# photon fees: the 1% platform fee and the other costs of a trade

Photon takes 1% of the initial token used on each buy and each sell, collected in SOL. Both sides. So a round trip is 2% of what you committed before anything else touches it, and the platform fee usually isn't the largest number in the transaction.

Photon's own buy example: put 5 SOL in, the fee is 0.05 SOL, and 4.95 SOL goes into the purchase. The sell side is the same rate on the way out.

## what is actually leaving your wallet

| Line | Who takes it | Where you set it |
|---|---|---|
| Platform fee | Photon | fixed, not configurable |
| Network fee | Solana validators | not configurable |
| Priority fee | Solana validators | your settings |
| Price impact | the pool | your size and the pool's depth |

Only the platform fee goes to Photon. The other three go somewhere else entirely, which is why "Photon is expensive" and "that fill was expensive" are different complaints with different fixes.

If a small fill came out much worse than 1%, look at the last two rows before the first. A priority fee sized for a contested launch and applied to a fill that was never contested is money handed to a validator for nothing, and price impact on a thin pool can exceed every fee on this page combined.

![Photon's Settings, callout on PRIORITY FEE set to 0.008 SOL, above BRIBERY AMOUNT at 0.012 SOL.](https://apebrief.com/assets/media/photon-settings.png)

## the link below

Photon gives no discount for signing up through a referral link, so your fee is the same with or without one. The link below is our referral link.

> **code apebrief.** Open Photon through https://go.apebrief.com/photon/fees-inline?src=md&asset=photon%2Ffees&cta=after-resolution and paste the code where the signup shows a code field. Photon documents no discount for signing up through a link, so it costs you the same either way. It may earn us Photon points, which helps support our work, at no extra cost to you.

## how we know: every number on this page

- Photon platform fee on every buy and sell, and what it is charged on **1%** (https://pies-organization.gitbook.io/photon-trading/photon-on-sol/photon-fees-sol), checked 2026-08-28
- Photon's own worked buy example **5** (https://pies-organization.gitbook.io/photon-trading/photon-on-sol/photon-fees-sol), checked 2026-08-28
- Photon's own worked sell example **0.01** (https://pies-organization.gitbook.io/photon-trading/photon-on-sol/photon-fees-sol), checked 2026-08-28
- Photon publishes no discount for signing up through a referral link **points** (https://pies-organization.gitbook.io/photon-trading/photon-on-eth/photon-points-leaderboard), checked 2026-09-27
- derived: both legs of a round trip at the published rate **2%** (derived: 1% on the buy + 1% on the sell = 2% of the SOL committed, before network fees and price impact), checked 2026-08-28

## next

- [Where is deposit on Photon?](https://apebrief.com/photon/deposit/): Photon generates its own trading wallet and you fund it with a Deposit from your existing wallet; it is not a front end on the wallet you already have.
- [How do I withdraw on Photon?](https://apebrief.com/photon/withdraw/): Photon's Withdraw tab sends SOL from a Photon trading wallet to a wallet you choose, and Photon says to leave 0.0025 SOL plus the priority fee in the trading wallet for the withdrawal to succeed.
- [is photon better than axiom, on fees and the wallet path](https://apebrief.com/vs/axiom-photon/): Axiom if the fee decides it: signing up through a referral link takes 10% off trading fees, and cashback in SOL takes the net fee to 0.75% at the top tier.

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HTML version: https://apebrief.com/photon/fees/ · figures checked 2026-08-28