By PredictQ Team // Updated: July 2026
Start with the fact that decides this comparison for most readers: DraftKings Predictions only offers sports contracts in 18 states, and they’re exactly the states where DraftKings Sportsbook doesn’t operate. California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and fourteen others. Live in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, or any other DK Sportsbook state? DraftKings will not sell you a sports event contract. The sportsbook license comes first.
Kalshi has no sportsbook to protect, so it lists sports contracts nationwide under federal law, though that map has developed cracks of its own: Michigan blocked Kalshi’s sports contracts by court order on June 30, 2026, and a New York judge ruled July 8 that the state can enforce its gambling rules. Still, Kalshi’s sports footprint dwarfs DraftKings’ 18 states.
DraftKings did make one big move since spring. On June 26, 2026 it launched DKeX, its own CFTC-licensed exchange built on the Railbird acquisition. DraftKings no longer routes through CME Group or Crypto.com’s exchange. It owns its rails now, with DraftKings Predictions (operated by GUS III LLC, a CFTC-registered introducing broker) as the front end.
Quick Verdict
Kalshi wins this one, and for most of the country the margin is wide. Broader states, broader categories, limit orders, and cent-level pricing. DraftKings Predictions is worth an account in exactly one scenario: you’re in one of its 18 sports states, you want a sportsbook-style experience with American odds and parlays, and the $25 bonus for a $5 spend appeals to you. That’s a real scenario, but it’s a narrow one.
Snapshot
Structure: Kalshi is a CFTC-regulated exchange and clearinghouse. DraftKings Predictions is a CFTC-registered introducing broker; trades execute on DKeX, DraftKings’ own exchange since June 26, 2026.
Welcome bonus: Kalshi, trade $10 and get $10. DraftKings, spend $5 and get $25 instantly in Predictions Dollars.
States: Kalshi lists sports nationwide with a few blocked or contested states. DraftKings sports contracts run in 18 states only, the platform is entirely unavailable in Maine and New Hampshire, and about ten more states get non-sports markets only.
Markets: Kalshi covers politics, sports, economics, crypto, weather, climate, culture. DraftKings covers sports plus financial and economic markets. No politics.
Fees: Kalshi uses a probability-weighted formula peaking at $1.75 per 100 contracts at 50 cents. DraftKings charges $0.02 per contract at prices from $0.20 to $0.96, dropping to $0.01 at the extremes.
Order types: Kalshi supports limit orders and maker fee discounts. DraftKings is market orders only.
Display: Kalshi prices in cents. DraftKings shows American moneyline odds, familiar to any sportsbook user.
How They’re Different
Regulation first. Both are CFTC-supervised, and DKeX gives DraftKings the same exchange-owner status Kalshi has held since 2020. The difference is track record. Kalshi has run its exchange for five years and cleared its own trades since 2024. DKeX is three weeks old as of this writing. It’s built on real infrastructure and DraftKings is pushing serious volume through it (roughly $3.4 billion annualized consumer volume, $11.3 billion total as of late June), but “brand new exchange” is a fact worth weighing.
Markets: Kalshi by a mile. DraftKings has no political markets at all, no weather, no culture. If your interest in prediction markets extends past the scoreboard and a few econ prints, DraftKings can’t serve it.
Fees favor different traders. DraftKings’ $0.02 flat per contract in the $0.20-$0.96 range beats Kalshi’s $1.75 peak at coin-flip prices when you’re a taker. But Kalshi’s limit orders pay a quarter of the taker rate, and DraftKings doesn’t offer limit orders at all. You take DraftKings’ price or you don’t trade. For anyone who thinks in spreads, that’s disqualifying.
Bonus: DraftKings wins on size. Spend $5, get $25 in Predictions Dollars (platform credit, expires after a year). Kalshi’s trade-$10-get-$10 is smaller but pays in real funds. Take both if you’re eligible.
The Combos product is DraftKings’ genuine differentiator. Launched mid-May 2026, it supports parlay-style multi-leg contracts, and DraftKings says over 30% of its customers have used it. Kalshi has nothing comparable. If parlays are your thing, DK built the only regulated exchange product that feels like one.
When to Pick Kalshi
You’re in a DraftKings Sportsbook state, where DK won’t offer you sports contracts anyway.
You want politics, weather, climate, or culture markets.
You want limit orders and maker economics instead of market-orders-only.
You trade at prices where Kalshi’s formula rounds toward zero.
You want a five-year-old exchange rather than a brand-new one.
Get $10 when you trade $10 — Kalshi bonus →
When to Pick DraftKings Predictions
You’re in one of the 18 sports states and want a sportsbook-style interface with American odds.
You already have a DraftKings account and want everything in one app (the unified DraftKings app or the standalone Predictions app, plus desktop web).
You want Combos, the closest thing to a regulated parlay.
The $25-for-$5 bonus beats Kalshi’s $10 and you want both anyway.
Flat two-cent fees suit your mid-price trading style better than Kalshi’s peak.
Can You Use Both?
In the 18 sports states, absolutely. Stack $35 in combined bonuses and keep DraftKings for parlay-style Combos while Kalshi handles everything else. In DK Sportsbook states, the question answers itself: Kalshi is the only one of the two that will sell you a sports contract.
Bottom Line
DraftKings built something real with DKeX, and the Combos product shows it understands what sportsbook customers actually want. But a sports prediction market that can’t offer sports in 32 states, carries no political markets, and won’t take a limit order is a niche product wearing a big brand.
Kalshi is the fuller exchange in every dimension that matters to a trader. Start there, and add DraftKings only if your state and your parlay habit call for it. Open a Kalshi account.
Disclosures: PredictQ may receive compensation when readers sign up for platforms through links on this page. Information accurate as of July 2026. Kalshi operates a CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market and clearinghouse; its sports contracts are blocked or contested in several states. DraftKings Predictions is operated by GUS III LLC, a CFTC-registered Introducing Broker, with trades executing on DKeX, DraftKings’ CFTC-licensed exchange. Trading event contracts involves significant risk. This content is for informational purposes only. Must be 18 or older (21+ in some states). If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.