 20x, which is a $2,000 position on a perpetual contract.
| How the order is filled | One order | Open and close |
|---|---|---|
| Market order (taker, 0.055%) | $1.10 | $2.20 |
| Limit order that fills at once (taker, 0.055%) | $1.10 | $2.20 |
| Limit order that waits, Post-Only or Chase Limit (maker, 0.02%) | $0.40 | $0.80 |
Placed with limit orders that wait, the round trip costs $0.80 instead of $2.20, which is 64% less. Opening with a limit order that waits and closing with a market order costs $1.50.
To use your own margin and leverage, open the fee calculator.
Market order
A market order is executed immediately at the best available price.1 It takes orders that are already in the book, so it pays the taker fee.1
The price you get can differ from the price you saw. Bybit calls this slippage.1
Bybit has an optional setting, Slippage Tolerance, that caps how far the price may move. With it enabled, the market order behaves like a limit order, and anything beyond the tolerance is cancelled.5 With it disabled, Bybit says:
“your market order executes as a standard market order, without any restrictions on slippage.”
Limit order
A limit order sets the exact price at which you want to buy or sell.1 What it costs depends on what happens next.
- It waits in the order book and someone else fills it later. You are the maker, and Bybit says “A lower maker fee applies upon execution.”1
- Your price already crosses the market, so it is “filled immediately at the best available price, like a Market Order”, and a taker fee is charged.1
Bybit’s own comparison table says of the limit order:
“Not necessarily always executed as a Maker order”
Post-Only
Post-Only is an option on a Limit or Conditional Limit order. With it selected, Bybit cancels the order if it would be executed immediately, so it can’t be filled as a taker.4
Bybit’s example: a trader sends a buy at USD 9,000 while the best ask is 9,001, but by the time the order arrives the best ask has fallen to 8,995. Without Post-Only, the order fills at once and may pay the taker fee. With Post-Only, it is cancelled.4
The price of Post-Only is the trade you might miss. A cancelled order is no position.
Chase Limit Order
A Chase Limit Order is a limit order placed at the best bid or ask. It keeps adjusting its price as the market moves, until it is filled, cancelled or reaches a maximum chase distance.2
“All Chase Limit Orders are by default Post only orders to ensure execution as maker order.”
- You can chase the best bid or ask itself, or stay a fixed distance from it.2
- You can set a maximum chase distance. When it is reached, the order stops chasing and stays at its current price. It isn’t cancelled.2
- Bybit limits the chase distance to between 0.01% and 10% of the last traded price.2
- In a fast market, if the order is rejected five times because of the Post-Only condition, Bybit cancels it.2
- You can have one Chase Limit Order per symbol on each side, on up to 10 different symbols, and 20 open per account.2
What it saves you is retyping the price. What it can’t promise is a fill. If the market runs past your maximum distance, the order is left behind.
Iceberg Order
An Iceberg Order splits one large order into smaller sub-orders and shows the market one at a time. When a sub-order is filled, Bybit places the next.3
You choose how the sub-orders are priced, and that choice decides the fee.
| Order preference | Where sub-orders are placed | Fee it leads to |
|---|---|---|
| Chase Limit (Taker) | Buys at Ask 1, sells at Bid 1 | Taker |
| Chase Limit | Buys at Bid 1, sells at Ask 1 | Maker |
| Chase Limit (Offset) | A fixed distance from Ask 1 or Bid 1 | Maker if it waits |
| Fixed Prices | One price for every sub-order, like a limit order | Maker if it waits |
“Orders can be filled as Taker or Maker.”
- One Iceberg Order can be split into at most 200 sub-orders.3
- An account can run up to 10 Iceberg Orders, one per symbol.3
- After 7 days the strategy ends and anything unfilled is cancelled.3
- It isn’t available in Demo Trading.3
An iceberg is a tool for size. Bybit describes it as “Ideal for Market Makers”.3 On a small order it changes what the market sees, not the fee rate you pay.
On spot, the order type doesn’t change the fee
A regular account pays 0.1% on spot whether it is the maker or the taker.6 So on spot, a limit order changes the price you get, not the fee.
The spot maker discount starts at VIP 1, where the maker fee is 0.0675% and the taker fee is 0.08%.6
What each one is built for
| If you want to | Bybit’s tool | What you give up |
|---|---|---|
| Get in or out immediately | Market order | The lower fee, and control of the price |
| Name your price and wait | Limit order with Post-Only | Certainty. It may never fill |
| Stay at the best bid or ask without re-entering the price | Chase Limit Order | A fixed price. It follows the market up to your limit |
| Trade a large size without showing it | Iceberg Order | Speed. Sub-orders go in one at a time |
Other order types Bybit lists
Bybit’s overview also lists Conditional orders, Take Profit and Stop Loss, Trailing Stop, TWAP, Scaled orders, the time-in-force options GTC, IOC and FOK, Reduce-Only and Close On Trigger for derivatives, and One-Cancels-the-Other for spot.1
Those decide when or how an order is sent. The fee still comes down to whether each fill is a maker fill or a taker fill.
Questions people ask
Is a limit order always a maker order on Bybit?
No. A limit order that fills immediately is charged the taker fee. Bybit’s comparison table says a limit order is “Not necessarily always executed as a Maker order”.1
Does a Chase Limit Order pay the maker fee?
Bybit makes every Chase Limit Order Post-Only by default “to ensure execution as maker order”, so a fill is a maker fill.2 For a regular account on perpetual contracts the maker fee is 0.02%.6
What happens when a Chase Limit Order reaches its maximum chase distance?
It stops chasing and stays at its current price. It isn’t cancelled.2
Can an Iceberg Order be filled as a taker?
Yes. Bybit says “Orders can be filled as Taker or Maker.” With the Chase Limit (Taker) preference, buy sub-orders are placed at Ask 1 and sell sub-orders at Bid 1.3
Does the order type change the fee on Bybit spot?
Not for a regular account, which pays 0.1% as a maker and as a taker.6
Does Bybit protect market orders from slippage?
Only if Slippage Tolerance is enabled. With it disabled, Bybit says a market order executes “without any restrictions on slippage”.5
What we couldn’t confirm
- Which markets support Chase Limit Orders. Bybit’s page doesn’t list them. Its example uses a USDC pair.
- The exact taps for placing a Chase Limit or Iceberg order on the website. Bybit’s pages show app steps or screenshots only. We’ll add a recorded walkthrough.
- A minimum size for an Iceberg Order. Bybit’s page gives maximums only.
- What spread and slippage add to a market order. That depends on the order book at that moment, so we can’t put a number on it.
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