If a Solana swap is slow during busy periods, raise its priority fee modestly; leave it low when the network is quiet. The fee can help validators choose your transaction sooner, but it cannot guarantee success. For Byreal swaps, start with the wallet’s suggested setting, then adjust only if needed.
What does a compute unit priority fee pay for?
A compute unit (CU) measures the work a transaction asks Solana to do. The priority fee is an extra amount offered to validators to encourage them to process that transaction sooner.
For common Solana transactions, the fee is calculated from two values: the CU price and the CU limit. The price is in micro-lamports per CU, and the limit is the maximum work the transaction may use. The fee is the price multiplied by the limit, divided by 1,000,000, then rounded up to a whole lamport.
For example, a price of 10,000 micro-lamports per CU and a 300,000 CU limit costs 3,000 lamports, or 0.000003 SOL. The regular signature fee is separate. Solana charges transaction fees even when a transaction fails.
How should you choose the fee for a swap?
Use a low or suggested fee when swaps are landing quickly. If a transaction is delayed during a busy spell, a higher price may improve its chance of being scheduled sooner. The useful clue is recent demand for the accounts the swap touches, since competing transactions may target the same token pool.
If you can inspect transaction details, simulation estimates how many CUs the swap needs. Set the CU limit about 10% above that estimate. Solana charges the priority fee against the requested limit, not the CUs actually used, so an oversized limit can cost more without doing useful work.
For a concrete example, imagine you are swapping a small amount and the first attempt stalls during a sudden rush. Keep the estimated limit, raise the CU price one step, and retry only after checking whether the earlier transaction completed. For the separate choice of trading or supplying a pool, read how Byreal swaps compare with liquidity.
What should you check before retrying?
Check the transaction’s status before sending another one. A slow confirmation does not always mean failure; retrying too soon can lead to duplicate swaps if the first transaction later lands. If it failed, remember that the network fee may still have been charged.
Wallets and swap services may estimate or set priority fees for you, and their estimates can differ as demand changes. A larger fee can improve scheduling odds, but does not fix an invalid swap or guarantee a faster result. Before you act, ask yourself: is this swap delayed enough to justify paying more for priority?