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Fee breakdown

Layerswap fees are designed to be transparent and predictable. Every quote includes a detailed cost breakdown so you know exactly what you’re paying for. The total cost of a transfer is made up of three components:
ComponentDescription
Layerswap feesA percentage-based service fee defined per route (e.g. 0.05%). This is Layerswap’s commission for facilitating the transfer.
Bridge expensesCovers gas and network costs on the source and destination chains. This is typically a fixed USD amount, periodically updated to reflect current network conditions. On multi-provider routes, an external bridge may add a percentage-based component.
Market impactThe price difference caused by on-chain swaps when the route involves a DEX. For same-token transfers (e.g. USDC → USDC) this is typically $0.
The price impact breakdown is visible in the app by hovering over the fee indicator before confirming a transfer.

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How fees are calculated

Layerswap fees are calculated as a percentage of the transfer amount. The percentage varies by route — each source/destination pair has its own rate. Some routes may also include a small fixed USD component on top of the percentage. Bridge expenses are derived from the actual gas costs observed on recent transactions for that route. They cover:
  • The output transaction fee on the destination network
  • Sweeping fees (when deposit addresses are used)
  • Refuel fees (if native gas is sent to the destination address)
Market impact only applies when the route involves an on-chain swap (e.g. bridging ETH on Arbitrum to USDC on Base). For direct token routes the market impact is $0.

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Multi-provider routes

Layerswap can chain its own liquidity with external bridges — CCTP, LayerZero, Axelar, CCIP, or native rollup bridges — to serve routes that aren’t covered by direct liquidity alone. On these multi-provider routes, the bridge expenses may include costs from the external bridge, and the transfer time depends on the underlying protocol. For example, a route that uses CCTP + Layerswap may take around 20 minutes, while a direct Layerswap route typically completes in seconds. The availability of fast, direct routes depends on where liquidity is positioned at any given moment.

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Fetching fees via the API

To get the fee breakdown for a specific amount, use the /v2/quote endpoint: 
curl "https://api.layerswap.io/api/v2/quote?\
source_network=ETHEREUM_MAINNET&\
source_token=USDC&\
destination_network=ARBITRUM_MAINNET&\
destination_token=USDC&\
amount=1000"
The response includes: 
{
  "quote": {
    // blockchain_fee + service_fee
    "total_fee": 0.55,
    // total fee in USD
    "total_fee_in_usd": 0.55,
    // gas & network costs (bridge expenses)
    "blockchain_fee": 0.05,
    // Layerswap's commission
    "service_fee": 0.50,
    // estimated amount at destination
    "receive_amount": 999.45,
    // minimum after slippage tolerance
    "min_receive_amount": 994.46,
    ...
  }
}
To see fees across all possible amounts for a route, use the /v2/detailed_quote endpoint instead — it returns the total percentage fee and fixed fee components, along with calculated fees at the minimum and maximum transfer amounts.

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Fee discounts

Layerswap runs fee discount campaigns with select partners. When a campaign is active for a route, the discount is automatically applied to the quote and reflected in the fee_discount field in the API response.