Bitcoin Transaction Fees: How They Work and What Sending Costs Now
Rizful's Bitcoin Fees Now page shows what it costs to send bitcoin on-chain at this moment: the fee rate for each speed, in sat/vB, in sats and in your own currency, updated every 30 seconds.
Fees change all day, so this guide doesn't quote any. It explains how they work, what makes your transaction cost more or less, and how to read the live numbers before you send.
Step by Stepā
1. Read the headlineā
Open Bitcoin Fees Now. The big number is what a typical payment costs right now to confirm in the next block.
2. Pick your currencyā
Choose any of 45 currencies; the sats figures stay the same.
3. Pick the speed you needā
The four cards are the rates for the next block, about 30 minutes, about an hour, and no rush. If the payment can wait, a slower rate costs less.
4. Choose your wallet's address typeā
For your own transaction, scroll to the calculator and pick the type of address your wallet uses. Look at a receiving address it gives you: bc1qā¦, bc1pā¦, 3ā¦ or 1ā¦.
5. Enter the inputs and outputsā
Inputs are the coins your wallet spends; outputs are the recipients plus your change. Here we set 3 inputs.
6. Read the size and costā
The calculator shows the transaction size in vbytes and what it costs at each speed.
What's on the Pageā
- Fee rates now for four speeds: the next block, about 30 minutes, about an hour, and no rush. Each one is shown in sat/vB, in sats for a typical payment, and in your choice of 45 currencies.
- A fee calculator for any number of inputs and outputs and the address type your wallet uses, with presets for a simple send, a send to many people, and consolidating coins.
- A 24-hour chart of the next-block fee rate.
- The network: the block height, when the last block was found, and how far away the next halving is.
Fee rates are mempool.space's recommended rates, and prices come from CoinGecko. Rizful's servers fetch both every 30 seconds.
How to Read Itā
- Start from your deadline. The four rates are what is expected, right now, to confirm in the next block, within about 30 minutes, within about an hour, and eventually. If the payment can wait, don't pay for the next block out of habit.
- Use the rate, not the sats figure, in your wallet. Most wallets offer a few speed presets and a custom fee rate in sat/vB. Type the rate from the page into the custom field.
- The sats and currency figures are for a typical 141 vB payment. If your transaction has more inputs or outputs, or uses an older address type, the calculator gives its real cost.
- Look at the chart. If the next-block rate is near the top of its 24-hour range and you're in no hurry, waiting a few hours may cost less.
- Check right before you send. A rate from this morning can be far off by the afternoon.
How Bitcoin Transaction Fees Workā
A bitcoin block comes about every 10 minutes and has room for about 1 million virtual bytes (vB). Every transaction waiting in the mempool bids for that space, and miners pick the ones that pay the most per vbyte. So the fee is:
fee = fee rate (sat/vB) Ć transaction size (vB)
For example, a 141 vB transaction at a fee rate of 5 sat/vB pays 705 sats.
The amount you send doesn't matter. Moving 0.001 BTC or 100 BTC costs the same if the transactions are the same size. What makes a transaction bigger is the number of inputs (the separate coins your wallet combines to pay) and outputs (the recipients, plus your change). Sending a large amount costs more only when your wallet has to combine many small coins to pay it.
A virtual byte is the unit block space has been measured in since SegWit. Signature data counts as a quarter of its real size, which is why SegWit and Taproot transactions are cheaper than Legacy ones.
How Big Is My Transaction?ā
Typical sizes for one payment with change (1 input, 2 outputs), by the type of address your wallet uses:
| Wallet address type | Starts with | 1 input, 2 outputs | Each extra input |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native SegWit | bc1qā¦ | about 141 vB | about 68 vB |
| Taproot | bc1pā¦ | about 154 vB | about 57.5 vB |
| Nested SegWit | 3ā¦ | about 166 vB | about 91 vB |
| Legacy | 1ā¦ | about 226 vB | about 148 vB |
Each extra output adds 31 to 43 vB, depending on the type of the address you're paying.
To find your wallet's type, look at a receiving address it gives you. The inputs are your coins, so your wallet's address type decides most of the size.
Why Do Bitcoin Fees Change?ā
Fees rise and fall with demand for block space. When many people send at once, for example during big price moves or a rush of new tokens or inscriptions, the mempool fills up and the rate needed for the next block jumps. When it's quiet, even the slowest tier confirms within a few blocks.
Fees are often lower at weekends and at quiet times of day, but that's a tendency, not a rule. The only reliable way to know is to check the current rate before you send.
How to Pay a Lower Feeā
- Don't pay for speed you don't need. If the payment can wait a few hours, pick the "No rush" rate, or set a custom fee rate in your wallet.
- Use a modern address type. Native SegWit (
bc1qā¦) and Taproot (bc1pā¦) transactions are much smaller than Legacy ones, so they cost less at the same rate. - Batch payments. Paying several people in one transaction costs less than one transaction each.
- Consolidate small coins while fees are low. Every input costs vbytes, so a wallet full of small coins is expensive to spend when fees are high. Combining them into one coin on a quiet day makes later sends smaller.
- Avoid tiny on-chain amounts. When fees are high, a small coin can be worth less than the fee to spend it.
Why Did My Exchange Charge a Different Fee?ā
Exchanges and custodial apps set their own withdrawal fees. These are often a flat amount that has little to do with the network fee at that moment, so the fee page tells you what the network charges, not what your exchange will.
Already Sent It With Too Low a Fee?ā
If a transaction is already waiting, see Bitcoin Transaction Unconfirmed or Stuck?. Rizful's Unconfirmed Transaction Checker shows how far back in the queue it is and the fee it needs to be sped up with RBF or CPFP.