Effective fee
An effective fee is what a trade actually costs you after all discounts and rebates are applied — as opposed to the headline rate printed in the fee schedule. It is the only number that makes exchange comparisons fair.
Two exchanges with identical published rates can cost very different amounts once real conditions apply: one may run a token-based discount, the other may pay a rebate on every fill. The effective fee folds these adjustments into a single comparable number.
The arithmetic is simple. Start from the scheduled rate, subtract any percentage discount applied before charging, then subtract the value returned to you afterwards. With a fee rebate, effective fee = published rate × (1 − payback share). A 0.06% taker rate with a 67% total payback, for example, nets out well below half the headline number.
loweef displays effective taker rates for every partner exchange, derived live from each one's published fee and current payback split — no hand-entered numbers. When comparing venues, always compare effective fees at your own maker/taker mix; the cheapest headline rate is frequently not the cheapest venue.
Futures fees compared, before and after payback →