An Ethereum gas fee equals the units of gas a transaction uses multiplied by the sum of the base fee and the priority fee. The network sets the base fee and burns it. The priority fee is an optional tip that goes to the validator. A plain ETH transfer uses 21,000 units of gas. With a 10 gwei base fee and a 2 gwei tip, it costs 252,000 gwei, or 0.000252 ETH. That is the worked example in the ethereum.org developer documentation. The formula comes from the ethereum.org gas guide, and the fee mechanism dates back to EIP-1559.
What changed most recently
- Gas limit at 60 million. In an article published on 7 May 2026, ethereum.org says the community raised the L1 block gas limit from 30M to 60M during 2025. The 60M default is set out in EIP-7935, which is Final and is tied to the Fusaka upgrade. Fusaka went live on 3 December 2025.
- Fees were low in spring 2026. The same article says that on 5 May 2026, Etherscan's gas tracker showed standard gas at about 0.15 gwei. It adds that "a basic ETH transfer costs under a cent at that level." This is a snapshot, not a current quote.
- Glamsterdam is next. As of its 14 September 2026 update, the ethereum.org Glamsterdam page expects mainnet in Q4 2026, with no confirmed date. The page says the upgrade enables a "200M gas limit floor." It also lists repricings, including EIP-2780, which it says lowers the base fee for simple ETH transfers between existing accounts by up to 71%. As of October 2026, EIP-2780 is in Last Call, with a deadline of 1 November 2026, so the final numbers can still change.
The formula, term by term
Fee = units of gas used × (base fee + priority fee)
- Gas is the unit that measures the computational work an operation needs, according to ethereum.org.
- Base fee is the protocol's minimum price per unit of gas. Every transaction has to pay it.
- Priority fee (tip) is an optional extra per unit of gas. It gives validators a reason to include your transaction ahead of others.
- Gwei is the unit fees are quoted in. One gwei is 0.000000001 ETH (10⁻⁹ ETH), and 1 ETH equals 1 billion gwei.
The formula has no term for the amount of ETH being sent. Sending 0.01 ETH and sending 100 ETH both use 21,000 gas. What you pay depends on the work the transaction needs and the price per unit of gas at the moment it is included.
Gas limit and max fee: the two caps in your wallet
- Gas limit is the most gas you are willing to let a transaction consume. ethereum.org warns that if execution runs out of gas, "the EVM will revert any changes, but all the gas provided will still be consumed." A failed transaction still costs money.
- Max fee per gas (maxFeePerGas) is the most you will pay per unit of gas, base fee and tip combined. ethereum.org says it "must exceed the sum of the base fee and the tip." You get back the difference between the max fee and what was actually charged.
Under EIP-1559, the tip a validator actually receives is the smaller of two numbers: your max priority fee, or your max fee minus the block's base fee.
Worked example: a plain ETH transfer
These are the figures from the ethereum.org documentation:
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Gas used | 21,000 |
| Base fee | 10 gwei |
| Priority fee | 2 gwei |
| Total | 21,000 × 12 = 252,000 gwei = 0.000252 ETH |
| Burned (base fee) | 0.00021 ETH |
| Paid to validator (tip) | 0.000042 ETH |
With a max fee: suppose you set a max fee of 15 gwei and the block charges 10 + 2. You pay 12 gwei per unit. The unused 3 gwei × 21,000 = 63,000 gwei (0.000063 ETH) is never charged.
At spring 2026 prices: at the 0.15 gwei level ethereum.org reported for 5 May 2026, a 21,000-gas transfer costs 3,150 gwei, or 0.00000315 ETH.
To work out your own fee: add the base fee and tip your wallet shows, multiply by the gas the transaction will use, then divide by 1,000,000,000 to convert gwei to ETH.
Gas fee for a plain ETH transfer
Enter a base fee and a priority fee in gwei to see what a simple ETH transfer costs in ETH.
| Gas used to send ETH | Base fee | Priority fee (tip) | ETH per gwei | Fee for a plain ETH transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21,000 gas | 20 gwei | 3 gwei | 0.000000001 ETH | 0.000483 ETH |
| 21,000 gas | 10 gwei | 2 gwei | 0.000000001 ETH | 0.000252 ETH |
| 21,000 gas | 30 gwei | 5 gwei | 0.000000001 ETH | 0.000735 ETH |
- The base fee and priority fee are figures you enter, not current network prices.
- The gas figure is the amount listed for sending ETH, not for other kinds of transactions.
No source gives a current base fee or priority fee, so the result is only as good as the gwei prices entered and covers a plain ETH transfer only.
Gas used by common actions
The ethereum.org gas guide (page last updated 8 April 2025) lists these figures:
| Action | Units of gas |
|---|---|
| Sending ETH | 21,000 |
| Sending ERC-20 tokens | 65,000 |
| Transferring an NFT | 84,904 |
| A token swap on a decentralised exchange | 184,523 |
These are reference figures. Real usage depends on the contract involved. A token swap costs almost nine times as much as a plain transfer at the same gas price.
Who receives each part
- Base fee: burned. EIP-1559 says: "The base fee is always burned (i.e. it is destroyed by the protocol)." Nobody receives it, which removes that ETH from supply.
- Priority fee: the validator. The tip is the only part of the fee that goes to whoever includes your transaction.
Burning the base fee also limits spam. Every computation costs gas, so flooding the network with transactions costs the sender real ETH.
Why fees rise and fall
Blocks come about every twelve seconds, and the base fee can change with each one. The ethereum.org documentation sets out the rules:
- Each block targets half of the current gas limit and can grow to twice that target. The target is 30M at today's 60M limit.
- When a block uses more gas than the target, the next block's base fee goes up. When it uses less, the base fee goes down.
- The base fee moves by at most 12.5% per block. EIP-1559 sets
BASE_FEE_MAX_CHANGE_DENOMINATOR = 8.
During a rush, many full blocks in a row compound that 12.5% step. Users then raise their tips to compete for space. The ethereum.org guide names popular NFT launches, heavy trading and peak-time activity as common triggers.
How to pay less
- Pick your time. The ethereum.org guide says Ethereum "is generally cheaper to use when North America is asleep." It adds that waiting a few minutes can bring a significant drop.
- Use a layer 2. In the guide's words, layer-2 chains are "built atop Ethereum, offering lower fees and handling more transactions."
- Keep the tip modest when you are not in a hurry. The tip is the only part of the price you choose. The base fee is set by the network.
- Set a sensible max fee. You are charged only the base fee plus the tip, and the rest of the headroom is never used.
- Do not set the gas limit too low. A transaction that runs out of gas fails, and you still pay for the gas it used.
Limitations: this covers Ethereum mainnet only. Fee levels quoted here are dated snapshots, and Glamsterdam's gas changes are not final until the upgrade goes live.
