Limit order
An order to buy or sell only at a specified price or better. It may not fill immediately, but it controls the price you pay.
On Kalshi, a limit order lets you post at your price and wait, often making you a maker with a lower fee. The trade-off is that it may never fill if the market moves away from your price.
A limit order is an instruction to trade only at a specified price or better. A buy limit fills at your limit price or lower, a sell limit at your limit price or higher, and it will not execute at a worse price. If no one is willing to meet your price, the order rests in the book and waits, which makes you a liquidity maker.
The advantage is price control and lower cost. You never pay more than you intended, and by adding liquidity rather than taking it you typically pay lower fees. The disadvantage is execution risk: if the market moves away from your price, your order may fill only partially or not at all, and you can miss a move you were right about.
Limit orders are the workhorse of cost-conscious trading. Posting inside the spread to capture a better price, scaling into a position at predefined levels, and avoiding the slippage of taking thin liquidity are all limit-order techniques. The skill is balancing a better price against the risk of not getting filled.
The market is offered at 62 cents but you only want to pay 60. You place a buy limit at 60. If a seller drops to 60 you are filled at 60 (or better); if the market keeps rising, your order rests unfilled and you avoid overpaying, at the cost of possibly missing the trade.
Frequently asked questions
What is a limit order?
An order to trade only at a set price or better. A buy limit fills at your price or lower, a sell limit at your price or higher, and it rests in the book if no one meets it.
Why use a limit order instead of a market order?
For price control and lower cost: you never pay worse than your limit and typically pay maker fees. The trade-off is that the order may not fill if the market moves away.
Does a limit order always fill?
No. It only fills if someone trades at your price or better. If the market moves away it can fill partially or not at all, which is the main risk versus a market order.