Memecoin Trading Fees, Explained

The full cost stack of a memecoin trade, platform fee, network fee, priority fee, slippage and price impact.

By Cheetah Research · Published 2026-08-18 · Updated 2026-08-18

A memecoin trade rarely costs just one fee. You typically pay four to five separate things: a platform fee, the Solana network fee, an optional priority fee, and slippage plus price impact from the pool. Only the first is fixed; the rest move with network conditions and the token’s liquidity. Adding them up is the only honest way to know what a trade cost.

The five costs

Think of a trade’s cost as a stack. Some layers are tiny, some can dwarf the rest depending on the token and the moment you trade.

Cost	Who charges it	Fixed or variable
Platform fee	Your trading platform	Fixed % (may have a minimum)
Network fee	Solana base fee	Small, roughly fixed
Priority fee	You, to prioritize inclusion	Variable, you choose
Slippage	The market, between quote and fill	Variable, you cap it
Price impact	The pool, from your trade size	Variable, bigger in thin pools

Platform fee

This is the trading interface’s cut. It should be a clearly published percentage. Cheetah charges 0.5% per trade, or 0.4% for referred users, with a minimum of $0.95 USD per trade. The minimum matters on very small trades: a fixed floor can be a large percentage of a tiny order. Full detail is on the fees page.

Solana network fee

Solana charges a small base fee per transaction, paid in SOL, to compensate validators for processing it. It is low compared with many chains and usually a minor line item, but it is real, and you need spare SOL to cover it on every trade.

Priority fee

When the network is busy, you can attach a priority fee to make validators more likely to include your transaction sooner. You choose how much. In fast-moving memecoin markets a higher priority fee can be the difference between filling and missing, but you are paying extra for speed, so spend it deliberately.

Speed vs cost

A platform that lets you configure priority fee (Cheetah does) hands you this trade-off. In calm markets keep it low; when a token is moving and blocks are congested, paying up can be worth it.

Slippage and price impact

Slippage is the gap between the price you were quoted and the price you actually got. You set a slippage tolerance: too tight and your trade fails in fast markets; too loose and you can fill at a much worse price. Price impact is related, a large buy into a thin liquidity pool moves the price against you. In illiquid memecoins, slippage and impact often cost far more than every other fee combined.

A worked example

Suppose you buy 1 SOL of a token on Cheetah as a referred user. The platform fee is 0.4% (subject to the $0.95 USD minimum). On top of that you pay the small Solana network fee, whatever priority fee you chose, and the slippage between quote and fill. If the pool is deep and the network is calm, the platform fee dominates. If the pool is thin or the network is congested, slippage and priority can dwarf it. Same headline fee, very different total, which is why you add up the whole stack, not just the percentage.

How to keep costs down

Prefer tokens with deeper liquidity to reduce slippage and price impact
Right-size trades so you are not the one moving the pool
Only pay a high priority fee when the network is actually congested
Set a sensible slippage cap, protect against fills at absurd prices
Use referral discounts where available (Cheetah’s referred rate)

Risks & limitations

Network fees, priority fees, slippage and price impact all vary with conditions, so a total cost you saw once will not repeat exactly. Fee schedules change too, always confirm the current platform fee before you rely on a figure. Lower fees do not make a trade profitable; they only reduce the cost of being right or wrong.

Sources

Base fees, priority fees and transaction processing: Solana Docs , docs.solana.com.

Cheetah’s per-trade fee and minimum: Cheetah fee schedule.