The Real Cost of Launching a Token on Solana in 2026

People say Solana is cheap to build on, and at the protocol level it is. Still, many first-time token creators pay far more than the network charges, because most token-creator websites add their own fee. This post goes through what the network charges for a token launch, so you can tell which part of the bill is the network and which part is the website.

What the Solana network charges

Creating a standard SPL token with metadata and an initial supply takes a handful of on-chain operations, and each has a cost. Solana's fees reference documents the fee model.

Line item	Typical cost	What it's for
Network fee	~0.000005 SOL per signature	Paid to validators, the same small fee as any transaction
Mint account rent	~0.0011 SOL	Rent-exemption deposit for the mint account
Token account rent	~0.0015 SOL	Rent-exemption deposit for your own associated token account, which holds the initial supply
Metadata account rent	~0.0041 SOL	Rent-exemption deposit for the on-chain Metaplex metadata account (name, symbol, logo URI)
Logo/image storage	A few thousandths of a SOL, depending on size	Paying Arweave (through a storage provider such as Irys) to host the token image permanently

In total, a full launch with the mint, initial supply, on-chain metadata and a logo costs around 0.01 SOL in network and storage costs. At most SOL prices that's somewhere between a fraction of a dollar and a few dollars. Revoking mint and freeze authority afterwards is one more transaction at the usual ~0.000005 SOL network fee. Revoking needs no extra rent.

That is everything the network and storage charge. Anything else you're asked to pay is the website's own pricing.

Where platform fees come from

Most token-creator websites cost nothing to visit. The transaction they build for you, though, includes an extra transfer to their own wallet before or alongside the token creation. Charging for the service is fair. Building and running a token creator costs money. The trouble starts when the fee isn't shown clearly, or when it's presented as a network cost you couldn't avoid.

Some patterns to look out for when you compare token creators:

• A flat SOL fee added to the mint transaction and not listed apart from the network fee, so it looks like part of what Solana charges.
• Authority revocation sold as a separate paid step. You mint for free and then find that revoking mint and freeze authority, the step that builds trust, costs extra.
• Logo hosting priced well above what Arweave storage costs.
• "Premium" bundles with verified badges, listing submissions or pool creation, priced far above what those services cost elsewhere and offered at the moment you're most likely to click through.

None of this breaks any rules, and plenty of honest teams charge for token creation because that's their product. What you should be able to do is look at each transaction and tell which SOL goes to the network and which goes to the platform.

What Solstack charges and where you see it

Solstack builds the same transactions as any other creator: mint, initial supply, metadata and optional revocation. On top of the network and storage costs above it adds one flat fee of 0.1 SOL, which sits at the bottom of the range in the chart. Revocation is included. The review screen lists the fee as its own line before your wallet opens. Inside the transaction it is a plain SOL transfer to Solstack's fee wallet, and your wallet shows it next to everything else. There's no paid tier for revoking authorities, no paid badge, and logo storage costs what Arweave charges.

Apply the same test to Solstack that you would to anyone else, and read the transaction your wallet shows you. Every instruction should go to the network, the storage provider, your own accounts, or a fee you were told about beforehand.

You can try it with the SPL Token Creator. Connect a wallet and fill in the details, and the review screen lists each cost before you sign.