Learn how to make a meme coin on Solana in 2026, with Pump.fun, LetsBonk, and a manual SPL token compared on cost, control, and the first 24 hours.
Most Solana meme coin tutorials describe a Pump.fun that no longer exists. The platform has since changed creator fees, added USDC pairs, and moved graduating coins to its own exchange.
Follow one anyway, and you’ll still get a coin in minutes. The first hour decides whether anyone holds it.
This Surgence Labs guide shows how to make a meme coin on Solana in 2026, by launchpad or by hand, then maps out the first 24 hours of launching a token.
Same chain. Different rules.
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Making a meme coin on Solana is the work of deploying an SPL token, attaching its metadata, and choosing its route to market, for creators who want cheap, fast settlement. You configure Solana’s token program, not a contract you write.
Mint authority is the power to add supply. Freeze authority can lock a holder’s balance, and update authority can edit the name and image. Classic SPL tokens use the original Token Program, while Token-2022 adds optional extensions.
Cheap launches draw traders, and traders draw more launches. Technically trivial, commercially hard.
Whether to create a meme coin at all is a separate question.
Pump.fun is the fastest way to make a meme coin on Solana, while a manual SPL token with a Raydium pool gives you the most control at a higher upfront cost. Use a launchpad if you have an audience but no liquidity budget, and go manual if you have both.
Rival launchpad LetsBonk runs on Raydium’s LaunchLab infrastructure and lets deployers set the supply.
| Route | Upfront cost | Liquidity needed | Supply control | Trades after launch | Creator revenue | CAN | CANNOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pump.fun | No creation fee (Oct 2026) | None | Fixed at 1 billion | Curve, then PumpSwap | Fee share | Launch in SOL or USDC | Keep bots out |
| LetsBonk (Raydium LaunchLab) | Fees and rent | None | Deployer sets it | Curve, then Raydium | Platform-set creator fee | Create token and curve on Raydium | Match Pump.fun’s graduations |
| Manual SPL + Raydium | Pool fee and rent | Your deposit | Fully yours | Raydium CPMM pool | None by default | Set supply and price | Launch without capital |
The Block had LetsBonk at about 64 percent of Solana’s launchpad market in July 2025 and Pump.fun near 90 percent of graduations by mid-August. Pick right, and the first hour works for you. Pick wrong, and you pay in buyers.
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Socials added after launch arrive after buyers leave.
You create a meme coin on Solana through Pump.fun by connecting a wallet, entering the coin’s details, and launching. Here’s how to create a Pump.fun coin as of October 2026.
Seven clicks make a coin, not a buyer.
A Solana token creator is any interface, a no-code web tool or the spl-token command line, that calls Solana’s token program to mint an SPL token with metadata. To create a Solana token this way, budget SOL for fees, rent, and your pool.
No-code creators may charge a service fee, while the spl-token CLI costs only network fees and rent.
Set decimals and supply first, since decimals can’t change. Skip Token-2022 unless you need an extension, because Solana’s token docs describe the original program as widely used. Any no-code Solana token creator for SPL tokens and memecoins makes the same choices behind a form.
Attach the name, symbol, and image link with Metaplex Token Metadata, host the files on permanent storage such as Arweave, then make the metadata immutable.
Scanners such as RugCheck flag live mint, freeze, and update authorities, which let you dilute holders, trap them, or rename the coin. Revoke mint authority and freeze authority before adding liquidity. Revoking is permanent by design.
Create a Raydium liquidity pool on Solana with the Standard AMM (CPMM) option, then deposit your token and SOL or USDC in the ratio that sets your starting price. Raydium’s CPMM pool guide covers each field, and our guide to liquidity at launch explains pool depth.
Burn your LP tokens (your claim on the pool), and the liquidity can never leave. Lock them, and it stays until a set date.
Solidus Labs’ 2025 Rug Pull Report found soft rug-pull traits, where the deployer pulls liquidity, in about 93 percent of the 388,000 Raydium pools examined. Unlocked liquidity reads as an exit plan.
A Pump.fun coin costs network fees and a small SOL deposit, while a manual launch adds Raydium’s pool creation fee, more rent, and liquidity.
| Route | Creation fee | Network fees | Liquidity | Dev buy | Ongoing fee | CAN buy | CANNOT buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pump.fun | None (Oct 2026) | Fee plus deposit | The curve | Pays app fee | Creator, protocol, LP | A live coin | Buyers who stay |
| LetsBonk | Per platform terms | Fee plus rent | The curve | Optional | Protocol, platform, creator | A Raydium pool | Steady attention |
| Manual SPL | Raydium pool fee | Fee plus rent | Your deposit | Not needed | Pool fee, mostly to LPs | Control | Holders |
Can you create a Solana token for free? Not quite, since every route pays network fees and rent. Budget the pool, not the mint.
