NFT Marketplace Fees Compared: OpenSea, Blur, Magic Eden

NFT Marketplace Fee Overview

NFT marketplace fees vary significantly across platforms, chains, and trading models. Some charge the seller, others charge the buyer, and a few charge nothing at all in exchange for token-based incentives. Creator royalty enforcement adds another layer of complexity: what was once a standard 5-10% cut for artists is now optional on most major platforms.

The following table compares trading fees across the most widely used NFT marketplaces as of mid-2026. Several once-prominent platforms (X2Y2, Foundation, Nifty Gateway, MakersPlace, KnownOrigin) have shut down, reflecting the market consolidation that followed the 2022-2024 volume decline.

Listing an NFT for sale is free on all major marketplaces. The only cost associated with listing is gas fees for on-chain approval transactions, which vary by network. Ethereum listings typically cost $1-5 in gas, Solana listings cost under $0.01, and Bitcoin Ordinals listings depend on current block space demand.

Ethereum NFT Marketplace Fees

Ethereum remains the largest NFT ecosystem by dollar volume. OpenSea commands roughly 73% of Ethereum NFT trading volume, with Blur holding approximately 22% and smaller platforms splitting the remainder.

OpenSea

OpenSea relaunched as "OS2" in May 2025 with expanded support for token trading alongside NFTs. The platform's fee history reflects intense competitive pressure: it dropped from its original 2.5% to 0.5% during beta, ran a 0% promotion around its SEA token launch, then settled at 1% in September 2025. Primary drops (minting through OpenSea) carry a separate 10% commission. Private listings are fee-free. OpenSea supports over 20 blockchains, making it the most broadly available marketplace.

Blur

Blur charges zero trading fees and has maintained this model since launch, using BLUR token incentives to attract volume. Its Blend lending protocol enables peer-to-peer NFT-collateralized loans with perpetual terms and refinancing auctions. Blur's professional trading interface includes collection-level bidding with ladder support, bulk sweep tools, and floor depth visualization. A governance proposal (BIP-1) to introduce a 0.5% protocol fee has not passed as of mid-2026. Blur operates exclusively on Ethereum.

LooksRare and Rarible

LooksRare charges 2% on sales with optional creator royalties. Its volume has declined substantially, though it remains operational with LOOKS token staking rewards and gamification features. Rarible uses a sliding fee scale: transactions under $100 pay up to 7.5% per side, while transactions over $4,000 pay as little as 0.5% per side. RARI token stakers can access 0% trading fees. Rarible supports 20+ chains and offers its own RARI Chain with sequencer-level royalty enforcement.

Solana NFT Marketplace Fees

Solana's near-zero transaction costs (under $0.001 per transaction) make it attractive for high-frequency NFT trading. Two platforms dominate the Solana NFT market: Magic Eden and Tensor.

Magic Eden charges a 2% buyer fee with no seller fee. In early 2026, Magic Eden shut down its Bitcoin Ordinals and EVM marketplaces to refocus exclusively on Solana and its Dicey gaming platform. This decision eliminated what had been the largest Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace by volume.

Tensor uses a maker-taker model: makers (those who list NFTs or post bids) pay 0%, while takers (those who buy listings or sell into bids) pay 2%. Tensor also offers AMM-style liquidity pools for NFTs, allowing users to provide two-sided liquidity similar to automated market makers in DeFi. Both platforms enforce royalties for collections using Metaplex pNFT rule sets but treat them as optional for standard SPL tokens.

Bitcoin Ordinals Marketplace Fees

Bitcoin Ordinals marketplaces operate differently from Ethereum and Solana platforms. Trades settle directly on Bitcoin's base layer using PSBTs (Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions), which means every trade pays Bitcoin network fees on top of marketplace fees. During periods of high block space demand, network fees can dwarf marketplace commissions. For a deeper look at inscription mechanics, see our Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions guide.

UniSat has emerged as the dominant Bitcoin-native NFT and token marketplace following Magic Eden's withdrawal. Its 0.5% standard fee (currently waived during a promotional period) undercuts most competitors. Gamma.io differentiates with no-code minting tools that let creators launch Ordinals collections without technical expertise. For a detailed platform comparison, see our Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace comparison.

