How to Create an Ethereum Token (ERC-20)
Ethereum mainnet is where the standard was written and where the deepest liquidity still lives. It is also the one chain where the gas price at the moment you click decides whether the launch costs a few dollars or a few hundred. Here is the whole sequence, with the numbers.
Short answer
Check the gas price, fund a wallet with 0.03 ETH plus gas, decide name, symbol, supply and decimals, open the CoinDevTools Ethereum token creator, fill in the four values and confirm one transaction. The token is live on mainnet with the supply in your wallet and verification submitted to Etherscan. Then add liquidity so it can trade.
What you are deploying
An ERC-20 is a contract that keeps a table of balances and lets holders move them, with a fixed interface every wallet, exchange and DEX already understands. CoinDevTools deploys OpenZeppelin's implementation with an Ownable extension and writes your name, symbol, decimals, supply and owner address into the source before compiling. No tax logic, no owner-only mint, no hidden functions, no constructor arguments. It is the same contract shape as a token deployed on Base through this site; only the chain, the gas and the explorer differ.
The values are compiled in and permanent. The supply you type is the supply on Etherscan for the life of the contract. If that number is not final in your head yet, decide it before opening the form, not in it.
The steps
Check the gas price before you start
Ethereum mainnet is the one chain where timing changes the bill by ten times. Look at the current base fee in gwei in your wallet or on Etherscan's gas tracker. A weekend morning in UTC is usually cheap; a big NFT mint or market move is not.
Fund a wallet with enough ETH for fee plus gas
MetaMask, Rabby, Coinbase Wallet or a hardware wallet through any of them. You need 0.03 ETH for the CoinDevTools fee plus the gas estimate the form shows you, plus a margin for the liquidity transaction afterwards.
Decide name, symbol, supply and decimals
Decimals is 18 on Ethereum unless you have a specific integration that needs otherwise. Supply is fixed at deploy for a standard ERC-20. These four values are compiled into the contract and cannot be changed afterwards.
Open the Ethereum token creator and connect
On the CoinDevTools Ethereum page, connect the wallet and confirm it is on Ethereum mainnet (chain ID 1). The form shows the fee and a live gas estimate before anything is signed.
Review the summary, then confirm one transaction
Every value is repeated on the summary. Read it once. Your wallet then shows a single contract-creation transaction; approve it. Confirmation takes twelve seconds to a couple of minutes depending on the gas price you accepted.
Check it on Etherscan
The success screen links the new contract on etherscan.io with the full supply in the owner wallet. Source verification is submitted automatically; the verification guide has the exact compiler settings if you ever need to finish it by hand.
Add liquidity, then decide on ownership
A token with no pool has no price. Add liquidity on Uniswap or another Ethereum DEX, then renounce ownership if you want the contract immutable and lock or burn the LP if you want buyers to see that the pool cannot be pulled.
What the gas actually costs
Gas is units multiplied by price. A standard OpenZeppelin ERC-20 deploy uses roughly 1.2 million gas units; the price is whatever mainnet is charging when you sign, quoted in gwei. The CoinDevTools fee of 0.03 ETH is separate and does not move. The table is the deploy alone; adding liquidity is a second transaction of a few hundred thousand units.
| Gas price | Deploy gas | When |
|---|---|---|
| 2 gwei | ≈ 0.0024 ETH | quiet network |
| 10 gwei | ≈ 0.012 ETH | normal weekday |
| 30 gwei | ≈ 0.036 ETH | busy |
| 100 gwei | ≈ 0.12 ETH | congestion spike; wait it out |
The same deploy on Base uses the same units at a fraction of a gwei and lands at cents. If nothing about your launch requires mainnet, the Base guide is the same process for a hundredth of the gas, and the Base vs Ethereum comparison covers when each is right.
The mistakes that cost real money on mainnet
Deploying into a gas spike
The contract is identical at 2 gwei and at 100 gwei. Only the bill changes, by fifty times. If the estimate in the form looks high, close the tab and come back in a few hours.
Running out of ETH between deploy and liquidity
The deploy is the first of at least two transactions; adding liquidity is the second and it also pays gas. Fund the wallet for both before you start.
Choosing mainnet when the audience is on Base
Most new-token trading volume in 2026 is on L2s. If your buyers are there, a mainnet token makes them bridge to reach you. Mainnet is the right choice when an exchange, integration or institutional counterparty requires it.
Typos in name or symbol
Compiled in, permanent, and copied by every aggregator. There is no rename on a standard ERC-20.
Leaving the contract unverified
Etherscan shows an unverified contract as a hex blob. Verification is free and off-chain, and it is submitted for you after a CoinDevTools deploy.
After the deploy
Verification is submitted for you and usually attaches within minutes; the verification guide has the exact compiler settings, which are identical on Etherscan. Then add liquidity so the token has a price, renounce ownership if you want it immutable, and burn the LP if you want buyers to see the pool cannot be pulled. Each is one transaction, each pays mainnet gas, so do them in the same quiet window as the deploy.
Related
Create your Ethereum token
Standard OpenZeppelin ERC-20 on mainnet, deployed from your wallet, verified automatically. 0.03 ETH plus gas.
Open the Ethereum token creatorFAQ
How much does it cost to create an Ethereum token?+
The CoinDevTools fee is 0.03 ETH. Gas for the deploy is about 1.2 million gas units multiplied by the gas price at the moment you sign: roughly 0.0024 ETH at 2 gwei, 0.012 ETH at 10 gwei, 0.036 ETH at 30 gwei. Adding liquidity is a second transaction with its own gas.
Do I need to know Solidity?+
No. The contract is OpenZeppelin's ERC20 plus Ownable with your name, symbol, decimals, supply and owner address written into the source before it is compiled. You choose the values; the code is the standard implementation.
Can I create the token online without installing anything?+
Yes. A browser wallet extension or a mobile wallet with a browser is all that is needed. There is no Remix, no Hardhat, no command line.
Can I change the supply later?+
No. A standard ERC-20 fixes the supply, name, symbol and decimals at deployment. Ownership can be renounced later and liquidity can be added or removed at any time.
Is the token verified on Etherscan?+
Verification is submitted automatically after the deploy. If the Contract tab has not picked up the source after a few minutes, the verification guide lists the exact compiler version, optimizer setting and EVM version to finish it manually. The process is the same on Etherscan and Basescan.
Should I launch on Ethereum or on Base?+
Same contract, same fee, very different gas and very different buyers. Base costs cents to deploy and is where most new tokens trade. Ethereum mainnet costs tens of dollars in gas on a quiet day and is the right choice when your exchange, integration or audience requires mainnet.