On Pump.fun, the curve closes, liquidity migrates to a PumpSwap pool, and the coin trades like any DEX pair. Since July 2026, Pump.fun’s default BOOST mode spends about 20 percent of migration liquidity on buys in the first five minutes, then burns what it buys, per The Block’s report.
Update your DEX Screener token info and check the token on Solscan. Buyers checking whether a meme coin is real on Solana will run yours through RugCheck for revoked authorities, an LP burn or lock, and spread-out holders.
An academic study of 655,770 Pump.fun launches from September 2025 found under 1 percent graduating, while The Block counted 6.7 percent on one Friday in July 2026, after BOOST went live. Plan for the average, not the spike.
A free Solana launch audit. Free 30-minute call. No pitch deck. No obligation.
Knowing how to launch a meme coin on Solana means running a token launch playbook in four phases.
No day-two plan, no day two.
Generally, yes, in the US. SEC staff said on February 27, 2025, that typical meme coins are not securities, which leaves holders without federal securities-law protection, though fraud is still prosecutable. A March 2026 SEC and CFTC interpretation called meme coins digital collectibles.
Promised utility, a roadmap, or revenue sharing can change that. Pump.fun’s creator fee is a trading fee paid to the deployer, not a holder payout. The Holder Rewards option on the Pump.fun fee schedule pays holders instead, a setup closer to the income the staff statement says meme coins lack.
Marketing to UK consumers falls under the FCA’s cryptoasset promotions regime, and MiCA Article 4 sets an EU white paper duty with no meme coin exemption. Check a crypto tax guide too. None of this is legal advice.
Smaller crowd, same bots.
We choose the route with you, build your X and Telegram community before the mint, seed disclosed key opinion leader (KOL) posts, and run launch day from a run sheet. After graduation, our token launch marketing team keeps holders engaged. We don’t fake volume or promise a price.
We have worked with Binance, Animoca Brands, Polygon, Falcon Finance, Incentiv, Rails, Biptap, SendIt, Black Mirror, and Boost.
A free Solana launch audit. Free 30-minute call. No pitch deck. No obligation.
The coin is a form, and the plan around it decides the chart.
Learning how to make a meme coin on Solana takes an afternoon. Keeping holders takes the room you build first, the authorities you give up, and the liquidity you can’t pull.
Connect a Solana wallet, such as Phantom, to a launchpad like Pump.fun, enter the name, ticker, image, and socials, then create the coin on its bonding curve. For more control, mint an SPL token yourself, add Metaplex metadata, revoke mint and freeze authority, and open a Raydium pool you fund.
It’s technically easy, since a launchpad coin takes minutes and no code. Getting it to graduate is hard. An academic study found that only 4,338 of 655,770 Pump.fun launches from September 2025 graduated, under 1 percent, so the real work is the community, trust signals, and launch plan around the coin.
A Pump.fun coin carries no platform creation fee as of October 2026, so you pay network fees and a small SOL deposit. A manual launch adds Raydium’s pool creation fee, account rent, and your liquidity, usually the largest cost. Dev buys made in Pump.fun’s app also pay its platform fee.
Not quite. Every route pays Solana network fees and rent for the token’s on-chain accounts, even when a launchpad charges no creation fee. No-code creators may add a service fee, while the spl-token command line costs only network fees and rent. Free means no platform fee, never zero total cost.
There’s no fixed number. Thin liquidity makes every sell move the price sharply and invites snipers, so size the pool to the buying you expect in the first hour, not the market cap you hope for. On a manual launch, burn or lock the LP tokens so buyers trust the pool.
Confirm the contract address from the project’s official X account or website, then paste it into RugCheck and Solscan. Check that mint and freeze authority are revoked, that LP tokens are burned or locked, and that the top-10 holders don’t control most of the supply. Any gap is a clear warning sign.
The bonding curve closes, and liquidity migrates to a PumpSwap pool, where the coin trades as a normal DEX pair. Since July 2026, Pump.fun’s default BOOST mode uses about 20 percent of migration liquidity for automatic buys in the first five minutes, then burns the tokens it buys, according to The Block.
They matter most to traders racing to buy at launch, because snipers pay higher priority fees to get their buys processed first. For creators, they matter mainly when the network is congested. Raydium’s documentation notes that pool creation can expire during congestion and suggests retrying with a higher priority-fee setting.
No, but the crowd is smaller. The Block counted nearly 30,000 Pump.fun launches on one day in January 2026, yet 21Shares tied an 87.1 percent fall in Solana’s first-half 2026 revenue mainly to the end of the 2025 meme coin boom. 21Shares also found meme coins regaining about a third of Solana’s DEX volume.
Yes. We help you choose between Pump.fun and a manual SPL launch, build the X and Telegram community before the mint, seed disclosed KOL posts, and run launch day from a written run sheet. After graduation, we focus on holders. Any project can start with a free Solana launch audit.
Our team runs creators, community, content, PR and search for funded Web3 teams. On a 30-minute call we review where you are and say what we would run first, then send a written plan after.
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