Polymarket review
Fast payouts
Skip the waitlist on mobile
Easy-to-claim welcome bonus
Deposit $10, Get $20 Trading Bonus
Covers BetSmart Rating:
Banking and payout speed
Key features
Security and trust
Customer support
User experience
Betting odds
Payout Speed:
1-3 days
Deposits & withdrawals
Why Polymarket?
Fast payouts
Skip the waitlist on mobile
Easy-to-claim welcome bonus
Payout Speed:
1-3 days
Covers BetSmart Rating:
Covers BetSmart Rating:
Deposits & withdrawals
Pros and cons
Users in every state can use the Polymarket promo code 'COVERS' to claim one of the top prediction market promos of 2026 — a $20 bonus when you make a $10 deposit.
Depositing and withdrawing funds on Polymarket is slightly complicated, at least if you aren’t used to using crypto. It’s a potential turn-off for beginners, but it’s actually relatively simple once you understand how the process works.
Polymarket only allows you to deposit funds via USD Coin (USDC). The platform utilizes USDC because it mirrors the U.S. dollar’s value. You may deposit funds using other blockchains, such as USDT, ETH, or SOL, but they will ultimately be converted to USDC on Polymarket’s Polygon blockchain.
Unfortunately, Polymarket doesn’t support popular deposit methods such as PayPal, Google Pay, or Venmo. However, if you would like to make a deposit with a credit/debit card or bank transfer, you can do so via MoonPay, a third-party that makes it possible to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with these payment options.
Ultimately, whatever coin or payment method you choose will ultimately be converted to USDC in your Polymarket account, which you can use to buy contracts.
| Deposit Method | Fee | Process Time | |
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None (third-party processing fees may apply) | instant | $1 |
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None (third-party processing fees may apply) | instant | $1 |
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FREE | instant | $1 |
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None (third-party processing fees may apply) | instant | $1 |
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None (third-party processing fees may apply) | instant | $1 |
You cannot withdraw funds from Polymarket directly to a credit/debit card or bank account. But you can move USDC from a Polymarket account to a self-custody wallet, such as MetaMask or Phantom, and then to MoonPay. From there, you can send funds to a card or bank account.
You also have the option to transfer USDC from a Polymarket account to a self-custody wallet, where you can either hold onto it or decide where to send it next.
Again, this is all a little more complicated than simply sending the money straight to your bank account. Compared with using a traditional sportsbook or even other prediction platforms like Kalshi, there is a steeper learning curve for banking at Polymarket.
| Withdrawal Method | Fee | Process Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Free | Within 24 hours | $1 |
Founded in 2020, Polymarket is one of the pioneers of the rapidly growing prediction market platform industry. Although a 2022 legal battle with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission led to it being banned from the U.S. for about 3 years, it returned in 2025 with the CFTC’s blessing. It’s once again considered one of the best prediction market apps around. Here are the key features that make it such a well-respected platform:
Event trading
Polymarket is a peer-to-peer prediction market platform, not a traditional sportsbook, so you won’t be greeted by the usual sports betting odds when you join. Instead, the prices or event contracts on Polymarket are determined organically by traders, with no built-in vig or house edge to favor the house. What you see is a true indication of the market’s confidence in each outcome, and every share you buy is balanced against another user.
Limited trading fees
Polymarket has started charging fees on certain markets, but for the most part, you can buy and sell contracts on the platform without being subjected to large fees. It has also stopped charging fees on some types of events, including geopolitical events, altogether.
Some markets will charge fees, but even when they do, they tend to be on the lower end. Fee rates range from 0.04 to 0.072, depending on the markets, and are plugged into the formula “fee = C × Fee rate × p × (1 - p)” with C standing for the number of shares traded and P referring to the price of these shares.
