What is the difference between a stop market and a stop limit order?
Both wait off the book until the price reaches a trigger. A stop market then sends a market order: it fills at once, at whatever the book offers, possibly past the trigger. A stop limit sends a limit order at a price you choose: it never fills worse than that price, but if the price jumps past it, it may not fill.
- A stop market and a stop limit both wait off the book until the price reaches their trigger.
- Once triggered, a stop market sends a market order: it is sure to fill, but not at a sure price.
- A stop limit sends a limit order: it never fills worse than its limit, but may not fill at all.
- In the example, a jump from above 97.50 to 96.40 fills the stop market at 96.40 for −$144, while the stop limit at 97.00 rests unfilled and the position stays open.
- On Hyperliquid a stop market that sells must trigger below the mid price, and one that buys above it. The BuildTrade™ ticket offers the stop market.
Two stops, one difference
Both orders wait off the book until the price reaches the trigger. What they send at that moment is the difference. A stop market sends a market order, which fills at once against the best orders on the book. A stop limit sends a limit order at a second price you choose, its limit, which fills only at that price or better.
Hyperliquid’s order types describe the stop market as a market order activated when the price reaches the trigger, and the stop limit as a limit order activated the same way.
When the price jumps
When the price moves steadily through the trigger, both fill near it. The difference shows when it jumps.
Take the long from the worked examples: 40 units bought at 100.00, with a stop at 97.50. The price jumps from above 97.50 straight to 96.40. The stop market triggers and sells at 96.40: −$144, $44 more than at the trigger. A stop limit with its limit at 97.00 triggers too, but its sell at 97.00 or better finds no buyer there, so it rests on the book while the position stays open.
The risk in each
A stop market’s risk is the price: in a jump, the fill lands worse than the trigger. A stop limit’s risk is not filling: the position stays open with nothing under it, and the loss grows as the price falls.
An unfilled stop limit leaves the position open all the way down. Opened at 5× on isolated margin, the same long would reach liquidation near 82.05. How liquidation works shows where it sits at each leverage, and How TP/SL orders work walks through Hyperliquid’s own example of a stop limit left unfilled by a jump.
Room between the trigger and the limit
A stop limit fills only at its limit or better, so the gap between the trigger and the limit is the room it has to fill in a fast move. With the trigger at 97.50 and the limit at 97.00, a sell can fill anywhere from 97.50 down to 97.00, and not below.
A wider gap makes a fill more likely and the worst fill worse. A limit at the trigger itself fills only if the price trades there after the trigger. The choice is which risk to carry: a stop market accepts a worse price to be sure of getting out, and a stop limit accepts the chance of staying in to be sure of the price.
On Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid’s order types put a side rule on the stop market: one that buys must trigger above the mid price, and one that sells below it. Take-profit and stop-loss triggers watch the mark price, and a market TP/SL fills within 10% of its trigger.
In BuildTrade™, Stop in the order ticket is a stop market: it has one Trigger price field, and the confirmation shows the type as Stop market. The ticket has no stop limit. A stop limit placed on Hyperliquid directly is listed in Open Orders and edited on Hyperliquid.
One stop, two kinds
Example numbersThe long from the worked examples: 40 units at 100.00 and a trigger at 97.50, with the stop limit’s limit at 97.00. The price jumps from above the trigger to 96.40. Each row is a price it reaches later. Fees left out.
- Entry
- 100.00
- Trigger
- 97.50
- Limit on the stop limit
- 97.00
- Stop market fill
- 96.40
- Loss if filled at the trigger
- −$100
| Price later | Stop market | Stop limit |
|---|---|---|
| 97.00 | −$144 | −$120 |
| 96.00 | −$144 | −$160 |
| 94.00 | −$144 | −$240 |
| 90.00 | −$144 | −$400 |
The stop market’s result is fixed at its fill. In the first row the price comes back to 97.00 and the stop limit fills there, $24 better than the stop market. In the others it has not come back, the stop limit is still unfilled, and its column shows the open loss.
Mistakes that cost traders money
- Reading the trigger as the fill price.
A stop market fills at whatever the book offers once triggered. In a jump, that is past the trigger.
- Leaving no room between trigger and limit.
A stop limit with its limit at its trigger fills only if the price trades there after triggering. A jump past both leaves it unfilled.
- Forgetting an unfilled stop limit.
Once triggered and resting, it is an ordinary limit order. The position stays open with nothing under it until the price comes back or it is closed another way.
- Putting a stop on the wrong side.
On Hyperliquid a stop market that sells must trigger below the mid price, and one that buys above it.
- Treating either as a guarantee.
One is sure of a fill and not of a price, the other of a price and not of a fill. Neither is sure of both.
Try it in BuildTrade™
In the Book tab on the Trade screen, look at how far apart the bids are below the price. The wider the gaps between them, the further a stop market that sells can fill past its trigger.
Leverage · Limit order · Liquidation · Margin · Mark price · Market order · Stop loss · Stop order · Take profit
Order types, Hyperliquid Docs (read October 20, 2026).
Take profit and stop loss orders (TP/SL), Hyperliquid Docs (read October 20, 2026).
BuildTrade™ is independent of, and not endorsed by, Hyperliquid.