When you see Solana fees quoted in lamports rather than SOL, it can seem confusing at first. Lamports are simply the smallest denomination of SOL, similar to how cents relate to dollars — but with far more decimal places.

What Is a Lamport?

A lamport is the smallest unit of SOL, named after Leslie Lamport, a pioneering computer scientist known for his work on distributed systems and clocks — concepts foundational to Solana's Proof of History. The relationship is: 1 SOL = 1,000,000,000 lamports (one billion). This means 1 lamport = 0.000000001 SOL (one billionth of a SOL).

Lamports make it practical to quote fees at sub-cent precision, ensuring Solana remains affordable even as SOL's price increases.

SolFees.org

Lamports and Transaction Fees

The base fee per signature is 5,000 lamports = 0.000005 SOL. At $100 SOL: $0.0005. At $200 SOL: $0.001. At $300 SOL: $0.0015. Even if SOL reaches high prices, lamport-denominated fees ensure transactions remain affordable. The fee is set in lamports, not USD, so it scales with network economics rather than dollar price.

Priority Fees in Micro-Lamports

Priority fees are quoted in micro-lamports per compute unit — an even smaller unit. 1 micro-lamport = 0.000001 lamports = 0.000000000001 SOL (one trillionth of SOL). This granularity lets the network set precise priority fee markets that can scale from nearly zero (during quiet periods) to meaningful amounts (during peak demand) without ever becoming prohibitive.

Rent-Exempt Deposits in Lamports

Creating a new token account on Solana requires a small rent-exempt deposit — approximately 0.00203928 SOL (2,039,280 lamports). This deposit is fully refundable when the account is closed. It's not a fee but rather a collateral requirement to prevent spam account creation. Understanding this distinction helps users account for the full cost of on-chain interactions: a one-time rent deposit plus small per-transaction fees for all subsequent operations.