Best Political Betting Sites in the US, 2026
Eight sites that take real money on elections, compared on markets, states and fees.
Every site below takes real money on political outcomes and is open to US residents in at least some states as of September 12, 2026. Two are exchanges you trade on directly; the rest are brokers that route your order to an exchange. The table is what matters when choosing: what political markets each one lists, where it is available, and what it charges.
| Site | What it is | Political markets | Age and states | Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalshi kalshi.com | CFTC-regulated exchange (DCM) | Midterms (every Senate, House and governor race), 2028 nominees and winner, shutdown, Fed, awards | 18+ per Kalshi; state law varies. Sports contracts blocked by court order in Nevada, Michigan and Massachusetts; most political, entertainment and sports contracts blocked in Washington since August 2026; Utah won at district court in August and, per reports, a September 8 appeals ruling let it enforce | Taker fee 7% × price × (1 − price) per contract, about 1.75¢ at 50¢; free below 2¢ or above 98¢ |
| Polymarket US polymarket.us | CFTC-regulated exchange (QCX LLC, DCM and clearinghouse) | Presidential and party-control markets confirmed; midterm race-by-race, shutdown and awards not verified on the US app | 18+. Trading paused in Nevada; trackers report AZ, CT, MD and TN unavailable, unconfirmed on Polymarket's own pages | Taker 6% × price × (1 − price), max 1.5¢ per contract; makers rebated; no deposit or withdrawal fees (effective July 1, 2026) |
| Robinhood robinhood.com | Broker routing to Kalshi and other exchanges | Midterms, 2028 nominee and winner, economics | 18+. All event contracts unavailable in Maryland; sports unavailable in Nevada and New Jersey | Commission of 10% × price × (1 − price) per contract (5% with Gold), capped at 1¢, plus an exchange fee of up to 1¢ (since June 1, 2026) |
| PredictIt predictit.org | Long-running political market, operating under a 2025 CFTC settlement; its exchange vehicle changed hands in 2026 | Politics only | 18+ | 10% of profit per trade; 5% on withdrawals |
| Fanatics Markets fanaticsmarkets.com | Broker; contracts on Crypto.com's exchange | 2028 presidency by party, economics, sports | 21+. Available in 22 states and 4 territories only, broadly the states without legal sportsbooks | Price-dependent, at most 2¢ per contract |
| Coinbase coinbase.com/predictions | Broker distributing Kalshi contracts | Kalshi's catalogue, including Emmys | 18+; every state except Nevada, per Coinbase | Not published as a formula; shown at order time |
| DraftKings Predictions predictions.draftkings.com | Broker plus its own exchange since June 2026 | Congressional races, Oscars, economics | 18+. Not in Maine or New Hampshire; sports only in 18 states | About 2¢ per contract |
| Underdog underdogfantasy.com | Own exchange and clearinghouse since July 2026 | Politics, government, mentions, weather, sports | 18+. Not in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada or New York | About 2¢ per contract, embedded in payouts |
Which one to use for the midterms
Kalshi has the deepest political catalogue: a Yes contract for each party in every Senate and governor race, 350 House districts, control of each chamber, and the balance-of-power combinations. It is the only site where you can trade a specific House district. Our midterms page shows every race with its Kalshi price. Polymarket US is the other exchange, with lower taker fees and a maker rebate, but its US app lists fewer political markets than the global site whose prices we show; the global site does not serve US residents. Robinhood and Coinbase route to Kalshi, so you get Kalshi's markets at a small markup with a brokerage you may already have.
Which one for 2028
All four exchanges and brokers above list the party and nominee markets. Prices on Kalshi and Polymarket for the same candidate are usually within two or three points of each other; where they are not, our 2028 page shows the gap.
Is this legal?
Event contracts on Kalshi, Polymarket US, and the exchanges behind the brokers are regulated federally by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Political contracts were cleared for Kalshi by a federal appeals court in 2024. The live fight in 2026 is over sports contracts and is being run by state regulators, and it has produced a patchwork: courts in Nevada, Michigan and Massachusetts have blocked Kalshi's sports contracts, Washington blocked most of its non-financial contracts in August, Utah won at district court in August and, per reports, an appeals ruling on September 8 let it enforce. Cases are pending in Ohio, Arizona, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and several other states. Political contracts are less affected than sports contracts, but the state list changes monthly. Each app geofences its own availability; if it lets you trade where you are, that is the current answer.
What the fees mean in practice
Exchange fees scale with how uncertain the contract is. At a 50¢ price Kalshi charges about 1.75¢ per contract and Polymarket US 1.5¢; at 90¢ both charge under a cent. Brokers add up to a cent or two on top. PredictIt's 10% of profit is the outlier and it shows in its prices, which run a little wider than the exchanges'. None of this changes the odds on our pages, which are shown before fees.
Sites we left out
Novig and ProphetX are sports-only exchanges. FanDuel Predicts does not list politics. Sporttrade is offline pending a CFTC application. Manifold and Metaculus are play-money and reputation sites with good political forecasts and no payout. The global polymarket.com blocks US trading and redirects Americans to the US app.
Availability and fee figures come from each site's own fee schedule and availability page, or from court records, as of September 12, 2026, except where marked as reported by third-party trackers. Kalshi does not publish a single state list; its app's geofence is the authority. Corrections: hello@oddsdesk.vercel.app.