> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.circle.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Gas fees

Gas fees are the costs associated with initiating a transaction on a given
blockchain, allowing network validators to perform the requested function.

Gas fees can fluctuate due to network congestion, the type of transaction you
request, and the priority placed on your request. You can accelerate a
transaction by paying additional gas fees.

Each blockchain has its own native asset required to pay these fees. When
interacting with the blockchain, you'll need to account for the amount of this
native asset required for the requested transaction.

You can estimate transaction fees and contract execution with Circle's Wallets
API.

<Accordion title="Video Tutorial: Estimating Gas Fees for Transactions">
  Watch this video to learn about gas fees, also known as transaction fees. In
  the video, you will learn the importance of gas fees, understand how to
  estimate fees for a transfer transaction using an API and send USDC to other
  wallets using the estimates.

  <iframe src="https://fast.wistia.net/embed/iframe/gce6b8fneo?seo=true&videoFoam=true" title="Video Tutorial: Estimating Gas Fees for Transactions" width="800px" height="450px" />
</Accordion>

## Wallets gas fee configurations

When initiating a request via the Wallets APIs that requires gas fees, you have
two options for configuring your fee tolerance: **fee levels** and **gas
limits**.

**Fee levels** provide a simple way to configure your gas tolerance. Depending
on your choice, the speed in which your transaction completes compared to the
expected [blockchain confirmation](/wallets/blockchain-confirmations) timing may
vary.

You can choose between three tolerance levels:

1. `low` - a low-priority transaction, expected to take longer than the average
   amount of time to complete, with lower fees
2. `medium` - a medium-priority transaction, expected to take the average amount
   of time to complete, with average fees
3. `high` - a high-priority transaction, expected to take less than the average
   amount of time to complete, with higher fees

**Gas limits** allow for a more advanced configuration of your gas tolerance.
Setting gas limit requires the following parameters, which are all designated in
wei:

1. `gasLimit` - the base amount of gas required to process the requested
   transaction
2. `priorityFee` - an additional “tip” that can be added to the validator to
   accelerate the requested transaction
3. `maxFee` - maximum fee that can be used for the requested transaction, if the
   fee is greater, the transaction will be failed. Note that Solana has no
   concept of a max fee.

## Differences in gas fee specification

While EVM chains and Solana support fee levels, you can also assign your own gas
fee. The process differs based on the blockchain and protocols supported.

## EVM chains

When
[creating a transfer transaction](/api-reference/wallets/developer-controlled-wallets/create-developer-transaction-transfer),
you must specify `gasLimit`, `maxFee`, and `priorityFee`. Your actual fee will
be *(base fee + priority fee) \* gas used* . Note that you do not need to
specify the base fee in your transaction because it is automatically determined
and adjusted by the network based on its current congestion level.

<Note>`priorityFee` is not applicable to Arbitrum and can be left blank.</Note>

* **Base fee**: Fee set by the network based on congestion levels. It is burned
  with a transaction, which means it is removed from circulation.
* **Priority fee**: Additional fee paid to miners that expedites your
  transaction.
* **Max fee**: Maximum price you're willing to pay per unit of gas for the
  transaction. This protects against paying excessive prices when the base fee
  rises unexpectedly.

## Solana

The gas fee mechanism is similar to EIP-1559, where you can specify the
`priority fee` to incentivize miners to include your transaction in a block.
However, there's no max fee concept in Solana, and the `gasLimit` is optional as
Solana defaults to a gas limit of 200,000 micro-lamport (10<sup>-15</sup> SOL).

