How can you pay lower gas fees on Ethereum?
Fees rise and fall with demand, so checking a gas tracker and waiting for a quieter moment can cut your bill.1,2 For many jobs, a layer 2 network built on Ethereum costs much less.2,3
Fees follow demand
Fees get high when many people want space in the same blocks. They raise their tips to get ahead of each other.1 Popular apps and busy trading can cause spikes.2 The CryptoKitties project, launched in November 2017, became so popular that it clogged the network and sent fees very high.2
1. Check a gas tracker
A gas tracker shows current gas prices, so you can send for less. Etherscan's tracker is one of several that ethereum.org lists.1 It studies traffic on the network and recommends gas prices for that moment.4
2. Wait for a quieter moment
Gas prices change every twelve seconds. When they are high, waiting just a few minutes can cut what you pay a lot.2 ethereum.org also says Ethereum is generally cheaper when North America is asleep.2
Quiet periods bring the base fee down. When blocks are below their target size, the base fee falls, by up to 12.5% per block.1
3. Don't overpay the tip
The right tip depends on how busy the network is. You may need more when it is busy, and less when it is quiet.1 Your wallet usually suggests one for you.1
A generous max fee costs nothing extra, because the unused part is never charged.1 The tip is different: you pay all of it, as long as it fits under your max fee.5
4. Avoid failures and heavy jobs
A transaction that fails in a block still costs gas, so check before you send.1 Simple jobs cost less than jobs that run smart contracts. A plain ETH payment uses about 21,000 gas, while a swap on Uniswap uses about 184,523.2
5. Use a layer 2
Layer 2 networks are built on top of Ethereum. They offer lower fees and handle more transactions.2 ethereum.org suggests them for transactions that don't need to happen on Ethereum's main network.2
When EIP-4844 was written in 2022, its authors said Optimism and Arbitrum often charged fees about 3 to 8 times lower than Ethereum itself.6 EIP-4844 then added "blobs": a cheaper way for layer 2s to post data to Ethereum, kept for about 18 days rather than forever, with its own separate fee market.6,7
Blobs went live in the Dencun upgrade on 13 March 2024.7 That upgrade mainly cut layer 2 fees.7 ethereum.org says it did little for fees on Ethereum itself.7
Layer 2s are not all equally safe. ethereum.org suggests starting with small transactions.3
Module 6 covers layer 2 networks and bridges in detail.
Before the quiz
The quiz covers all six lessons. Some questions use the Brindlecove Labs case, and some change their numbers on every try, so practise the fee formula before you start.
- Gas and fees. ethereum.org developer docs, page updated 24 June 2026.
- Gas fees. ethereum.org, page updated 8 April 2025.
- Layer 2. ethereum.org.
- What is Gas Fee?. Etherscan Information Center (Kaven Choi), 26 November 2019, updated 21 June 2026.
- EIP-1559: Fee market change for ETH 1.0 chain. Ethereum Improvement Proposals (Vitalik Buterin and others), created 13 April 2019, status Final.
- EIP-4844: Shard Blob Transactions. Ethereum Improvement Proposals (Vitalik Buterin and others), created 25 February 2022, status Final.
- Cancun-Deneb (Dencun) FAQ. ethereum.org, page updated 24 June 2026.
General education built from the publicly available sources listed above. Not financial, legal, tax or investment advice. Naming a company, project or regulator is not an endorsement either way. Last checked 2026-10-22. Terms and disclaimer.