Choose a fee
Intended reader: anyone about to send. Goal: a transaction that confirms in the time you need, without overpaying. Prerequisites: a send in progress. Safety: picking too low is not recoverable inside this wallet. Read the warning.
What you are choosing
Section titled “What you are choosing”Not an amount. A rate, in satoshis per virtual byte. The wallet multiplies that rate by the size of the transaction it built to get the fee. See Inputs, outputs, fees, change.
Two payments of the same value can carry very different fees, because one spends more coins than the other and is therefore physically larger.
The presets
Section titled “The presets”The wallet offers live presets alongside a custom option. In the source they are labelled Standard, Fast, Instant, and Custom, ordered from cheapest and slowest to most expensive and quickest.
| Preset | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Standard | Nothing is waiting on this. Hours are fine. |
| Fast | You want it in the next few blocks. |
| Instant | It is time-sensitive, or the mempool is busy and you cannot wait. |
| Custom | You have a specific rate in mind and know why. |
Presets are computed from current network conditions, so their sat/vB values move. The number shown at the moment you approve is the one that applies.
Setting a custom rate
Section titled “Setting a custom rate”Enter the rate in sat/vB. The review screen shows the resulting fee amount before you approve, so you can check the arithmetic against your expectation.
A rate below what blocks are currently clearing will sit unconfirmed for a long time, possibly indefinitely if the network stays busy.
When the fee looks too high
Section titled “When the fee looks too high”Almost always because the transaction has many inputs. Check the input list on the review screen. A payment funded from twenty small coins is large and therefore expensive, regardless of the amount.
Options:
- Send a different amount, so a smaller set of coins covers it.
- Use coin control to select fewer, larger coins where the flow allows it. See Coin control.
- Wait for a quieter period, if the payment is not urgent.
Expected result
Section titled “Expected result”The review screen shows the fee as an amount and a rate. After broadcast, the activity entry shows the same fee.
How to verify
Section titled “How to verify”Compare the fee on the review screen with the fee in your activity entry. They should match exactly. If the confirmation is slower than the preset suggested, that is network behaviour, not a wallet error: a preset is an estimate of conditions, not a promise.