Creating a meme coin now takes about a minute and costs almost nothing. On pump.fun, it costs zero SOL. In January 2026, the site saw nearly 30,000 new coins launched in a single day.
That is the easy part. The hard part is making a coin that anyone still trades a week later. Research by Solidus Labs found that 98.6% of more than 7 million pump.fun tokens fell below $1,000 of liquidity.
This guide shows how to create a meme coin in 2026, step by step. It covers the four main routes (pump.fun, Base launchpads, BNB Chain and a custom token), the real costs, how creators make money, the safety checks buyers look for, and the legal rules. Every fee is from the platforms’ own docs, checked on 28 September 2026.
How to Create a Meme Coin: The Quick Answer
To create a meme coin, you need four things:
- A concept: a name, a ticker, an image and a joke or story people want to share.
- A wallet: Phantom for Solana, or a wallet such as MetaMask or Coinbase Wallet for Base and BNB Chain, with a little crypto for fees.
- A launch route: a no-code launchpad such as pump.fun, or a custom token with your own liquidity pool.
- A community plan: who will buy in the first hour, and why they will stay.
The coin itself is the smallest part. As one pump.fun rule shows, a coin only “graduates” to a real trading pool once enough people buy it. Most never do.
Which Blockchain Should You Launch On?
Most meme coins launch on Solana, Base or BNB Chain. Each has its own tools and crowd.
According to CoinGecko data from 28 September 2026, the whole meme coin sector is worth about $36 billion. Solana meme coins make up about $4 billion of that, with the pump.fun group at about $1.5 billion. BNB Chain’s four.meme group is about $0.8 billion, and Base meme coins about $0.3 billion. Solana has the most launches, but most of the value still sits in older coins that never used these launchpads.
How to Create a Meme Coin on Pump.fun
Pump.fun is the most popular way to create a meme coin on Solana. Here is how it works:
- Connect a Solana wallet such as Phantom to pump.fun.
- Create the coin. Add a name, ticker, image and short description. Creating a coin costs 0 SOL.
- Buy first, if you want. You can buy some of your own supply at launch. Buyers watch how much the creator holds.
- Trade on the bonding curve. Every coin has 1 billion tokens. About 793 million are sold on a bonding curve, where the price rises as people buy.
- Graduate. When the curve sells out, after about 85 SOL of real buying, the coin moves on its own to PumpSwap, pump.fun’s exchange. That is roughly a $50,000 market cap at September 2026 SOL prices. The pool is owned by the protocol, so no one can pull the liquidity.
The fees. Trades on the curve pay 1.25%: 0.95% to pump.fun and 0.30% to the creator. The move to PumpSwap costs 0.015 SOL. After graduation, PumpSwap fees run on tiers by market cap. The creator share is highest, 0.95%, when the market cap is between 420 and 1,470 SOL, then steps down as the coin grows.
What changed in 2026. Pump.fun keeps adjusting its rules. Creators can now split fees across up to 10 wallets, choose “Cashback Coins” that send fees to traders instead, and redirect fees only once. In July 2026, a change called BOOST began using leftover launch liquidity to buy and burn tokens in the first five minutes. New coins are now made with Solana’s Token-2022 standard.
How to Create a Meme Coin on Base
Base, Coinbase’s own blockchain, has its own launchpads. Gas fees are tiny: Base’s docs put a typical 200,000-gas transaction at about $0.002.
- Clanker: launches a token with 100 billion supply, paired on Uniswap v4 with the liquidity locked. Clanker takes 20% of the pool fees, so a 1% creator fee becomes 1.2% in total.
- Zora: creator coins pay a 1% trading fee, and half of it goes to the creator.
- Flaunch: charges 0.1% of the starting market cap you choose, and a 1% swap fee. The creator decides how much of that fee to keep and how much to use for buybacks.
Base suits creators whose fans already use Farcaster, Zora or Coinbase Wallet. Base tokens can also trade inside the Coinbase app through its DEX feature.
How to Create a Meme Coin on BNB Chain
On BNB Chain, four.meme is the main launchpad. You pay only gas, about 0.005 BNB. Trades pay a 1% fee. When a coin reaches about 18 BNB, it graduates to PancakeSwap, with 18 BNB and 20% of supply put into the pool.