Hundreds of markets
Polymarket has markets across a wide range of topics, far beyond just sports. If something is making headlines in the news, chances are you’ll find a market related to it at Polymarket. That goes for popular sports events, political elections, awards shows, and much more. Sports markets change all the time, depending on what’s happening. When we checked in early spring, there were dozens of March Madness markets attracting a huge amount of interest. In certain states, such as New Jersey, Polymarket’s markets are limited exclusively to sports, but this isn’t the case in most.
Nationwide access
At least for now, Polymarket is available in every single state in the U.S., including many that don't allow traditional online gambling or sports betting. In states like California and Texas, Polymarket is a legal way for users to make predictions about their favorite franchises and players, just as in more liberal sports-betting states. With Polymarket, you'll find California prediction markets, Texas prediction markets, New York prediction markets, and Florida prediction markets, among others.
That said, it’s worth noting that prediction markets are a dynamic space, with several states considering bans on sites like Polymarket and Kalshi, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on how things progress.
Based on our Polymarket app review, the mobile platform does a great job of streamlining the exchange experience, from topping up your account with USDC to buying and selling contracts. We were glad to see this, since Polymarket currently has a waitlist for new desktop users that can only be bypassed by downloading its iOS or Android app and trading contracts through it.
Don’t forget to enter the Polymarket promo code COVERS after downloading the app to get instant access to the platform, along with a $20 welcome bonus that you will receive after making your first $20 deposit.
Polymarket app design
Polymarket smartly doesn’t try to stuff too much information on-screen when designing the app. It results in a clean, attractive app that is easy to navigate for beginners, with more advanced features available if you dig deeper.
Even without any experience using the Polymarket app, we were able to intuitively find the sports markets we were looking for almost instantly, and placing trades is also smooth and logical. The app always loaded quickly for us, and moving between sections never caused lag or glitches.
Polymarket app improvements
While we didn’t encounter any major issues with the Polymarket app, there were a few areas where we think it falls short compared with using a laptop. These improvements could deliver better experiences to new and existing users alike:
Better onboarding process:It felt like we were dropped into the middle of the Polymarket app without warning after registering for a new account. It would be nice to see the platform onboard new users with a “How To” or “Trading 101” guide to make it even easier for newcomers.
Enhanced analytics tools: Polymarket’s website makes it easier to access data and other analytics tools than its app does, including graphs and stats that track prices over time. We would like Polymarket to find a way to make these tools more readily accessible to app users.
Improved support: Polymarket’s website includes links to its Help Center, social media accounts, and “Contact Us” page, which includes a live chat box. In contrast, we found it harder to locate these services on the app and could only contact the support team via email.
Polymarket iOS rating
Polymarket has earned rave reviews from Apple users. It has a 4.7/5 rating stemming from over 30,000 reviews. The average Polymarket review on the App Store highlights the generous $20 Polymarket welcome bonus and its excellent market selection as positives.
Polymarket Android rating
Somewhat surprisingly, Polymarket has not earned the best reviews from Android users. It has just a 2.4/5 rating with only about 7,000 reviews on the Google Play Store. That said, Polymarket’s low score seems to be based more on the fact that many new users are placed on a waitlist than on the actual user experience.
Polymarket faced legal issues with the CFTC in the early 2020s and was ultimately forced to leave the U.S. as a result. However, it regained the federal agency’s good graces upon its return in 2025 and is now a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market (DCM).
Polymarket has also taken additional steps to legitimize its operation and protect both its platform and its users. It allows users to utilize non-custodial wallets, keeping them in complete control of their funds. It also adheres to all required Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations and imposes geographic restrictions on users in countries where its platform isn’t legally permitted.
Customer support is definitely an area Polymarket could improve. It took us too long to receive a response whenever we reached out to support, both via live chat and email. While the platform offers various ways to contact customer service, most require waiting at least a few hours, and sometimes even a few days, for a resolution.
We weren’t impressed with the Polymarket app’s customer service, either. While the website has a live chat, the app invites you to send customer service inquiries via email, which obviously isn’t ideal when you have a pressing problem.
