Robinhood Event Contracts Review 2026: Fees, Exchanges and State Limits

Robinhood Event Contracts puts prediction markets inside the Robinhood app, next to your stocks, options and crypto. It is the easiest way in for someone who already has a Robinhood account. It is not the cheapest place to trade, the catalog is narrower than Kalshi's own app, and in October 2026 trading still happens only in the phone app. Overall rating: 4.0 / 5 (how we rate).

Two things changed in June 2026. Robinhood stopped routing everything to Kalshi and now sends orders to one of several exchanges, including Rothera, a new exchange it runs with Susquehanna. And it replaced its flat 1¢ commission with one that depends on the contract's price. Both are covered below, with sources linked where each fact appears. We earn nothing when you open a Robinhood account.

Account basics

Pros and cons

Pros

• One app and one balance. Event contracts sit next to your stocks and crypto, and cash moves between them without a transfer to another company.
• A capped commission. Robinhood's own charge never exceeds 1¢ per contract and falls toward zero at prices near 1¢ or 99¢.
• Gold cuts the commission. Gold members pay half the rate. The saving only shows at prices below about 28¢ or above about 72¢, because both tiers hit the 1¢ cap in between.
• Regulated at each layer. The broker is a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, and every exchange it routes to is CFTC-regulated.
• A well-rated app. The Robinhood iOS app scores 4.3 out of 5 from about 4.9 million ratings (App Store, October 2026). That rating covers the whole app, not event contracts alone.
• No margin. The most you can lose on a position is what you paid for it, plus fees.

Cons

• Two fees on every trade. Robinhood's commission plus the exchange fee. At confident prices this costs more than trading on Kalshi or Polymarket's US app directly.
• App only. No trade ticket on the website or in Robinhood Legend, Robinhood's desktop platform.
• Narrower catalog. Robinhood picks what it lists. Kalshi's own app has more categories and more niche contracts.
• State limits on sports. Maryland, Nevada and Michigan residents have lost sports contracts, and Robinhood is in court or in talks with other states.
• A second approval step. You need a Robinhood Derivatives account on top of the brokerage account, and Robinhood can decline the application.
• No Kalshi interest. Kalshi pays 3.50% APY on balances of $250 or more held at Kalshi. Robinhood pays its own rate on uninvested brokerage cash, which differs by plan.

How Robinhood routes your orders

Robinhood is the broker, not the exchange. Its support page says event contracts "are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC" through KalshiEX LLC, ForecastEX LLC, Rothera Exchange and Clearing LLC, or North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. (Robinhood support, checked October 2026). What each of them is:

Robinhood does not publish a list of which contracts go to which exchange. In practice this matters in three ways:

1. Rules and settlement come from the exchange. Each exchange writes its own contract rules and settlement sources. Read the rules on the contract page before you trade.
2. Liquidity depends on the exchange. A Robinhood order on a Kalshi contract meets Kalshi's order book, which carried about 76% of tracked prediction-market volume between September 16 and October 15, 2026. Rothera had about 1% over the same period (DeFi Rate, as of October 2026). A new exchange can mean thinner books on the contracts sent there.
3. Fees differ by exchange. Robinhood's commission is the same everywhere. The exchange fee on top is not.

Robinhood's first sports attempt was short. It listed Super Bowl LIX contracts through Kalshi in February 2025 and pulled them within 48 hours after the CFTC asked it to (SBC Americas). Sports returned with the March 2025 hub.

How event contracts work

Each contract pays $1.00 if the event happens and $0 if it does not. The price, between 1¢ and 99¢, is the market's estimate of the chance. A Yes contract at 62¢ means the market puts the chance at about 62%.

• Buy 100 Yes contracts at 40¢ and you pay $40 plus fees.
• If Yes wins, you receive $100. Your profit is $60 minus fees.
• If No wins, you receive nothing and lose $40 plus fees.

You can sell before the event resolves if someone will buy at your price. Selling is a second trade, so it carries a second commission and exchange fee.

Fees

Robinhood charges a commission on each trade, and the exchange charges its own fee on top. Both appear on the order ticket before you confirm.

