Every Solana account has to hold a minimum SOL balance, its rent-exempt reserve, or the network won't keep it. The amount depends on two things: how many bytes the account stores and the network's current rent rate. Pick an account type or type a size below to see the reserve at every step of the 2026 rent reduction.
How much rent does a Solana account need?
A Solana account's rent-exempt minimum is (128 + its data size in bytes) × the current lamports-per-byte rate. At 5,080 lamports per byte, live since September 11, 2026, a standard 165-byte token account needs 1,488,440 lamports, or 0.00148844 SOL. Use the calculator below for any account size and rent step.
| Rent step | Lamports per byte | Rent-exempt minimum (lamports) | Surplus above the current minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original setting | 6,960 | 2,039,280 (0.00203928 SOL) | 0.00055084 SOL |
| Step 1 | 6,333 | 1,855,569 (0.001855569 SOL) | 0.000367129 SOL |
| Step 2current | 5,080 | 1,488,440 (0.00148844 SOL) | — |
| Step 3 (planned) | 2,575 | 754,475 (0.000754475 SOL) | — |
| Step 4 (planned) | 1,322 | 387,346 (0.000387346 SOL) | — |
| Step 5 (planned) | 696 | 203,928 (0.000203928 SOL) | — |
The surplus column shows how much more an account opened at that step holds than a new account needs today. That's the on-chain difference, before any recovery fee or network cost. Planned steps show what the minimum would be if they activate; until then, an account opened today holds the current minimum.
How do you calculate rent for any account size?
Every account pays for its data plus 128 bytes of storage overhead, at the network's lamports-per-byte rate. Divide by 1,000,000,000 to turn lamports into SOL. For a 165-byte token account at today's 5,080 lamports per byte, that's (128 + 165) × 5,080 = 1,488,440 lamports, or 0.00148844 SOL. Under the original 6,960 setting the same account needed 0.00203928 SOL. Our rent table by account type lists the common accounts side by side.
Token-2022 extensions add bytes, so extended accounts need more; our Token-2022 extensions guide explains how to read an account's real size.
What do the SIMD-0437 rent steps change?
SIMD-0437 lowers the rate from 6,960 to 696 lamports per byte in five steps: 6,333, 5,080, 2,575, 1,322 and 696. The first two went live in September 2026. The rest are expected in November 2026, but each step activates separately and can pause or be reversed, so treat the planned rows as a preview, not a promise. Our rent reduction update tracks what's live.
How do you check the live number?
With the Solana CLI pointed at mainnet, run solana rent 165 (or any size). On October 7, 2026 it printed Rent-exempt minimum: 0.00148844 SOL. In code, call the getMinimumBalanceForRentExemption RPC method with the size in bytes; it returns lamports.
Got older accounts holding more than they need?
An account opened before the cuts still holds its original deposit unless the surplus has already been withdrawn. If it's a token account you still use, Sol Incinerator's Fun Mode can withdraw eligible surplus and leave the account open. Empty accounts can be closed to release the whole deposit. Either way, Sol Incinerator shows what you can receive before you approve.
