How Much Does It Cost To Make An NFT? (Mint)

You’ve probably heard of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) —or seen them associated with the Bored Ape digital artwork on Instagram. Some of these crypto-assets are worth millions, but what does it cost to create an NFT?

The cost of minting an NFT varies and ranges from $1 to $1000. The total cost depends on the type of NFT and which blockchain and marketplace you use.

NFT popularity has blown up exponentially in the digital world. This article will cover the costs of creating and listing an NFT on different marketplaces. We will also discuss how to mitigate these costs.

How much does it cost to make (mint) an NFT project?

The total price range is between $1 to $1000. The basic breakdown of the significant gas fees (transaction costs) involved in creating an NFT using this process is:

Minting fees: The cost of registering your NFT on a popular blockchain such as Ethereum, Solana, Binance Smart Chain, or Polygon and converting it into a digital asset with a unique code used across the webspace. All information is stored in smart contracts.

Account Setup fees: To sell your NFT, you must make an account on one of the popular NFT marketplaces and pay their account registration fees. The most popular NFT platform is OpenSea, and others include Rarible and Mintable.

Listing fees: There is a cost of listing your NFT for sale on the marketplace, depending on the price, type of NFT, and listing. Some marketplaces, such as the Polygon network, will waive this fee.

Service and Sales fees: Additional fees for minting your NFT. They mainly depend on which blockchain and marketplace you use. The average gas fee for minting an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain is around $70.

What exactly are NFTs?

For those unaware, NFTs stand for ‘Non-fungible Tokens’ and are digital assets that can take many different forms, usually digital art. This art is listed on an online marketplace. It can be bought using cryptocurrency, such as Ether by the blockchain Ethereum.

The minting costs involved in creating, uploading, and listing a new NFT item are highly variable as they depend on the different blockchain and marketplace you use and the type of listing. If you have your digital art ready, you can start this process immediately.

The first step to minting NFTs is converting your art into a digital asset. You can register it on an NFT-compatible blockchain such as Ethereum. You can upload it to an NFT marketplace and connect your crypto wallet to send and receive payments. The transaction speed varies across blockchains and marketplaces.

What are NFT gas fees?

Not sure what gas fees are? You probably think we’re not talking about petrol prices when mentioning gas fees. In NFT slang, ‘gas fees’ means the gas costs involved in each transaction made with NFTs. 

Gas fees compensate the blockchain miners that verify each transaction, operate the network and keep it secure. Mining is hard as it involves solving complex cryptographic algorithms that will enable the miner to validate the transaction and add it to the blockchain.

The term was coined by the popular blockchain Ethereum but is commonly used by other platforms. Gas prices tend to be volatile and fluctuate a lot depending on the traffic on the networks and the type of transaction.

Ethereum also has a ‘Gas Station’ where you can monitor current gas prices, check out different stats, and calculate transaction costs. 

How can I lower gas fees for NFTs?

Most platforms will require you to pay some fee, as stated above, but not all fees are applicable in every situation and are majorly variable. You can plan out your NFT minting process, especially if you’re not timebound, to work things around in your favor.

A popular tactic you can use to lower the gas fees for minting your NFTs on Ethereum, or any other blockchain, is to choose when traffic on the site is lowest because fewer members will be competing for space on each block. The best time is usually at night or on a weekday.

This strategy will ensure you get lower gas fees than during peak times and decrease the cost of creating your NFT. Another popular method is ‘lazy minting’ or ‘free minting.’ Simply put, lazy minting allows you to defer the cost of creating an NFT until someone buys it.

No upfront payment is required, making it more accessible and allowing sellers to mint the NFT at the point of sale without paying any fees beforehand. Some marketplaces, like OpenSea, are offering lazy minting options to encourage new creators to enter the NFT market.

Can you make an NFT for free?

You can employ a series of tactics to ensure that you pay much lower fees than usual while getting the same benefits. But is it possible to completely eradicate all sorts of fees and create an NFT entirely for free?

It is possible to do so if you either use lazy minting or a blockchain and marketplace that doesn’t charge a lot of fees. One possible combination is the Polygon blockchain, which lets you register your NFT without any gas fees, and the OpenSea marketplace to list your product. 

You will also have to connect a crypto wallet such as MetaMask or Coinbase to your OpenSea account, and then you’re all set. You are not required to have any cryptocurrency in your wallet to get started. This method will ensure that you pay zero to minimal transaction fees.

Can I create my own NFT?

Yes! Anyone can join the world of NFT creators and sell or auction online on NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, Nifty Gateway, Axie Marketplace, and Foundation. 