Robinhood's commission

Since June 1, 2026, Robinhood has used a price-based formula instead of a flat 1¢ per contract. Its support page gives it as:

Commission = k × p × (1 − p) × c

Here p is the contract price in dollars, c is the number of contracts, and k is 10% for standard accounts or 5% with Robinhood Gold. Robinhood rounds up to the nearest cent and caps the commission at $0.01 per contract. Gold costs $5 a month or $50 a year (InvestmentNews, June 2026).

Commission on 100 contracts, calculated from that formula:

The curve is symmetric, so 10¢ and 90¢ cost the same. The 90¢ figures match Robinhood's own worked example. Between about 28¢ and 72¢ both tiers pay the full 1¢ cap, so Gold saves money only on long shots and near-certainties.

Exchange fees

Robinhood says exchange fees "vary by exchange and can be up to $0.01 per contract", charged on opening and closing trades. Its example of 100 contracts at 90¢ assumes a 1¢ exchange fee: $91.90 in total without Gold and $91.45 with it.

Worked example: 100 contracts at 60¢

If Yes wins and you hold to settlement, you receive $100.00, a profit of at least $38.00. If No wins, you lose up to $62.00. Gold makes no difference at 60¢ because the formula still exceeds the cap.

Compared with trading direct

Fees on 100 contracts at the general rates, as of October 2026. The Robinhood column assumes the maximum 1¢ exchange fee.

Kalshi's figures use its general taker formula, 0.07 × contracts × p × (1 − p), rounded up (Kalshi fee schedule); some Kalshi series use other rates. Polymarket US charges takers 0.0695 × contracts × p × (1 − p), rounded to the cent, and pays makers a rebate. Its rate was 0.06 from July 1, 2026 and was raised to 0.0695 in October (Polymarket US fee schedule, as of October 2026). Polymarket US is not available in eight states, listed in our Polymarket vs Robinhood comparison.

The gap is a few cents per contract. It matters most on contracts priced near 90¢, where the possible profit is small and the fee takes a bigger share of it. Someone placing a few trades a month will barely notice. Someone trading thousands of contracts a week will.

Other costs

Robinhood charges no account fee, no inactivity fee and nothing for standard bank transfers. Gold is optional. Your own bank may charge for wires.

What you can trade

Robinhood lists a selection of what its exchanges offer, grouped in the app by category. In October 2026 the main groups are:

• Sports: NFL, college football, NBA, MLB and soccer, including the 2026 World Cup contracts routed to Rothera. Not available in Maryland or Nevada, and no new positions in Michigan.
• Economics: Fed rate decisions, inflation prints and other data releases.
• Politics: selected election and government outcomes.
• Commodities: price contracts such as gold, on Robinhood's prediction-markets pages.

Kalshi's own app lists more categories and more niche contracts, from city temperature highs to awards shows. Polymarket's US app has added politics and economics since April 2026 (DeFi Rate). If a contract you want is missing on Robinhood, check Kalshi before assuming it does not exist. The Kalshi review covers that catalog.

Legal status and state limits

Robinhood's event contracts are CFTC-regulated derivatives. Robinhood Derivatives is the broker, and each exchange it uses is regulated by the CFTC. That federal status does not settle the question for sports. State gaming regulators argue sports contracts are bets that need a state licence, and federal appeals courts have split on it.

States where Robinhood limits contracts

Robinhood's support page adds that "additional state restrictions may apply" and tells customers to check the app. Non-sports contracts, such as economics, are generally still open outside Maryland.

49 states or 50?

Older pages on this site said both "49 states + DC" and "50 states + DC". Neither is right as a blanket claim. Robinhood's own page does not name any state where all event contracts are blocked. It names sports limits in Maryland, Nevada and Michigan. Third-party trackers such as OddsAssist report that Maryland residents cannot use the prediction-markets hub at all, which would leave 49 states plus DC for non-sports contracts and fewer for sports. We now list the named restrictions instead of a single count. The app shows what your verified address can trade.

The court fight

Robinhood is a party to the wider litigation. After the Ninth Circuit ruled on August 28, 2026 that Nevada can regulate sports contracts as gambling, Robinhood filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to take up the question (Covers). New Jersey has filed its own petition after losing to Kalshi in the Third Circuit. Until the Supreme Court acts, expect the state list to keep changing. Our Nevada, New Jersey and Massachusetts pages follow the cases.

