Three fee components on your receipt
Solana transactions show a base fee (5,000 lamports per signature in typical cases), a compute unit consumption figure, and optionally a priority fee derived from compute unit limit × compute unit price.
Raising compute unit price increases the priority fee. It does not increase the base fee or change how much compute your program actually uses.
Congestion is local and temporary
Priority fees matter most when many transactions compete for limited block space at the same time — common during popular NFT mints or heavy DEX activity. Outside these windows, a default priority fee often suffices.
Check recent blocks in an explorer: if most successful transactions in the last minute show elevated compute unit prices, you are likely in a congestion window.
When a higher fee does not help
- Your transaction fails simulation due to program logic — no fee level fixes a custom program error
- Compute unit limit is set below actual consumption — raise the limit first
- Blockhash expired — refresh and resubmit rather than raising fees
A simple decision rule
For routine transfers during quiet periods: default settings. For time-sensitive swaps during visible congestion: set compute unit limit from simulation, then set compute unit price at or slightly above the median of recent successful transactions in similar programs.
Our Fee Estimation Clinic walks through live examples and failed transactions caused by fee misconfiguration.