Market, limit, stop, stop-limit, trailing and take-profit — what each order does, when to use it, and how it changes the fee you pay.
Ready to put this into practice?Trade on Bybit — deep liquidity, low fees, up to a $30,000 welcome bonus.Open Bybit account →The order you choose decides two things: whether you fill at all, and what fee you pay. Getting this right is one of the cheapest edges in trading — market orders are convenient but cost you the spread and the higher taker fee on every trade.
Fills immediately at the best available price. Use it when getting in now matters more than the exact price. The cost: you pay the taker fee and accept slippage — on a thin book, a large market order can move the price against you as it fills.
An order to buy or sell at a specific price or better. It rests on the order book until price reaches it — so it may never fill, but you control your price and usually pay the lower maker fee. This is the default for patient entries and exits.
A trigger: when price crosses a level, it fires a market order. Used for stop-losses (exit if the trade goes wrong) and breakout entries. Because it becomes a market order, it can slip in fast moves — which is exactly when stops matter most.
Stop-loss / take-profit calc →A stop that fires a limit order instead of a market order — you avoid slippage, but risk not filling if price blows through your limit. A tool for calm exits, not for guaranteed protection in a crash.
A stop that follows price at a fixed distance, locking in more profit as the trade moves your way and closing you out when it reverses by that distance. It automates "let winners run, cut them when they turn."
A resting order that closes your position at a target to bank a gain automatically — the mirror image of a stop-loss. Setting both when you enter removes emotion from the exit.
Risk:reward calc →A modifier on a limit order, not a type of its own: it tells the exchange to cancel the order instead of filling it if it would cross the book and execute immediately as a taker. That guarantees you always pay the lower maker fee — useful on exchanges where maker/taker spread is wide (Binance futures: 0.02% vs 0.05%; the difference compounds fast at high frequency). The cost: in a fast market your price gets skipped and the order is simply rejected, so it is not a tool for urgent entries.
A safety flag, usually paired with a stop or limit order, that restricts it to only shrinking or closing your existing position — it cannot flip you to the opposite side or add size, even if the order size typed in is larger than your position. This is the standard setting for stop-loss and take-profit orders on futures: if your position closes early (partial fill, manual exit) the stop can never accidentally open a fresh position in the same direction.
Separate from the order type itself, most exchanges let you set how long an order is allowed to sit before it's cancelled: GTC (Good-Til-Cancelled) is the default — it rests on the book until filled or you cancel it. IOC (Immediate-or-Cancel) fills whatever quantity it can right away and cancels the unfilled remainder instead of resting. FOK (Fill-or-Kill) is stricter still: it must fill the entire order immediately or the whole thing is cancelled, with no partial fill left exposed on the book. Use IOC/FOK when you'd rather get nothing than leave a partially-filled order sitting visible on a thin book; use GTC for patient limit entries where you're happy to wait.
| Order type | Fee | Fill guaranteed? | Slippage risk | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market | Taker | Yes, instantly | High on thin books | Urgent entry/exit |
| Limit | Maker | No — rests on book | None | Patient entries, banking a target |
| Stop (stop-market) | Taker | Yes, once triggered | High in fast moves | Stop-loss, breakout entry |
| Stop-limit | Maker | No — may not fill | None | Calm exits, not crash protection |
| Trailing stop | Taker | Yes, once triggered | Same as stop-market | Riding a trend, locking in gains |
| Post-only | Maker (or rejected) | No — cancels if it would take | None | Fee-sensitive, high-frequency entries |
| Reduce-only | Depends on base order | Depends on base order | Depends on base order | Any stop/take-profit on futures |
Say you trade $20,000 of notional per position, 40 times a month — $800,000 in monthly volume. At a typical futures fee schedule of 0.05% taker vs 0.02% maker, always using market orders costs $800,000 × 0.05% = $400/month. Filling the same volume with limit or post-only orders costs $800,000 × 0.02% = $160/month — a $240/month, $2,880/year difference, purely from order type, with zero change to your actual trading strategy or win rate.
The catch is the trade-off isn't free: a resting limit order might not fill at all if price runs away from it, and chasing a better maker price on every entry can mean missing moves entirely. The fee saving is real, but it only pays off if you're not also giving back more than $240/month in missed or late fills.
A market order fills immediately at the best available price but pays the taker fee and risks slippage. A limit order fills only at your chosen price or better, may not fill at all, and usually pays the lower maker fee.
A stop-loss triggers an order to close your position when price hits a level you set, capping your loss. A plain stop fires a market order (fast but can slip); a stop-limit fires a limit order (no slippage but may not fill).
A trailing stop follows the price at a fixed distance, moving up as the trade profits and closing you out when price reverses by that distance — locking in gains without you watching the chart.
A post-only order is a limit order that is cancelled instead of filled if it would execute immediately as a taker. It guarantees you always pay the maker fee, which matters on exchanges where the maker/taker spread is wide — the trade-off is the order can be rejected in a fast-moving market.
A reduce-only order can only shrink or close an existing position — it is rejected or capped if it would flip you into the opposite side or increase size. It is the standard safety flag for stop-loss and take-profit orders on futures, so a mistaken order can never accidentally open a new position.
These are time-in-force settings, separate from the order type. GTC (Good-Til-Cancelled) rests until filled or cancelled. IOC (Immediate-or-Cancel) fills what it can right away and cancels the rest instead of resting on the book. FOK (Fill-or-Kill) must fill the entire order immediately or the whole order is cancelled with no partial fill.
⚠️ Educational only — not financial advice. Leverage trading can lose your entire deposit.