Is it safe?

The structure is sound. The risks are the ones any app-based derivatives product carries.

What protects you:

• Federal oversight. Robinhood Derivatives is a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant, and the contracts trade on CFTC-regulated exchanges.
• Full collateral. Contracts are paid for upfront. There is no margin call and no way to owe more than you put in.
• Identity checks. Robinhood verifies your SSN, ID and address for the brokerage account and again for the Derivatives account.
• A listed company. Robinhood Markets files audited accounts with the SEC.

What to watch:

• No SIPC cover for event contracts. SIPC protects securities in a brokerage account. Event contracts are commodity derivatives, so that protection does not apply to them.
• State changes. A state ruling can close a category in your state with little notice, as Michigan users found in September 2026. Your money stays safe, but you may have to exit positions early.
• Outages. Robinhood's app has failed during busy markets before, most notably in 2021. An outage during a Fed announcement or a big game can stop you closing a position at the price you want.
• Settlement disputes. Each exchange settles by its own written rules. A contract can resolve in a way the headline question did not suggest. Read the rules, not just the title.

Deposits, withdrawals and taxes

There is no separate event-contracts wallet. Your Robinhood brokerage cash is your buying power, and settled contracts pay back into it.

Deposits. Link a bank and transfer, or use a debit card. Robinhood makes part of a bank deposit available right away; the amount depends on your account type, and Gold raises it. The rest becomes available once the transfer settles.

Withdrawals. Settled cash moves to your bank like any Robinhood withdrawal: Account, then Transfers, then transfer to your bank. Standard bank transfers are free and take a few business days. Instant transfers are available for a fee. You cannot withdraw money tied up in an open contract. Sell it first, then withdraw the proceeds.

Taxes. Robinhood reports fees in your annual statement under total fees and commissions, and publishes a separate help article on event-contract tax forms. How the IRS treats event-contract gains is not settled. Some advisers argue for Section 1256 treatment and others for ordinary income. Our tax guide sets out the positions. Ask a tax professional before filing.

Day-trading rules. Event contracts are held in a Robinhood Derivatives account, not as securities, so trading them does not count toward FINRA's pattern-day-trader limit on your stock account.

How to start

1. Open a Robinhood brokerage account if you do not have one. You need an SSN, a US address and a government ID.
2. Apply for a Robinhood Derivatives account. In the app, open the prediction markets section or search for event contracts. The application asks about your income, net worth and trading experience. Answer truthfully. Robinhood can decline it, and you can reapply later.
3. Complete the prediction-markets learning screens. They are required for the referral reward and explain how contracts settle.
4. Fund the account from a linked bank or debit card, or use cash already in your brokerage account.
5. Pick a contract, read its rules and check the fees on the order ticket before you confirm.

The app

The prediction markets section lives in the Robinhood iOS and Android apps. Each contract page shows a price chart, the current Yes and No prices, the rules and settlement source, and an order ticket that lists the commission and exchange fee before you confirm. Positions appear in your portfolio alongside your other holdings.

The website shows prediction markets but cannot place trades, and Robinhood Legend does not support them (Brokerage-Review, updated September 12, 2026). Traders who work from a desktop will find this the biggest practical drawback. Kalshi runs a full web platform, covered in our Kalshi review.

Promotions

Robinhood's offers change and differ by customer. As of October 2026, Robinhood's referral page describes a prediction-markets sign-up reward for both you and a friend when the friend opens a new Robinhood Derivatives account and completes the learning screens. The value "may vary by customer and time" and is shown in the app. It is paid as cash, and each referrer is paid for at most 10 referrals. New customers can also claim Robinhood's standard stock reward after linking a bank or debit card.

Robinhood also runs event-specific offers. During the 2026 World Cup, customers who referred five friends got commission-free World Cup trades (Robinhood newsroom, June 2026). That offer has ended. Our Robinhood promotions page tracks what is current.

How it compares

Facts as of October 2026. Head-to-heads: Polymarket vs Robinhood and Kalshi vs Polymarket.

