What Are NFT Gas Fees and How Do You Keep Them Low?

What are NFT gas fees? They're the small fees you pay a blockchain network to process a transaction, such as minting, buying, selling or sending an NFT. The fee goes to the people who run the network, not to the creator or the marketplace. How much you pay depends mostly on which blockchain you use and how busy it is at that moment. This guide explains gas in plain words and shows simple ways to keep it low, with Liquid NFTs on Polygon as a worked example.

What is a gas fee in simple terms?

A gas fee is the cost of getting your transaction recorded on a blockchain. Every action that changes something on-chain, from minting an NFT to approving a token, needs computing work from the network, and gas is how that work is paid for.

Gas is the unit of work a transaction needs, so a simple transfer needs less than a complicated mint. The gas price is what you pay for each unit, and it moves up and down with demand. The fee is the two multiplied together, paid in the network's own coin.

New to the words? Our NFT Glossary explains them, and What Is an NFT? covers the basics.

Why do you have to pay gas to buy an NFT?

You pay gas because buying an NFT is a transaction the network has to process and record permanently. The people who run the network's computers are paid in gas for doing that work and keeping the blockchain secure.

Gas is separate from the NFT's price. When you mint or buy, you pay the price to the seller or the collection, and the gas fee to the network on top.

Which coin do you pay gas in?

You pay gas in the blockchain's own coin, not in the token the NFT is priced in. On Polygon that coin is POL, on Ethereum it's ETH, and on BNB Chain it's BNB.

That's why you need a little of the network's coin in your wallet even if the NFT itself is priced in a stablecoin. Without it, the transaction can't go through.

What makes NFT gas fees high or low?

Three things make gas fees high or low: which blockchain you use, how busy that network is, and how complicated your transaction is.

At the time of writing, Polygon fees are usually a few pence, while Ethereum fees can be much higher. When lots of people are transacting at once, such as during a popular mint, the gas price goes up. Minting, approving a token and listing for sale each use different amounts of gas.

How do you keep NFT gas fees low?

The simplest way to keep gas fees low is to use a lower-cost network and transact when it's quieter. A few habits help too.

Pick a low-fee chain when a collection is available on more than one. Avoid busy moments, such as the first minutes of a big launch, if you're not in a hurry. Leave the fee setting on standard unless you really need speed, because a faster option costs more. Keep a little extra of the network's coin so a transaction doesn't fail, since a failed transaction can still cost gas. And read the fee in your wallet pop-up before you confirm, every time.

Do failed or cancelled transactions still cost gas?

Yes, a failed transaction usually still costs gas, because the network did the work of trying to process it. The most common causes are not having enough of the network's coin, or setting the wallet to the wrong network.

Cancelling a pending transaction also means sending a new one, which has its own small fee. Checking everything before you confirm is the cheapest habit there is.

Do token approvals cost gas?

Yes, approving a token is its own transaction, so it costs gas. Many mints and purchases need two steps: first you approve the marketplace to spend your token, then you confirm the actual purchase.

Only approve the amount you need when your wallet gives you that choice, and remove approvals you no longer use. Our Wallet Safety Basics guide explains why.

What do gas fees look like on Liquid NFTs?

Liquid NFTs runs on several chains, including Polygon, Ethereum, BNB Chain and BESC, and ANON's collections are on Polygon. When you mint on Liquid, you'll usually see two wallet pop-ups: first an approval for the token the NFT is priced in, then the mint itself. Each has a small gas fee in POL.

At the time of writing, both fees on Polygon are usually a few pence. Those gas fees are separate from Liquid's own fees. Liquid's official About page says at least 50% of each new mint goes into that NFT's liquidity, 40% to the creator, 5% to the platform and 5% to the liquidity of existing NFTs on Liquid. That last share means every mint on Liquid, whichever collection it's in, adds a little to the others, so ANON NFTs is always glad to see other Liquid collections do well.

Our step-by-step guide to buying an NFT walks through the whole mint, and you can browse every ANON collection on our Collections page.

What else do beginners ask about gas fees?

How much is a gas fee for an NFT? It depends on the network and how busy it is. At the time of writing, Polygon fees are usually a few pence, and other networks can cost much more.

Who gets the gas fee? The people who run the blockchain network. The creator and the marketplace don't receive it.

Can I get a gas fee refunded? No. Once a transaction is processed, or fails, the gas is spent.

Why does my wallet say I don't have enough gas? You need a little of the network's own coin, such as POL on Polygon, even if the NFT is priced in another token.

Are there NFTs with no gas fees? Some sites cover the fee for you or delay it until later, but someone still pays it at some point.

How can you check it yourself?

Every transaction and its fee is recorded on a block explorer, so you can see exactly what you paid. Our guide to checking backing on-chain shows you how to read the blockchain yourself, and the NFT FAQ answers more beginner questions.