Understanding MakaPay's fee components and how to optimize your costs.
Every payment may include up to three fee components:
Based on your plan tier:
Example: $100 payment on Free plan = $1.00 platform fee
2. Processing Fee (Fixed)
A fixed fee of $0.10 USD per transaction.
This fee covers:
Settlement recording on MakaChain
Event emission for tracking
Network infrastructure costs
3. Gas Fee (Variable)
Covers the blockchain transaction costs for settling payments.
Note: Gas fees vary based on network congestion.
Total Fee Calculation
Example: $100 USDT on Polygon (Free Plan)
Example: $100 USDT on MakaChain (Free Plan)
The Three Fee Modes
MakaPay offers three distinct ways to handle fees. Choosing the right mode depends on your business model and customer experience goals.
Mode 1: Gas Tank Mode (Default)
Settings: gasless: false, payerCoversFee: false
This is the default and premium experience. You pre-fund a Gas Tank with USDT on MakaChain, and all fees are deducted from there. Your customers pay exact prices, and you receive exactly what you asked for.
Best - pays exact price shown
E-commerce, fixed pricing, premium UX
How it works: When a payment is settled, MakaPay deducts the platform fee, processing fee, and gas fee from your Gas Tank balance. The full payment amount is sent directly to your wallet.
Mode 2: Gasless Mode
Settings: gasless: true, payerCoversFee: false
Despite the name "gasless," this mode actually means "Gas Tank-less"—you don't need to maintain a Gas Tank balance. Instead, fees are deducted directly from the payment on-chain before it reaches you.
Good - pays exact price shown
Less than requested (after fee deduction)
Testing, no upfront capital, low-margin products
How it works: The smart contract deducts fees from the payment before forwarding the remainder to your wallet. No Gas Tank interaction needed.
Mode 3: Payer Covers Fee
Settings: payerCoversFee: true (automatically enables on-chain fee collection)
The fee is added on top of your requested amount. Customers see and pay the total (amount + fees), but you receive exactly what you asked for.
Transparent - sees fees separately
Invoicing, B2B, transparent fee handling
How it works: When creating a payment, the grossAmount is calculated as requestedAmount + totalFees. The customer sends the gross amount, the smart contract deducts fees, and you receive your exact requested amount.
Fee Mode Comparison
Mode
Settings
Customer Sends
You Receive
Gas Tank
Who Bears Fees
gasless: false, payerCoversFee: false
gasless: true, payerCoversFee: false
Choosing the Right Mode
Gas Tank Mode — When You Absorb Fees
Best for:
E-commerce with fixed product prices
Subscription services with advertised rates
Premium customer experience
Configuration:
Requirement: Maintain a Gas Tank balance on MakaChain.
Gasless Mode — When You Accept Reduced Receipts
Best for:
Merchants without upfront capital
Low-margin products where fee pass-through is acceptable
Variable pricing where exact amounts don't matter
Configuration:
⚠️ Important: Stablecoin Requirement
Gasless mode only works with stablecoins (USDT, USDC, DAI, BUSD, TUSD, USDP). If you attempt to use gasless mode with a non-stablecoin token (e.g., WETH, WBTC), MakaPay will automatically convert it to Gas Tank mode (gasless: false).
Why? Gas fee calculations assume the token is worth $1 USD, which is only accurate for stablecoins. For non-stablecoins, you must use Gas Tank mode by depositing USDT to your Gas Tank.
Payer Covers Fee — When Customers Pay Fees
Best for:
Invoicing and B2B transactions
Marketplaces where fee transparency is expected
Situations where adding fees is culturally acceptable
Configuration:
Important: Fee Mode Interactions
payerCoversFee Implies On-Chain Collection
When payerCoversFee: true, fees are always collected on-chain (the gasless setting is effectively true).
Why?