## Native token price for gas fee estimates

The following table shows the estimated gas fees on various blockchains, using a
trailing six-month average, and includes the date when the data was last
updated.

| Blockchain  | Price of Native Token (USD) | As of Date |
| ----------- | --------------------------- | ---------- |
| Aptos       | \$4.35                      | Sep 2024   |
| Arbitrum    | \$3,046                     | Sep 2024   |
| Avalanche   | \$28                        | Jul 2025   |
| Base        | \$3,046                     | Sep 2024   |
| Ethereum    | \$3,046                     | Sep 2024   |
| Optimism    | \$3,046                     | Sep 2024   |
| Polygon PoS | \$0.54                      | Sep 2024   |
| Solana      | \$151                       | Sep 2024   |
| Unichain    | \$3,046                     | Sep 2024   |

### Smart Contract Account (SCA) wallets

SCA wallet creation is unique to EVMs and has a gas cost in deploying the smart
contract account. Circle uses lazy deployment at the time of the first outbound
transaction, so there is no gas cost in creation and deposits.

The following table shows the estimated total gas fees in native tokens and USD
for wallet deployment and fungible token transfers on various blockchains for
SCA wallets.

| Blockchain  | Deploy Fee (native)  | Deploy Fee (USD) | Transfer Fee (native) | Transfer Fee (USD) |
| ----------- | -------------------- | ---------------- | --------------------- | ------------------ |
| Arbitrum    | 0.0000034            | \$0.010          | 0.0000021             | \$0.006            |
| Arc         | 0.003551             | \$0.003551       | 0.003523              | \$0.003523         |
| Avalanche   | 0.00324355           | \$0.0518968      | 0.00191335            | \$0.0306136        |
| Base        | 0.000000040589440509 | \$0.00012363543  | 0.000000014010345339  | \$0.00004267551    |
| Ethereum    | 0.0020745            | \$6.319          | 0.0012237             | \$3.727            |
| Monad       | 0.134501994          | -                | 0.0597872715          | -                  |
| Optimism    | 0.000000040624052029 | \$0.00012374086  | 0.000000012263512376  | \$0.00003735465    |
| Polygon PoS | 0.0372023            | \$0.020          | 0.0219454             | \$0.012            |
| Unichain    | 0.0000001            | \$0.0004         | 0.00000003            | \$0.00009          |

### Externally Owned Account (EOA) wallets

Creating an EOA wallet is free. However, both Solana and Aptos charge a one-time
fee when receiving a non-native token for the first time. On Solana, the fee is
used to create an associated token account (ATA) and can be recovered by closing
the account. On Aptos, the fee is used to store the token on the recipient's
account and is not recoverable.

The following table shows the estimated total gas fees in native tokens and USD
for account creation and fungible token transfers on various blockchains that
support EOA wallets.

| Blockchain | Account Creation Fee (native tokens) | Account Creation Fee (USD) | Token Transfer Total Fee (native tokens) | Token Transfer Total Fee (USD) |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------ | -------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Aptos      | 0.0004916                            | \$0.00213846               | 0.0005324\*                              | \$0.00231594\*                 |
| Arbitrum   | N/A                                  | N/A                        | 0.0000021                                | \$0.006                        |
| Avalanche  | N/A                                  | N/A                        | 0.0072485                                | \$0.203                        |
| Base       | N/A                                  | N/A                        | 0.000000014010345339                     | \$0.00004267551                |
| Ethereum   | N/A                                  | N/A                        | 0.0012237                                | \$3.727                        |
| Monad      | N/A                                  | N/A                        | 0.00482246                               | -                              |
| Optimism   | N/A                                  | N/A                        | 0.000000012263512376                     | \$0.00003735465                |
| Polygon    | N/A                                  | N/A                        | 0.0219454                                | \$0.012                        |
| Solana     | 0.0020910                            | \$0.316                    | 0.0000388                                | \$0.0059                       |
| Unichain   | N/A                                  | N/A                        | 0.00000003                               | \$0.00009                      |

<Note>
  **Aptos** charges an additional storage creation fee when transferring a
  fungible token to an address for the first time. The approximate total gas fees
  are:

  * First transfer to a new address: **0.0005324 APT** (\~\$0.00232 USD)
  * Subsequent transfers to the same address: **0.0000002 APT** (\~\$0.00000087
    USD)
</Note>