1. Get a Solana wallet
Install Phantom or Solflare from the link on their own site, never from a search ad. Write the seed phrase on paper and keep it offline. Anyone who has those words owns the wallet.
2. Get some SOL
Buy SOL on an exchange you already use and withdraw it to your wallet address, or buy it inside the wallet with a card. Send a small test amount first and check it arrives. Keep a little extra SOL in the wallet for network fees and the small deposit Solana charges to open each new token account.
3. Pick how you'll buy
There are four routes, and they differ mainly on speed and fees:
- A trading app like FOMO or Moonshot. Easiest start, built for phones. FOMO shows one fee with gas included before you confirm; Moonshot doesn't publish its fee on its site, so check the confirmation screen.
- A trading terminal like Axiom. A live feed of new coins, holder data next to the chart and one-click buys. Axiom charges 1% per swap with 0.05% to 0.25% cashback in SOL by tier. See all trading terminals.
- A Telegram bot like Trojan. Paste a contract address, tap buy. 1% per trade with SOL cashback by rank. See all Telegram bots.
- A plain swap on Jupiter. Usually the cheapest single swap: 0% to 0.5% on Ultra swaps depending on the pair, 0% on manual swaps. No new-coin feed, though.
4. Check the coin before you buy
Copy the contract address from the chart or the launchpad page, never from a reply under a post. Then run the five-minute rug check: contract scan, holder map, bundles, dev wallet, X account.
5. Set slippage and priority fee
Slippage is how much worse a price you'll accept. New coins move fast, so trades with very tight slippage fail, but very loose slippage invites sandwich attacks. A priority fee pays validators to include your trade sooner. Start with your tool's defaults and change one thing at a time.
6. Buy small, and decide your exit first
Start with an amount you'd be fine losing completely, because many new coins go to zero. Before you buy, decide where you'd take profit and where you'd cut it. Most terminals and bots let you set take-profit and stop-loss orders straight away.
7. Clean up afterwards
Every token you buy opens a token account that locks a little SOL as rent. Once you've sold, tools like Sol Incinerator close the empty accounts and return that SOL. After a few months of trading it adds up.
Four ways to make your first buy
FOMO
Trading appsSocial memecoin trading app: follow traders and copy their buys from your phone
Axiom
Trading terminalsThe terminal most traders moved to: new pairs, perps and wallet tracking in one place
Trojan
Telegram botsBig Solana Telegram bot with copy trading, limit orders and a web terminal
Jupiter
Trading appsSolana's main swap aggregator, with a mobile app and limit orders
FAQ
What do I need to buy a memecoin on Solana?
A Solana wallet like Phantom or Solflare, some SOL, and a way to swap: a trading app, a terminal, a Telegram bot or a swap site like Jupiter.
What is the cheapest way to buy a memecoin?
For a single swap, Jupiter is often cheapest at 0% to 0.5% depending on the pair. Terminals and bots usually charge about 1% per trade but add speed and new-coin feeds.
Why did my memecoin buy fail?
Usually because the price moved more than your slippage allowed, or your priority fee was too low for a busy moment. Raise one setting a little at a time.
Nothing here is financial advice, and we never call a coin or tool safe. We say what we checked and when.