What Is Gas Fees?
Definition
Gas fees are the transaction costs paid to blockchain validators for processing and confirming transactions. They vary by chain — near-zero on Solana, variable on Ethereum.
Every blockchain transaction requires computational resources to process and validate. Gas fees are the payment to the network for this work. The term "gas" comes from Ethereum, where each operation in a smart contract costs a specific amount of "gas units," and the total fee is gas units multiplied by the gas price.
- Solana: ~$0.001-0.01 per transaction. Uses a priority fee system — you can pay more for faster inclusion during congestion.
- Ethereum mainnet: $2-50+ per transaction. Varies dramatically with network demand. Complex operations (like deploying contracts) cost more.
- Base (L2): $0.01-0.10 per transaction. Inherits Ethereum's security at a fraction of the cost.
When creating tokens with CoinDevTools, the gas fee is separate from the platform's service fee. On Solana, gas is negligible. On Ethereum, it can be a significant cost during high-congestion periods.
- Deploy during low-activity hours (weekends, early morning UTC)
- Use L2 chains (Base) for Ethereum-compatible tokens at lower cost
- On Solana, priority fees are optional but recommended for reliability
Related Terms
Smart Contract
A smart contract is a self-executing program stored on a blockchain that automatically enforces the rules of an agreement when predefined conditions are met.
ERC-20 Token
ERC-20 is the most widely used token standard on Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains, defining how fungible tokens are created and transferred.
SPL Token
An SPL token is the standard fungible token format on the Solana blockchain, equivalent to ERC-20 on Ethereum.