© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.
Look, before you even think about sending anything on Solana, grab 0.01 SOL and park it in your wallet. That's your fee buffer. Why? Because every single tx needs SOL for fees-even if you're just swapping USDC. Run out, and you're stuck. I usually top up from Phantom or Backpack whenever I dip below that. Saved me during a mad NFT drop last week.
And here's the magic: at today's prices, say SOL's at $150, that's like $1.50 total. Covers hundreds of txs. Pretty much zero stress.
Okay, base fee. It's dead simple. Every tx pays exactly 0.000005 SOL. That's 5,000 lamports. Super short sentence. Boom.
What's a lamport? 1 SOL = 1 billion lamports. So this is dirt cheap-$0.00075 if SOL's $150. Half a penny? Nah, way less. I usually don't even notice it deducted.
But wait, it's per signature. Most txs? One sig. Simple SOL send? 0.000005 SOL. Token transfer? Same. The thing is, fancier stuff like swaps might need more compute units, bumping it a hair-but still under 0.00001 SOL easy.
Why fixed? Solana's not like Ethereum auctions. No gas wars. Base fee stays rock steady. Spam proof, validator paid, and burned half the time. Honest.
At $150 SOL:
Sound familiar? Yeah, that's why Solana's for noobs and pros alike.
Now, priority fees. Optional. But lifesaver during chaos. Network busy? Like meme coin pumps or airdrops? Your base tx sits in line. Add priority, and validators bump you up.
How? It's microlamports per compute unit (CU). You request CUs upfront-say 200k for a swap. Set price like 100 microlamports/CU. Total priority? Micros x CUs. Often 0.0001-0.001 SOL. Still peanuts, under $0.15.
In my experience, during normal times? Skip it. Base alone lands in seconds. But Jito tips? That's the hotness now. Wallets auto add 'em sometimes. Why does this matter? Miss a trade by 2 secs, kiss profits goodbye.
| Network Vibe | Priority Needed? | Typical Add On | Total Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chill (weekdays) | No | 0 SOL | 0.000005 SOL |
| Busy (evenings) | Maybe | 0.00005 SOL | 0.000055 SOL |
| Congestion (NFT mint) | Yes | 0.0001-0.001 SOL | 0.000105-0.001005 SOL |
See? Even maxed out, cheaper than your coffee tip.
Failed tx? Still pay. Validators worked. But at 0.000005? Who cares. Keep that 0.01 SOL buffer.
Quick math hack: Wallets show USD equiv. Phantom does it perfect. Review before signing. Total under $0.01? Green light.
What's next? Simulate first. Devs use Solana CLI: solana test validator or RPC simulate. But for you? Wallet's enough.
Tx stuck? "Insufficient funds for fees." Classic. Fix: Buy 0.01 SOL on ramp like Moonpay. Instant.
Priority too low, tx drops? Check Solana Beach or Solscan for congestion. Bump to 500 microlamports/CU. Resend.
During spikes, average fee hits 0.00025 SOL. Still $0.0375. But if you're trading 100x/day? Adds up to $3.75. I track with OKX dashboard-shows live averages.
And storage: Creating SPL token account? 0.002 SOL rent. Close it later: closeAccount in wallet. Get it back. Don't hoard empty accounts.
Phantom's my go to. Sliders for priority: low (free), med (0.00005), high (dynamic). Perfect.
Backpack? Similar, plus Jito bundles for bundles-group txs, one fee.
OKX Wallet: Auto estimates. Great for swaps.
CLI nerds? Use ComputeBudgetProgram.setComputeUnitPrice({microLamports: 1000}). Add to tx instructions. Lands fast.
Pro tip: For bots, poll RPC for recent priority stats. QuickNode add on spits percentiles: low 50th, high 95th. Set.
Last pump, network clogged. Base tx: 10 sec wait. I added 200 microlamports x 300k CUs = 0.00006 SOL priority. Landed in 400ms.
Hack: Undershoot CUs. Request 200k, use 150k. Saves fee. But don't lowball-tx fails, fee gone.
Question: Why not always max priority? Validators prioritize highest bids. Overpay, waste SOL. Tune it.
Failed a ton? Retry with exponential backoff + fee ramp. Code it if botting.
Solana crushes. Simple transfer: $0.00075. ETH? $2-10 base, spikes to $50. Savings? 99.99%.
Trader like me, 20 swaps/day: Solana $0.02 total. TradFi broker? $100+. Game changer.
Remit $50 home? Solana $0.00075. Western Union $5-25. Family keeps almost all.
But Ethereum's got L2s now-Arbitrum cheaper sometimes. Still, Solana's raw speed + low base wins for high volume.
NFT mints. Base + priority 0.0002 SOL. But 10k bots? Yours needs 0.001+ to win. Or bundle via Jito-pay once for 5 txs.
Smart contract deploys: 0.0001-0.001 SOL. Test on devnet first. Free there.
Multi sig? Extra signatures = extra 0.000005 each. Rare, but watch.
I check balance mornings. Under 0.1 SOL? Refill. Set alerts in Backpack.
Close dust accounts monthly. Reclaim 0.002 SOL x 10 = 0.02 SOL back. Free money.
For DeFi? Jupiter or Raydium show fee previews. Always sim.
Long txs? Break 'em. One big swap vs two small. Fees double, but safer.
Honestly, after a week, you forget fees exist. That's Solana.
Wanna level up? JS snippet for priority.
Grab recent fees:
const params = { account: 'YourProgramIdHere', numBlocks: 10
};
const { result } = await rpc.fetchEstimatePriorityFees(params);
const prio = result.percomputeunit.high; // Say 200 micros
const ix = ComputeBudgetProgram.setComputeUnitPrice({ microLamports: prio });
tx.add(ix);Add to any tx. Boom, dynamic fees. I run this in my bot. 99% land rate.
Issues? RPC rate limits. Use paid endpoint like Helius.
Sarah sells crafts. $20 item on Solana marketplace: fee $0.00075. Keeps 99.996%. Vs Stripe 3% ($0.60).
Miguel trades: 50 DEX swaps/day. $0.50 fees. Broker? $250. Profits skyrocket.
You sending tips? 1 USDT: $0.00075. Venmo free? But no chain ownership.
Potential issue: SOL price moons to $500. Fees $0.0025. Still nada. But buffer scales-keep 0.05 SOL then.
There. Now estimate like a pro. Hit a snag? Tweak priority, retry. You'll nail it.
© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.