We’re not the only ones with this opinion, either. Polymarket’s customer service has received poor ratings on many review sites. For example, its customer service has a 1.3/5 rating on TrustPilot, with 90% of reviews receiving a 1/5.
- Live chat: Yes, but only on the Polymarket website
- Email: support@polymarket.com
- Phone: N/A
- Supported languages: English
- X (Twitter): @polymarket
- Instagram: @polymarket
- TikTok: @polymarket
- Discord: discord.gg/polymarket
With new prediction market platforms popping up all the time these days, Polymarket is a terrific option for anyone looking for a well-established platform with extensive industry experience. From its extensive selection of markets, advanced trading tools, and data tracking, it’s clear that this platform has sharpened its services over the past six years since its launch.
In particular, Polymarket is perfect for sports fans in states that don’t allow legal sports betting, such as California and Texas. As a crypto-first platform, we also recommend it to more digitally savvy users or anyone with crypto experience. If using crypto is a turn-off for you, you might prefer a more fiat-friendly platform like Kalshi. You can dive more into this comparison in our Polymarket vs. Kalshi guide.
Aside from some iffy customer support options, we’re big fans of the Polymarket app, too. If you’re looking for a modern, versatile prediction market that makes it easy to trade using just your phone, Polymarket is a great choice.
Room for Improvement
While we found many positives in our Polymarket review, there are clearly areas where the platform could improve, too. Here are the things that stood out to us:
- Eliminating its waitlist: Polymarket still doesn’t let just anyone join, especially when using a laptop. There are still thousands of people out there waiting their turn on the waitlist, as is made very clear at a glance in the Polymarket app reviews on the Google Play Store. We were able to create a new account simply by downloading the Polymarket app and using the Polymarket promo code COVERS to skip the queue, but it’s still an unnecessary hurdle.
- Adding more market coverage: Users in certain states, such as NJ, can currently access sports markets only. We want to ensure users in all states have the same access to the markets available on Polymarket.
- Fewer fiat options: Compared with competitors like Kalshi, Polymarket doesn’t make it easy to use traditional fiat payment methods like Visa or Mastercard or to withdraw funds to your regular bank account. We’d love to see the platform let users simply deposit and withdraw using USD, which would make it feel more accessible to casual users.
- Improving customer service: Polymarket offers various customer support channels, including live chat, email, and social media. Still, in our experience, it often takes too long to receive a response from this team, especially when contacting someone via the Polymarket app. Prioritizing customer support should be at the top of the platform’s to-do list.
Polymarket in the news
Check out the latest Polymarket updates here, or dive in further with our comprehensive prediction market timeline:
March 27, 2026: Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, invests $600 million in Polymarket.
March 24, 2026: Polymarket, along with its fellow prediction market platform Kalshi, updates its rules in an attempt to thwart insider trading following suspicious trading patterns at the start of the war in Iran.
March 19, 2026: Polymarket announces a partnership with Major League Baseball at the start of the 2026 MLB season.
Polymarket FAQ
The minimum deposit for trading on Polymarket varies depending on the deposit method you use. Some methods require only a $1 deposit to get started. You will, however, need to deposit $20 to fund your account initially to claim a $20 welcome bonus.
Yes, depending on the market, you may be charged trading fees on Polymarket. The formula for determining fees is a little complex, but the fees work out to 0.04 to 0.072 per trade.
Yes, you can trade on Polymarket on mobile. The Polymarket app is clean and well-designed, and makes it easy for beginners to place trades.
Yes, you can trade on political events on Polymarket, but not in every state. Some states, such as New Jersey, limit users to only sports-related markets and don’t allow you trade markets involving politics.
Yes, Polymarket offers presidential election “odds,” though they aren’t the same as the betting odds that you might get on elections at offshore sportsbooks. Instead, Polymarket users create their own markets for presidential elections and other political events.
Yes, Polymarket accepts credit cards, but not directly. If you wish to use a credit card, you must go through the MoonPay platform, which lets you buy and sell many different forms of cryptocurrency.
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