How to Create a Custom Meme Coin Without a Launchpad
Some creators want more control: a set supply, a tax on trades, a vesting plan or simply their own brand. For that, you create a token contract yourself.
On Solana:
- Create the token mint and a metadata account with the name, ticker and image.
- Mint the supply to your wallet.
- Revoke the mint authority so no one can print more coins, and revoke the freeze authority so no one can freeze holders’ wallets.
- Create a pool on Raydium. A standard pool costs a 0.15 SOL fee plus rent.
- Lock or burn the pool tokens so you cannot pull the liquidity.
The on-chain cost is small. Solana cut its rent costs in September 2026, and a basic token with metadata costs well under 0.1 SOL. The real cost is the liquidity you put in the pool.
On EVM chains (Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain): deploy an ERC-20 or BEP-20 contract, add liquidity on Uniswap or PancakeSwap, lock the pool tokens, and renounce ownership if the contract has admin powers. Our guides on how to create an ERC20 token and Solana token development walk through the build.
How Much Does It Cost to Create a Meme Coin?
Here are the real costs by route, from official docs checked on 28 September 2026:
| Route | Cost to create | Trading fee | Where liquidity goes |
| Pump.fun (Solana) | 0 SOL; 0.015 SOL at graduation | 1.25% on the curve (0.30% to creator) | PumpSwap, protocol-owned |
| four.meme (BNB Chain) | About 0.005 BNB gas | 1% | PancakeSwap at about 18 BNB |
| Clanker (Base) | Gas only | 1% creator fee plus 20% cut of pool fees | Uniswap v4, locked |
| Zora (Base) | Gas only | 1% (half to creator) | Uniswap v4 |
| Flaunch (Base) | 0.1% of starting market cap | 1% | Uniswap v4 |
| Custom Solana token | Under 0.1 SOL, plus 0.15 SOL Raydium fee | Pool fee | Your own pool |
The table shows why “free” is misleading. The launch costs almost nothing. What costs money is the liquidity for a custom pool, an audit if you write your own contract, design, and above all the marketing that brings the first buyers. For a full budget, see our breakdown of the cost to create a crypto token.
How Do Meme Coin Creators Make Money?
Creators earn in three ways:
- Creator fees. On pump.fun, the creator earns 0.30% of every trade on the bonding curve. Say a coin trades $200,000 before it graduates: the creator earns $600. After graduation, creator fees on PumpSwap can reach 0.95% of trades in the right market cap range.
- Holding their own supply. A creator who buys early can sell later at a higher price. Buyers see this on-chain, and large creator holdings scare them off.
- Platform revenue shares. Zora pays creators half of its 1% fee, and Clanker and Flaunch let creators keep trading fees.
The honest picture: most coins earn their creators little or nothing, because most never find buyers. The platforms themselves earn far more. Pump.fun and its apps have made more than $1.3 billion in all-time revenue, according to DefiLlama. That is why a growing number of founders build a launchpad instead of a coin.
Launch Your Own Meme Coin Launchpad Like Pump.fun
Meme Coin Launchpad Development — done right.
- Pump.fun Clone Script: Bonding curve launches, token pages and live trading, ready to brand.
- Multi-Chain: Solana, Base and BNB Chain support.
- Safe by Default: Mint and freeze authority revoked, liquidity locked on graduation.
- Revenue Engine: Earn from launch fees, trading fees and graduation fees.
Get a free branded demo of your meme coin launchpad in just 48 hours — before spending a single dollar.
Book a Free Demo to see how our Pump.fun Clone Script can take you from idea to live launchpad in as little as 4 – 6 weeks.
How Many Meme Coins Succeed?
Very few. The best single measure is how many pump.fun coins graduate to a real pool.
In September 2025, only 0.63% of new pump.fun coins graduated. By June 2026, the rate had fallen to 0.26%. After the BOOST change in July 2026, it rose to between 2.5% and 6.7%. Even at its best, more than nine in ten coins never reach a real pool.
Fraud is part of the picture. Chainalysis found that 3.59% of the 2 million tokens launched in 2024 showed signs of a pump and dump. In 94% of those, the creator pulled the liquidity, and the average token lived just over six days.
