Solana Trading Bot Fees Compared
Most bots advertise '1% fee' but the real cost per trade is higher once you include priority fees, MEV slippage, and the spread on small caps. Here's what each bot actually costs in 2026.
The fee table
| Bot | Platform | Trade fee | Priority | Net cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guardis | Web | 1.00% | Included | ~0.65% (after 35% cashback) |
| BONKbot | Telegram | 1.00% | User pays | 1.00% |
| Trojan | Telegram | 0.90% | User pays | 0.90% |
| Photon | Web | 0.50% | User pays | 0.50% |
| Maestro | Telegram | 1.00% | User pays | 1.00% |
| GMGN | Web + Telegram | 1.00% | User pays | 1.00% |
| Axiom | Web | 0.90% | User pays | 0.90% |
| BullX | Web | 1.00% | User pays | 1.00% |
| Banana Gun | Telegram | 1.00% | User pays | 1.00% |
What 'fee' actually means on Solana
Every Solana trading bot stacks three costs on top of each other: the platform's cut, the DEX swap fee (almost always 0.25–0.30%), and the Solana priority fee you pay to land in a congested block. Some bots quote only the first number; the real cost-per-trade is usually 1.3–1.8% on small caps and meaningfully more during pump.fun launches.
Cashback & rebates change the math
Guardis is the only bot in our index that offers a structured cashback program (35% back on every trade), bringing its effective fee below the rest. Most Telegram bots offer no rebate but make up for it with slightly cheaper headline rates. If you trade frequently, cashback compounds — at $100k/month in volume, a 35% rebate is ~$350 back per month vs $0 everywhere else.
The hidden cost: MEV
Bots without MEV protection (private RPC routing or Jito bundles) lose another 0.2–1.0% per trade to sandwich attacks on volatile launches. This is not in any bot's fee schedule but it shows up in your wallet. Photon, Guardis, and Axiom route through private mempools by default; older Telegram bots don't.
Bottom line
For active traders, net cost-per-trade matters more than headline fee. Cashback + MEV protection can swing your monthly P&L by 2–3% of volume — much more than the 0.1% you'll save shopping between bots on raw fees.