Kalshi and Polymarket referral programs, compared honestly
Terms verified 2026-09-04 from the programs' own pages. Venues change these at will; the sources are linked.
| Kalshi | Polymarket US | Polymarket (global) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the referrer gets | Trading credits, not cash. Amounts and caps are set per account and shown in-app; credits must be used within 7 days; only profits made with them become withdrawable. US users only. | Bonus credits, not cash: $25 per qualifying referral, up to 14 referrals. Credits can only be used to trade and are withdrawable after the position settles. | A share of fees, paid daily in pUSD: 10% of direct referrals' net trading fees (5% indirect) for 30 days, for referrers with $10,000+ lifetime volume. Not available to US accounts. |
| What the referred user gets | Trading credits after identity verification and a trading requirement shown in-app. | $25 bonus credit after signing up with the code and depositing at least $10. | Nothing published beyond the referrer's fee share. |
| Separate affiliate programs | None reachable publicly (the affiliate hub returned an error when checked). | An approved-affiliate program exists by application; payout terms are not published. | The public partner program on Dub lists $10 per referral's first deposit, 20% of their perpetuals trading fees, and $0.01 per click; the payout method is not stated on that page. |
Corrected 2026-09-04: an earlier version framed this as "Kalshi credits vs Polymarket cash." Polymarket US's own program also pays credits; only the global venue's programs pay in a currency, and that venue is closed to US accounts.
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