Customer pays amount + fees
Smart contract must deduct fees from payment
This requires on-chain fee collection
Gas Tank mode assumes merchant absorbs fees from deposit
MakaChain Special Handling
MakaChain has unique fee characteristics:
No gas fees for transactions
Only platform fee + processing fee apply
Token Transfer Fee
Every ERC20 transfer on MakaChain costs $0.10
This is built into the token contract
When payerCoversFee: true, accounts for 2 transfers = $0.20
Recommended for Low Fees
Use MakaChain for the lowest total fees:
Fast settlement (1-2 seconds)
Custom Token Fee Calculation
When you accept a custom token, the same three fee components apply (platform fee, processing fee, gas fee). The only difference is how the fixed-USD fees (processing fee and gas fee) are converted to token units.
Stablecoins vs Custom Tokens
For stablecoins (USDT, USDC, etc.), the system assumes 1 token = $1 USD. A $0.10 processing fee is simply 0.10 tokens.
For custom tokens, the system uses the token's resolved USD price to convert:
Example: Custom Token at $0.05 per Token (Free Plan, $100 Payment)
Component
USD Value
Token Units
Note that the platform fee is a percentage of the requested amount, so it always scales proportionally regardless of token price. The processing fee and gas fee are fixed USD amounts that are divided by the token price to get the equivalent number of tokens.
The token price used for fee conversion is resolved in this order:
Alchemy Prices API -- automatic, real-time (Ethereum, Polygon, BSC, Base)
TrustedOracle -- on-chain oracle on MakaChain (by token symbol)
Custom Price USD -- manually provided by the merchant
If no price is available from any source and the token is not a stablecoin, gasless mode is automatically disabled and the payment falls back to Gas Tank mode.
For full details, see the Custom Tokens guide.
Optimizing Costs
1. Use MakaChain
Accept payments on MakaChain to eliminate gas fees:
Network
Total Fee (Free Plan, $100)
2. Upgrade Your Plan
Higher tiers reduce platform fees significantly:
3. Batch Similar Payments
For multiple small payments, consider:
Aggregating into larger payments
Fixed processing fee ($0.10) is more impactful on small amounts
4. Choose Fee Mode Strategically
High-margin products: Use Gas Tank mode for best UX
Low-margin products: Use gasless mode to avoid deposit management
Invoicing: Use payer covers fee for transparency
First 30 Free Transactions
New accounts receive a promotional period:
Platform fee waived for first 30 transactions
Processing fee ($0.10) still applies
Valid for 90 days from account creation
What's Included
Fee Component
During Promo
Fee Transparency
At Payment Creation
The dashboard and API show complete fee breakdown:
In Transaction History
All completed payments show:
Transaction hash for verification
Gas Tank and Payment Recovery
An important consideration when choosing fee modes: the Gas Tank enables recovery of problematic payments.
If a customer:
Underpays (sends less than expected)
Sends to wrong network (e.g., Polygon instead of Ethereum)
Sends wrong token (e.g., USDC instead of USDT)
With a Gas Tank balance, you can recover these funds. Without one, they remain stuck.
See Gas Tank - Handling Payment Errors for details.
Comparing to Alternatives
Traditional Crypto Payment Processors
Self-Managed Wallets
Approach
Monthly Cost (4 chains)
Why is there a processing fee?
The $0.10 processing fee covers:
Settlement event recording on MakaChain
Cross-chain coordination infrastructure
24/7 monitoring and settlement services
Can I avoid gas fees entirely?
Yes, by:
Accepting payments only on MakaChain (free gas)
Using gasless mode (fees from payment amount)
How is the gas fee calculated?
Gas fee = Estimated gas units x Current gas price x Native token price
We estimate conservatively to ensure settlement succeeds.
Do fees change?
Platform fees are fixed based on your plan
Processing fee ($0.10) is fixed
Gas fees vary with network conditions
What about refunds?
Fees are non-refundable. When issuing refunds:
Refund from your wallet directly
Original fees are not returned
What happens with overpayments?
If a customer sends more than the expected amount, fees are only charged on the original expected amount, not the overpaid amount. The extra funds go to you without additional fees.
Questions about fees or pricing?
Dashboard: Use the support chat