How to Make a Meme Coin That Buyers Trust
Buyers now check new coins with scanners such as RugCheck on Solana. Pass these checks and your coin stands out:
- Revoke mint authority. With no mint authority, the supply is fixed forever.
- Revoke freeze authority. With no freeze authority, no one can lock holders’ tokens.
- Lock or burn liquidity. Pump.fun and Clanker handle this for you. On a custom pool, do it yourself and share the proof.
- Keep your own share small. A creator wallet that holds a large slice is the top red flag.
- Renounce contract ownership on EVM chains if you do not need admin powers.
- Be public. Link a website, an X account and a Telegram or Discord from day one.
A coin that lasts has a story people want to join. Pick a clear theme, post often, reward early holders, and never promise returns. Once trading is steady, our guide on how to list a token covers CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap and exchange listings.
Is It Legal to Create a Meme Coin?
In most countries, creating a meme coin is legal. What you say and do around it can break the law.
United States. In February 2025, SEC staff said that typical meme coins are not securities. The statement has limits. A token dressed up as a meme coin to dodge the law is not covered, fraud is still illegal, and buyers get no securities-law protection. In March 2026, the SEC and CFTC placed meme coins in a “digital collectibles” category. Pump.fun itself faces a class action in New York over its launches, still open in September 2026.
United Kingdom. The FCA warned consumers about pump.fun in December 2024, and pump.fun blocked UK users. The UK’s new crypto rules take effect in October 2027.
European Union. Under MiCA, offering a crypto asset to the public generally needs a legal entity and a published white paper. There are exemptions, such as offers to fewer than 150 people per country, offers under €1 million over 12 months, and tokens given away for free.
The rule of thumb: never promise profits, never hide what you hold, and never pull liquidity. A rug pull is fraud in almost every country. Take legal advice if you plan a presale or any offer beyond a simple launch.
Should You Create a Meme Coin or Build a Launchpad?
Look at who makes money. A single meme coin is a lottery ticket. A launchpad earns a fee on every coin, win or lose.
Pump.fun and its apps earned about $653 million in 2025 alone, according to DefiLlama. It shows that launch fees, trading fees and graduation fees add up to a real business. Regional and niche launchpads, built for one community, one chain or one language, are a growing opening.
A pump.fun clone script gives you the bonding curve, token pages, live trading and admin tools ready to brand, and it can go live in about 4 to 6 weeks. Our team has delivered 350+ crypto platforms. If you want the wider view first, read our guide on how to create a crypto launchpad.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to create a meme coin?
On pump.fun, creating a coin costs 0 SOL, and on four.meme about 0.005 BNB in gas. On Base launchpads you pay gas that costs cents. A custom Solana token costs under 0.1 SOL to create, plus a 0.15 SOL Raydium pool fee and the liquidity you add.
Can I create a meme coin for free?
Yes. Pump.fun charges nothing to create a coin, and Base launchpads cost only a few cents of gas. You will still need money for a first buy, design and marketing if you want the coin to get noticed.
How do I create a meme coin on Solana?
The easiest way is pump.fun: connect a Phantom wallet, add a name, ticker and image, and launch. For full control, create an SPL token, revoke the mint and freeze authority, and add liquidity on Raydium.
How do meme coin creators make money?
Through creator fees on trades (0.30% on the pump.fun curve, and up to 0.95% after graduation), through selling their own early supply, and through revenue shares on launchpads such as Zora and Clanker. Most coins earn their creators very little.
Is creating a meme coin profitable?
Rarely. In June 2026, only 0.26% of new pump.fun coins graduated to a real pool. The platforms that host launches earn far more than most creators.
Is it legal to launch a meme coin?
In most countries, yes. SEC staff said in 2025 that typical meme coins are not securities, but fraud, false promises and rug pulls are still illegal. Rules differ by country, so check local law before you sell.
What does it mean when a pump.fun coin graduates?
It means the bonding curve has sold out, after about 85 SOL of real buying. The coin then moves to PumpSwap, pump.fun’s exchange, where the liquidity is owned by the protocol and trading continues in a normal pool.
How do I make my meme coin safe for buyers?
Revoke the mint and freeze authority, lock or burn the liquidity, keep your own holdings small, renounce contract ownership on EVM chains, and link your website and social accounts. Scanners such as RugCheck show buyers all of this.