A practical handbook for creating and running a token on Solana — SPL and Token-2022, authorities, metadata, rent, priority fees and pools. Written for people launching their first one; the no-code creator itself is at unilaunch.online.
Solana is the cheapest place to launch a token and the least forgiving place to launch one badly. Most of what makes a Solana token good or broken is decided in the seconds before the mint transaction: which token program, how many decimals, which authorities survive, where the metadata lives, and how much liquidity sits behind it.
This handbook is about those decisions. For the chain-agnostic version — EVM chains included — see the Token Launch Handbook.
Who maintains this. Written and kept current by the team behind Unilaunch, a no-code token creation and liquidity tool that supports Solana among nine networks. The guides are useful with any tool; where Unilaunch is the example, it says so.
| If you… | Read this |
|---|---|
| don't know which token program to use | SPL vs Token-2022 |
| want buyers to trust the mint | Authorities |
| have a token with no name or image in wallets | Metadata and images |
| wonder why every account costs a little SOL | Accounts, rent and ATAs |
| had a transaction fail or expire | Fees, priority and failures |
| are about to open a pool | Liquidity on Solana |
| want to check somebody else's token | Verify a token |
| are launching this week | Launch checklist |
Launch one without writing code: unilaunch.online/create-token.
- SPL vs Token-2022 — two token programs, one decision, made once and permanently.
- Authorities — mint, freeze and metadata update authority: what each allows, how to read them, and what revoking actually proves.
- Metadata and images — how a mint address becomes a name, a symbol and a logo in a wallet, and why that breaks.
- Accounts, rent and ATAs — why holding a token costs a deposit, who pays it, and how to get it back.
- Fees, priority and failures — the 0.000005 SOL base fee, priority fees, blockhash expiry, and what "transaction failed" usually means.
- Liquidity on Solana — pools, opening price, snipers, and what thin liquidity does to a new token.
- Verify a token — the checks to run on any mint address before you buy or partner with it.
- Launch checklist — the Solana-specific list, in order.
- Glossary — lamports, ATAs, PDAs, CUs and the rest.
| Token programs | SPL Token (classic) and Token-2022 (token extensions) |
| Typical decimals | 9 — though USDC on Solana uses 6 |
| Base network fee | 0.000005 SOL per signature, plus an optional priority fee |
| Mint account rent | ≈ 0.00107 SOL, refundable if the mint is ever closed |
| Token account rent | ≈ 0.00149 SOL per holder, per token |
| Metadata | Metaplex Token Metadata for SPL; the metadata extension for Token-2022 |
| Wallets | Phantom, Solflare |
| Explorers | Solscan, Solana Explorer, SolanaFM |
Rent figures are the mainnet minimums at the time of writing and are being
reduced by ongoing network changes — the authoritative number comes from
getMinimumBalanceForRentExemption on an RPC node. See
Accounts, rent and ATAs.
- Tool fee — on Unilaunch: 0.3 SOL to create the token, plus 0.1 SOL for each optional feature you switch on. Creating a liquidity pool adds no tool fee.
- Network fee and rent — a fraction of a cent in fees, plus the rent deposits above. Both are paid to the network, not to any tool.
- Liquidity — the SOL and tokens you choose to pair. Yours, at market risk.
| Authority | Held by default | If you keep it | If you revoke it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mint | You | More tokens can be created at any time | Supply is fixed forever |
| Freeze | You | Any holder's balance can be frozen | Nobody can ever be frozen |
| Update (metadata) | You | Name, symbol and image can be changed | Identity is fixed forever |
Revoking is irreversible, which is exactly why it is worth something. Details and the exact checks a buyer runs: Authorities.
English · Español · Deutsch · Français · Português · Italiano · Türkçe · العربية · हिन्दी · বাংলা · 中文
| Create a Solana token | https://unilaunch.online/create-token |
| Liquidity and portfolio | https://unilaunch.online/liquidity-pool |
| Knowledge base | https://unilaunch.online/knowledge-base |
| FAQ | https://unilaunch.online/faq |
| Articles | https://unilaunch.wiki |
| Support | https://unilaunch.online/open-ticket |
| The multi-chain handbook | https://github.com/uni-launch/token-launch-handbook |
Solana changes faster than documentation does. If a number here is stale or a behaviour has moved, open an issue or a pull request — see CONTRIBUTING.md. Questions about your own token belong in support, which can see your wallet and your transaction.
CC BY 4.0 — use the text anywhere, with attribution.
Not financial, legal or tax advice. Solana transactions are irreversible once confirmed.