# Cheapest Blockchain Fees: Median Cost per Transaction

> Cheapest blockchain fees compared: the median and high cost of a transaction, a native transfer and a stablecoin transfer on each chain, in USD.

Markdown copy of https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/cheapest-blockchain-fees

**Question:** Which blockchain is cheapest to transact on right now?

- Kind: Table in Voltfin Strata
- Topic: [Layer 1 chains](https://voltfincrypto.com/topics/chains)
- Chains: Multi-chain, Solana, Base, BNB Chain, Tron, Polygon, TON, XRP Ledger
- Status: Planned. The data is not published yet, so this page states no figure; each figure will open its receipt when it is.

The cheapest chain depends on what you send. A plain transfer of the native token, a stablecoin transfer and a contract call can cost very different amounts on the same chain, and an average fee is pulled up by a few expensive transactions. For each chain, this table shows the median and the high fee that transactions actually paid on the latest day, and what a native transfer and a stablecoin transfer cost.

Sort it by the action you care about, and read the fee model column before comparing: on Tron a USDT transfer burns TRX only when the sender has no staked energy, and some chains charge fees in a stablecoin. Every row is computed from the day's transactions and pinned to its blocks, with the price read used for USD.

## Blueprint

One row: One row per chain on the latest complete UTC day

- **Chain** (`chain`): The chain the row describes.
- **Median fee** (`median_fee_usd`, USD): The median fee of all successful transactions on the day, in USD at the day's price.
- **High fee, 90th percentile** (`p90_fee_usd`, USD): The fee that nine in ten of the day's transactions paid at or below, in USD.
- **Native transfer** (`native_transfer_usd`, USD): The median fee of transactions that only move the chain's native token, in USD.
- **Stablecoin transfer** (`stablecoin_transfer_usd`, USD): The median fee of transactions that only transfer a stablecoin, in USD; on Tron, without staked energy.
- **Median fee, native unit** (`median_fee_native`): The median transaction fee in the chain's own fee token, before any price conversion.
- **Fee token** (`fee_token`): The token fees are paid in: the native token, or a stablecoin on chains that charge fees in one.
- **Fee model** (`fee_model`): How the chain prices transactions: gas, compute units, resources or a flat cost.
- **7-day change** (`change_7d`): Change in the median fee in USD against the same chain's median 7 days earlier.
- **Price source** (`price_source`): The oracle feed used for USD, or the off-chain reference price where no feed exists.
- **Receipt** (`receipt`): The day's first and last block and the reads behind the medians.

## How it will be measured

- Median and 90th percentile fees are taken over every successful transaction on the chain in the UTC day, in the native unit, from each chain's own fee field.
- Native transfer and stablecoin transfer fees are medians over transactions that only move the native token, or only call a stablecoin's transfer, such as ERC-20, TRC-20, SPL and jetton transfers.
- On Tron, the stablecoin transfer fee is the TRX burned when no staked energy is used; transfers that use staked or rented energy are counted apart.
- USD values use an on-chain oracle price at the day's last block where one exists, and an off-chain reference price otherwise, named in the row.
- Each row links to the day's first and last block and to the reads behind its medians.

## Data it needs

- `chain_fees_daily` (to build): Fees paid per chain per day in the native token: base fee and priority fee percentiles, total fees, and the share burned where the chain burns fees.
- `token_transfers_daily` (to build): ERC-20 and native transfer counts, volume and unique senders and receivers per token per chain per day.
- `stablecoins` (published): Every tracked stablecoin contract: issuer, peg, chain, decimals and whether it is native or bridged.
- `native_prices_daily` (to build): Reference prices of major assets read from on-chain oracle feeds (Chainlink latestRoundData) at each day's last block, with each round's update time.
- Source: Each chain's fee field per successful transaction, for daily medians and 90th percentiles
- Source: Transactions that only transfer the native token, per chain
- Source: Stablecoin transfer calls (ERC-20, TRC-20, SPL and jetton transfers) to registry contracts
- Source: Tron receipts: energy_usage and energy_fee of USDT transfers, to separate burned from staked energy
- Source: Chainlink price feeds at day-end blocks; off-chain reference prices where no on-chain feed exists

## Questions

### Which blockchain has the lowest fees?

It changes with activity and token prices, and it depends on the action. Sort the table by the median fee for the action you need, and check the high fee too: a chain with a low median can still be expensive at busy moments.

### What is the cheapest way to send USDT?

Sort by the stablecoin transfer column among the chains where USDT is issued and the receiver can accept it. The cheapest chain only helps if the exchange or wallet on the other side supports it, and on Tron the cost also depends on whether the sender holds staked energy.

### Why use the median fee rather than the average?

A few large transactions, such as liquidations or priority bids during a token launch, can pull the average far above what a typical user pays. The median is what the middle transaction paid, which is closer to what you will pay.

### Are layer 2 fees included?

Yes. Layer 2 networks are listed like other chains, with what users pay on the layer 2 itself. Part of that fee covers posting data to the chain it settles on, which the layer 2 pages show in detail.

## Glossary

- **Median fee**: The fee paid by the middle transaction of the day when all are sorted by fee: half paid less and half paid more.
- **Fee model**: How a chain prices transactions: gas on EVM chains, signatures and compute units on Solana, resources on Tron or a flat cost on others.
- **Stablecoin transfer**: A transaction that only calls a stablecoin's transfer function, such as USDT or USDC moving between two addresses.

## Related apps

- [Blockchain Fees by Chain: Daily Totals](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/blockchain-fees-by-chain)
- [USDT Transfer Fees by Chain](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/usdt-transfer-fees-by-chain)
- [USDT TRC20 Transfer Fee Tracker: Tron Energy Cost](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/usdt-trc20-transfer-fee)
- [Ethereum L2 Fees Compared: Cost per Transaction](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/ethereum-l2-fees)
- [ETH Transaction Fees by Action: Transfer, Swap, Bridge](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/eth-transaction-fee-by-action)
- [Blockchain Revenue Rankings: Monthly League Table](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/blockchain-revenue-rankings)

Build it in Voltfin Studio: https://app.voltfincrypto.com/signup?next=%2F