Who it suits

Use Robinhood Event Contracts if:

• You already keep money at Robinhood and want to try prediction markets without opening another account.
• You place a handful of trades a month, so a few cents per contract does not matter.
• You mostly trade from your phone.
• You want event contracts and the rest of your investing in one statement.

Look elsewhere if:

• You trade often or in size. Kalshi direct and Polymarket US both cost less per contract, especially at confident prices.
• You want the widest catalog. Kalshi lists more.
• You trade from a desktop. Robinhood has no web trade ticket.
• You live in Maryland, Nevada or Michigan and want sports contracts.

Final verdict

Robinhood Event Contracts is the simplest way for an existing Robinhood customer to trade prediction markets. The app is polished, the commission is capped at 1¢ a contract, and the money sits in the same account as everything else. The costs are real but small for casual use: two fees on each trade, a narrower catalog than Kalshi, no desktop trading, and a state list that shrank three times in a year. The June 2026 move to Rothera also means some contracts now trade on a young exchange with a fraction of Kalshi's volume.

For a few trades a month from someone already on Robinhood, it is a sensible choice. For frequent traders, Kalshi direct is cheaper and lists more.

Overall rating: 4.0 / 5 (how we rate). Visit Robinhood →

KalshiSpy is a separate, paid third-party tool that tracks top Kalshi traders. It is not part of Kalshi or Robinhood, and we earn a commission on subscriptions. Try KalshiSpy (paid third-party tool, affiliate link) →

Frequently asked questions

Is Robinhood Event Contracts legal?

Yes. The contracts are CFTC-regulated derivatives offered by Robinhood Derivatives, a CFTC-registered broker, through CFTC-regulated exchanges. States can still restrict sports contracts: as of October 2026 they are unavailable in Maryland and Nevada, and Michigan residents cannot open new ones.

Which exchange does my Robinhood order go to?

One of KalshiEX, ForecastEx, Rothera or North American Derivatives Exchange, per Robinhood's support page. Robinhood does not publish which contracts go where. Since June 2026 some World Cup and baseball contracts have gone to Rothera, its joint venture with Susquehanna.

How much does Robinhood charge per contract?

Since June 1, 2026, 10% × price × (1 − price) per contract, or 5% with Gold, rounded up and capped at $0.01. The exchange adds its own fee, which Robinhood says is up to $0.01 per contract on opening and closing trades.

Is Robinhood Gold worth it for event contracts?

Only if you trade a lot at prices below about 28¢ or above about 72¢. Between those prices both tiers pay the full 1¢ cap, so Gold saves nothing. Gold costs $5 a month or $50 a year.

Can I trade Robinhood event contracts on a computer?

No. As of September 2026 the website shows prediction markets but cannot place trades, and Robinhood Legend does not support them. Trading is in the iOS and Android apps.

Why can't I trade event contracts on Robinhood?

The usual reasons are a missing or declined Robinhood Derivatives application, a state restriction on the category you want, or an unresolved issue on your account such as unverified identity. You must be 18 or older, a US resident and hold an individual brokerage account.

Can I lose more than I paid?

No. Each contract is paid for in full, with no margin. The most you can lose is the price paid plus fees.

How are Robinhood event contracts taxed?

Gains are taxable, but the treatment is unsettled. Some advisers argue for Section 1256 treatment and others for ordinary income. Robinhood issues year-end statements; see our tax guide and ask a tax professional.

Sources

• Robinhood: Event contracts overview (checked October 2026), Invite friends to prediction markets (checked October 2026), The World Cup is now trading on Robinhood and Rothera (June 4, 2026)
• Robinhood on the US App Store (checked October 2026)
• Covers: prediction market legal update (September 11, 2026)
• OddsAssist: Robinhood prediction markets states (October 2026)
• Brokerage-Review: Robinhood event contracts (September 12, 2026)
• DeFi Rate prediction-market volume tracker (October 16, 2026)
• Kalshi fee schedule; Polymarket US fee schedule (October 2026)
• InvestmentNews on Robinhood Gold (June 2026); Fortune on the March 2025 launch; SBC Americas on the February 2025 Super Bowl pause