You can create your digital art, meme, video, song, GIF, trading card, etc., to mint into a token or get it made by NFT artists. NFTs can have cartoonish characters, vivid colors, and references to pop culture.

You must own the intellectual rights to the piece of artwork you are minting and have proof. Otherwise, it is not legally permissible to sell it online, which could get you into serious trouble.

How to create an NFT (7 easy steps)

If you want to start creating your NFT space right away, these are the steps you need to follow:

1. Select the art that you want to create into an NFT. It can be any digital art, video clip, or song. 
2. Register your artwork on a blockchain. Commonly used blockchains include Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Tezos, Binance, and Cardano. You might have to pay gas fees at this step.

Tip: If you want to keep these fees to a minimum, select a time when fewer members compete for space on each block. The lowest you can mint your NFT on the Ethereum network is around $10 to $40.

3. Create your crypto wallet to send and receive payments. The next step is to create popular Crypto wallets, including Metamask, Coinbase, Trezor, ZenGo, and Exodus. 
4. It is essential to have a crypto wallet as cryptocurrency will also be used to pay transactional or service fees. However, recently, OpenSea has allowed users to pay via credit card.
5. Set up your account on an NFT marketplace like OpenSea or Rarible. While selecting your marketplace, there are a lot of factors to keep in mind. If you’re on a budget, you should consider the number of fees levied by the platform on different transactions.
6. Upload your NFT on the marketplace you selected. Make sure your NFT is a file format accepted by the platform. Most NFT marketplaces will have step-by-step instructions to help you. You can also search online for guides.
7. Choose whether to sell your NFT at a fixed price or put it up for auction. Remember that your minimum price should be higher than all the costs incurred while creating, listing, and selling the NFT; otherwise, you’ll suffer a loss.

That’s it! You have successfully created your NFT and are now ready to start selling.

Which NFT marketplace should I choose?

As of 2022, there are hundreds of different NFT marketplace platforms operating. This can make choosing the right marketplace confusing for anyone starting their NFT journey. However, there are only a few crucial factors that you should primarily consider.

Specific NFT marketplaces are known for a particular niche; for example, NBA Topshot is a marketplace revolving around basketball. You should analyze your NFT, see which category it falls into, and choose your marketplace accordingly.

Another major factor to consider is the marketplace’s various site fees and how that would affect your overall cost and fit into your budget. You can usually find a list and description of a marketplace’s different fees on their official website.

It is also necessary to find out whether the marketplace you are choosing is compatible with your blockchain and crypto wallet or not, and vice versa. Make sure you complete all these checks before finalizing your marketplace. For a beginner, OpenSea is an excellent place to start.

How much does it cost to create an NFT on Binance?

Minting an NFT on Binance will cost you around 0.000001 BNB (Binance cryptocurrency), which is a very nominal fee considering that 1 BNB currently equals 300 USD. This price can fluctuate based on the market value of the cryptocurrency.

However, apart from the minting fee, there are other fees to keep in mind if you want to create an NFT on Binance. These include the deposit fee (based on the ongoing gas prices, which can be checked on Binance’s website), platform fees (1%), withdrawal fees, and royalty fees.

The Binance website states, “Binance NFT may charge transaction fees when you trade, deposit, withdraw and create NFTs on our platform. Transaction fees are calculated based on various factors, including market conditions and network status.”

How much does it cost to launch an NFT project?

The total cost of launching an NFT project is variable. It depends on the NFT marketplace platform you use and the project size. Establishing an extensive NFT collection could cost you thousands of dollars because of the fees involved in the process.

There are various fees that you have to keep in mind. The most basic costs generally include gas fees levied by the blockchain you are registering with, service charges for using a marketplace to sell your NFT and a fee for the sale transactions.

Not all of these fees are charged by the blockchain and marketplace you use. Alternatively, there may be other charges as well. Before launching any NFT project, surveying and comparing accounts on different platforms is essential and getting a reasonable cost estimate.

You can then choose the platforms that match your needs and are within your budget and then set the price of your NFT accordingly. Your total cost also depends on the project’s complexity. For example, NFT collections on OpenSea can hold up to 50 individual NFTs.

Final thoughts

The cost of minting your first NFT depends on many factors, the most important being the type of NFT, the blockchain you register it on, and the marketplace you use.

Different NFT platforms charge diverse and numerous processing and service fees such as gas, listing, account setup, royalty, and sales fees, which add to the total cost. 

This amount will vary considerably across each platform, so do the proper research beforehand and set your budget accordingly.

However, some platforms offer minimal or zero fees to lower entry barriers, especially for new creators. There are also some tactics that you can employ that will bring down your overall cost, such as delaying payment until your NFT has sold.