A key difference between Bitcoin Ordinals platforms and Ethereum NFT marketplaces: Bitcoin lacks native smart contract support for royalty enforcement. Creator royalties on Ordinals depend entirely on marketplace-level enforcement rather than on-chain mechanisms. If a buyer transfers an Ordinal outside the marketplace, no royalty is collected. This contrasts with Ethereum, where smart contracts like ERC721C can enforce royalties at the protocol level.

Creator Royalty Enforcement

The creator royalty debate has been one of the most contentious issues in the NFT ecosystem since late 2022, when Blur launched with optional royalties and began capturing market share from OpenSea.

OpenSea initially tried to defend mandatory royalties through its Operator Filter Registry, which blocked sales from platforms that did not enforce royalties. In late 2023, OpenSea abandoned this approach and made royalties optional for collections without on-chain enforcement. The shift reduced creator revenue but aligned with market reality: traders overwhelmingly preferred platforms with lower total costs.

Platforms that still enforce royalties take different technical approaches:

• SuperRare enforces a fixed 10% royalty on all secondary sales
• Zora enforces royalties natively and gives creators 50% of protocol trading fees
• Rarible supports enforcement via RARI Chain, which implements royalty checks at the sequencer level
• Immutable zkEVM enforces royalties at the protocol layer, making them unavoidable regardless of which marketplace is used
• Metaplex pNFTs on Solana use rule sets that both Tensor and Magic Eden honor

For artists, the practical effect is significant. A collection with a 5% royalty traded on Blur generates only the 0.5% minimum, while the same collection on SuperRare generates the full 5%. This has pushed some creators toward curated platforms or chains with built-in enforcement, despite lower overall volume.

Chain Support and Network Fees

The total cost of trading an NFT includes both the marketplace fee and the underlying network's gas fee. On Ethereum, a typical NFT purchase costs $1-10 in gas depending on network congestion. On Solana, the same transaction costs under $0.01. On Bitcoin, Ordinals trades pay standard Bitcoin transaction fees, which can range from $0.50 to $20+ during fee spikes. For a cross-chain fee comparison, see our blockchain fee comparison tool.

OpenSea leads in chain breadth with over 20 supported networks, including Ethereum, Solana, Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Zora, Blast, Sei, Berachain, and others. Rarible and OKX NFT also support 20+ chains. Most other marketplaces focus on a single ecosystem: Blur and LooksRare are Ethereum-only, Tensor is Solana-only, and UniSat is Bitcoin-only.

Bitcoin's NFT ecosystem operates fundamentally differently from EVM and Solana chains. Ordinals are inscribed directly into Bitcoin transactions rather than referencing external metadata, which means the data is permanently stored on-chain but at higher cost. For context on how Bitcoin's scaling landscape affects NFT trading costs, see our Bitcoin second-layer scaling landscape research.

Advanced Trading Features

Professional NFT traders evaluate marketplaces on more than just fees. Key differentiating features include:

• Batch listing and floor sweeping: Blur excels here with bulk operations and real-time floor depth charts. OpenSea supports batch actions through its OS2 interface. Tensor provides similar bulk tools on Solana.
• NFT lending: Blur's Blend protocol enables peer-to-peer loans using NFTs as collateral, with perpetual terms and automatic refinancing auctions. No other major marketplace offers integrated lending.
• AMM liquidity pools: Tensor supports automated market maker pools for NFTs, allowing users to deposit NFTs and SOL into two-sided liquidity positions. This enables passive market-making similar to Uniswap-style liquidity pools.
• Aggregation: OKX NFT and Rarible aggregate listings from multiple marketplaces, letting buyers find the best price across platforms without manually checking each one.
• No-code minting: Gamma.io and Zora offer creator tools that require no smart contract knowledge. Gamma focuses on Bitcoin Ordinals, while Zora serves the Ethereum and Base ecosystems.

How to Choose an NFT Marketplace

Your choice depends on three factors: which chain your target NFTs live on, whether you prioritize low fees or creator support, and what trading tools you need.

