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Fees on Aztec

Every transaction on Aztec requires paying a fee. This page explains how fees work and how to get the tokens needed to pay them.

Mana: Aztec's Unit of Work​

On Ethereum, you pay for computation using "gas." On Aztec, we use "mana." Mana measures the computational effort required to process your transaction.

EthereumAztecDescription
GasManaUnit of computational work
ETH per gas$AZTEC per manaPrice per unit
Gas fee (in ETH)Fee (in $AZTEC)Total cost

What Fees Cover​

Aztec is a Layer 2 rollup on Ethereum, so fees account for costs on both layers:

  1. L1 costs - Publishing blocks and data to Ethereum
  2. L2 costs - Operating the Aztec network, including proving

Paying Fees​

The Fee Token​

Fees on Aztec are paid in $AZTEC, the native token of the network. To pay fees, you need:

  1. $AZTEC tokens bridged from Ethereum
  2. An Aztec account to hold them

Getting Fee Tokens​

On Testnet:

On Mainnet:

  • Bridge $AZTEC from Ethereum to Aztec
  • The bridging process is similar to other L2 token bridges

How Bridging Works​

The fee token is bridged from Ethereum:

  1. Lock $AZTEC on Ethereum (L1)
  2. Claim your tokens on Aztec (L2)
  3. Use them to pay transaction fees

You can even claim bridged tokens and use them to pay for the claim transaction itself.

Fee Payment Options​

Aztec offers flexible fee payment:

Pay Directly​

If you have $AZTEC, pay for your own transactions directly from your account.

Fee-Paying Contracts​

A fee-paying contract (FPC) pays AZTEC(referredtoas"FeeJuice"inthedeveloperdocs)onyourbehalf,typicallyinexchangeforanothertoken.Thisletsapplicationsacceptfeesintokenstheirusersalreadyholdandletsbrand−newaccountstransactwithoutfirstacquiringAZTEC (referred to as "Fee Juice" in the developer docs) on your behalf, typically in exchange for another token. This lets applications accept fees in tokens their users already hold and lets brand-new accounts transact without first acquiring AZTEC.

  • Sponsored FPC — available on testnet, devnet, and local network, covers transaction costs for free. Useful for development and onboarding.
  • Third-party FPCs — deployed by ecosystem teams for use on testnet and mainnet. These accept various tokens and handle $AZTEC fee payment behind the scenes. As one example, Nethermind offers a Private Multi Asset FPC that supports multiple tokens with private fee transfers.

Private Fee Payment​

Some apps pay fees through a fully private fee-paying contract, so the fee payment itself leaks no information about who you are. The more apps that route private fee payments through the same contract address, the stronger your privacy — every payment shares one large anonymity set instead of many small ones.

If you care about fee privacy, look for apps that use a shared private FPC. For example, DeFi Wonderland has built a community implementation where every app can derive the same contract address from a common deployment salt. Note that the derived address depends on the compiled contract bytecode, which changes between Aztec versions — always verify the address matches the network you are using.

Understanding Your Fee​

Transaction fees have several components:

  • Base fee - Minimum cost that adjusts based on network demand
  • Priority fee - Optional tip to prioritize your transaction
  • Congestion pricing - Fees increase when the network is busy (similar to Ethereum's EIP-1559)

Tips for Lower Fees​

  • Time your transactions - Fees may be lower during off-peak times
  • Batch operations - Combine multiple actions in one transaction when possible
  • Check fee estimates - Wallets show estimated fees before you confirm
For developers

Learn how to implement fee payment in your applications in the Fees documentation.