Free Exchange Fee Impact calculator with clear step-by-step results.
Trading costs are paid twice on a round trip and the spread is paid on top, so a 0.1% fee is really a 0.28% hurdle once you cross the spread both ways. Expressing that as a share of expected gross return is what shows whether a strategy has any edge left after execution.
Round-trip cost
Cost = trade value x (fee rate x 2 + spread as a decimal)
Cost drag
Drag % = round-trip cost / gross return per trade x 100
Illustrative only and not investment advice. Actual costs include slippage, market impact, funding and taxes, and past or expected returns are not guaranteed.
You pay on entry and again on exit. Any strategy that closes positions incurs both legs, which is why turnover matters as much as fee rate.
Posting limit orders can cut or even rebate the fee, and it also means you earn the spread rather than paying it - halving or eliminating both cost components. The trade-off is execution uncertainty.