For Ethereum NFTs with the lowest total cost, Blur's 0% fee is unmatched, though you sacrifice royalty enforcement for most collections. OpenSea's 1% fee provides broader chain access and a larger selection. For curated 1/1 art, SuperRare's higher fees come with a gallery-style experience and full royalty enforcement.

For Solana NFTs, Magic Eden and Tensor both charge 2% on the taker side. Tensor's AMM pools and professional interface appeal to active traders, while Magic Eden offers a more accessible experience for casual collectors.

For Bitcoin Ordinals, UniSat is the current leader with its 0.5% fee (temporarily waived) and support for BRC-20 tokens, Runes, and Alkanes. Gamma.io is the better choice for creators launching new collections due to its no-code tooling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which NFT marketplace has the lowest fees?

Blur and OKX NFT both charge 0% marketplace fees. Blur operates on Ethereum with professional trading tools and BLUR token incentives. OKX NFT is an aggregator that pulls listings from multiple platforms across 21+ chains. UniSat charges 0.5% for Bitcoin Ordinals but is running a promotional 0% fee period through mid-2026. Among fee-charging platforms, OpenSea's 1% is the lowest on Ethereum, while Magic Eden and Tensor both charge 2% on Solana.

Do NFT marketplaces charge listing fees?

No major marketplace charges a fee to list an NFT. The only cost is the blockchain's gas fee for the approval transaction (if required). On Ethereum, this one-time approval typically costs $1-5. On Solana, it costs under $0.01. Some platforms like Blur and OpenSea support gasless listings using off-chain signatures, meaning you can list without paying any gas until the item sells.

Are NFT creator royalties still enforced?

It depends on the platform and the collection's technical implementation. SuperRare, Zora, and Immutable zkEVM enforce royalties for all collections. OpenSea enforces royalties only for collections that use on-chain enforcement mechanisms like ERC721C. Blur enforces a minimum 0.5% on collections with immutable contracts but makes anything above that optional. On Solana, royalties are enforced for Metaplex pNFT collections but optional for standard SPL tokens. Bitcoin Ordinals have no on-chain royalty mechanism at all.

How do Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace fees compare to Ethereum NFT fees?

Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace fees (0.5-2%) are comparable to Ethereum platforms, but the total transaction cost is often higher because every Ordinals trade pays Bitcoin network fees for on-chain settlement. During periods of high Bitcoin fee market activity, network fees can exceed $10-20 per trade, dwarfing the marketplace commission. Ethereum Layer 2 NFT platforms (Base, Arbitrum, Zora) offer significantly lower network fees while maintaining EVM compatibility.

Which NFT marketplaces have shut down?

Several major platforms closed between 2024 and 2026: X2Y2 shut down in April 2025 after trading volumes dropped 90% from peak. Foundation closed in April 2026 following a failed acquisition. Nifty Gateway (owned by Gemini) closed in February 2026. MakersPlace shut down in January 2025, and KnownOrigin (acquired by eBay in 2022) wound down in July 2024. Magic Eden's Bitcoin and EVM marketplaces closed in March 2026, though its Solana marketplace remains active.

What is the best NFT marketplace for creators?

For curated fine art on Ethereum, SuperRare enforces a full 10% secondary royalty and provides gallery-level curation. Zora gives creators 50% of protocol trading fees with on-chain enforcement. For Bitcoin Ordinals collections, Gamma.io offers no-code launch tools with creator royalties routed on secondary sales within the platform. On Solana, both Magic Eden and Tensor enforce royalties for collections using Metaplex pNFT standards.

Is it cheaper to trade NFTs on Solana or Ethereum?

Solana is substantially cheaper. A typical NFT purchase on Solana costs under $0.01 in network fees plus the 2% marketplace fee. On Ethereum mainnet, the same trade costs $1-10+ in gas plus the marketplace fee (0-2%). Ethereum Layer 2 networks like Base and Arbitrum offer a middle ground: lower gas fees than mainnet with access to the broader Ethereum NFT ecosystem through platforms like OpenSea and Rarible.

This tool is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Fee structures, royalty policies, and platform availability change frequently. Marketplace fees shown are based on publicly available information as of mid-2026. Always verify current fee schedules on each platform before trading. Network gas fees are variable and depend on real-time blockchain congestion.