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Hyperliquid builder fees: what apps can charge you

How Hyperliquid builder codes let an app add a fee to your orders, the 0.1% perps cap, what the approval signature allows, and how to check what you pay.

By the Prow teamPublished Updated 5 min read

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A builder fee is the fee a third-party app adds to orders you place on Hyperliquid through it. It is charged on top of Hyperliquid's own trading fee and goes to the app (the "builder"). Hyperliquid caps it at 0.1% on perps and 1% on spot, and an app can only charge it after your main wallet signs an approval that sets the highest rate it may use. The approval can't move or withdraw your funds. This guide explains how builder codes work, what to check before you sign, and what the fee adds to a trade.

How builder codes work

Hyperliquid's builder codes are a public mechanism, not a private deal between an app and the exchange:

  1. You approve a maximum fee for one builder address with an ApproveBuilderFee action. Your main wallet must sign it. An API (agent) wallet can't approve a builder fee for you.
  2. When the app sends your order, it attaches its builder address and a fee for that order, at or below your approved maximum.
  3. Hyperliquid charges the fee when the order fills and credits it to the builder.

An order that asks for more than you approved is rejected. Rules from Hyperliquid's docs:

RuleValue
Highest builder fee on perps0.1% of the order value
Highest builder fee on spot1%
Spot sideCharged on sells only; the buy side of a spot trade pays no builder fee
Who approvesThe account's main wallet, never an agent
Active approvals per userUp to 10 builders at once
Builder requirementThe builder must hold at least 100 USDC in perps account value

Because the fee is per order and visible on-chain, anyone can see which builder an order went through and what it paid.

What the approval does and doesn't allow

The signature sets a ceiling. It does not:

  • move funds, deposit or withdraw,
  • approve a trading key,
  • let the app charge more than the maximum you signed,
  • charge anything on orders you place elsewhere. The fee applies only to orders the app itself sends with its builder code.

Read the rate in the signing prompt. A prompt that approves the full 0.1% lets the app charge up to that on every perp fill, even if its website advertises less today. Hyperliquid's API reports the maximum you approved for a builder, so an app can show you the exact number on file.

What a builder fee adds to a trade

A $10,000 perp order, filled as taker at Hyperliquid's base tier:

Hyperliquid feeBuilder feeTotal
No builder fee$4.50$0.00$4.50
Builder at 0.025% (Prow's standard rate)$4.50$2.50$7.00
Builder at the 0.1% cap$4.50$10.00$14.50

The fee is on the order's value, not your margin, so leverage makes it larger relative to the money you put in. At 10x, a 0.1% builder fee is 1% of your margin per fill, 2% for a round trip, before Hyperliquid's own fee.

Other venues have their own version

  • Aster also lets an app charge a builder fee only after your wallet approves it. In Prow, the Aster approval is a separate free message, like Hyperliquid's.
  • Lighter has integrators. An app registers as an integrator and you approve it with a fee cap. On a Standard Lighter account, which pays no trading fees, an integrator approval in Prow has a 0% cap and only marks orders placed through Prow.

How Prow charges

Prow's fee is a builder fee on Hyperliquid and Aster, and an integrator approval on Lighter:

  • 0% until Dec 31, 2026, then 0.025% per trade. The change happens at 00:00 UTC on Jan 1, 2027.
  • You approve exactly 0.025%, the standard rate, as the maximum. Prow cannot charge more without a new signature from you.
  • During the promo, Prow attaches no fee to your orders at all. You approve now so nothing changes or asks you again when the standard fee starts.
  • You can skip the approval and keep trading while the promo lasts. Once the standard fee starts, orders that open or add to a position need it. Orders that only reduce risk (closing, reduce-only, TP/SL on an open position, cancels) always go through.
  • Hyperliquid spot: the Prow fee applies to sells only, as Hyperliquid's rule requires. Aster spot: no Prow fee.
  • Prow charges nothing on deposits, withdrawals or transfers.

The trade ticket shows the venue fee and the Prow fee before you place an order, and each fill's Fee breakdown shows both afterwards. See Fees.

Bot orders carry the same Prow fee as manual orders, and a bot needs the fee approval before it starts. The figures on ready setups always count the 0.025% standard rate, even during the promo, and a bot's grid step is checked against it, so a setup that only works without the fee can't start.

Before you approve any builder fee

  • What maximum does the prompt set? Compare it with what the app says it charges.
  • Is the signing wallet your main wallet, and is the builder address the app's?
  • Does the app show the builder fee separately in the ticket and after the fill?
  • Will the rate change on a date? Ask what happens then, and whether you'll be asked again.

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum builder fee on Hyperliquid?

0.1% of the order value on perps and 1% on spot. A builder can charge less than your approved maximum, never more.

Can a builder fee approval withdraw my funds?

No. It only sets the highest fee an app may add to orders it sends for you. Withdrawals always need a separate signature from the wallet that owns the account.

Is the builder fee charged on spot buys?

No. On Hyperliquid spot, builder fees apply only to the sell side. On perps they apply to both opening and closing trades.

Who signs a builder fee approval?

The account's main wallet. Hyperliquid does not accept a builder fee approval signed by an API (agent) wallet.

Sources

Checked October 5, 2026: