RPC method

eth_estimateGas on MegaETH

Supported on SwiftNodes

Everything below was measured on 2026-10-13 by calling eth_estimateGas on MegaETH through the same endpoint customers use, and is re-measured weekly.

What eth_estimateGas does

Runs a transaction against current state and returns the gas it would use, so you can set a gas limit. If the transaction would revert or the sender cannot pay, the node returns an error instead of a number.

eth_estimateGas on MegaETH: what we measured

Zero-value ETH transfer to an EOA	60,000 gas
Same on Ethereum	21,000 gas
1 wei from an empty account	insufficient funds for gas * price + value: have 0 want 1

What the numbers mean

A plain transfer estimates at 60,000 gas, 39,000 more than Ethereum's 21,000. MegaETH prices gas differently, so a hard-coded 21,000 gas limit will fail here.

An estimate for a sender that cannot pay fails with: "insufficient funds for gas * price + value: have 0 want 1". Your app sees this text when a user's balance is too low, so match on it to show a clear message.

Chains where a transfer is not 21,000 gas

Of the 53 chains we measure, 6 estimate a plain transfer at something other than 21,000 gas.

Example request

curl -s https://rpc.swiftnodes.io/rpc/megaeth?key=YOUR_API_KEY \
  -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"eth_estimateGas","params":[{"from":"0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000000","to":"0x000000000000000000000000000000000000dEaD","value":"0x0"}]}'

import { createPublicClient, http } from "viem";

const client = createPublicClient({
  transport: http("https://rpc.swiftnodes.io/rpc/megaeth?key=YOUR_API_KEY"),
});

const gas = await client.estimateGas({ account: from, to, value });
// Add headroom: state can change between estimate and inclusion
const gasLimit = (gas * 120n) / 100n;

Other methods on MegaETH

eth_estimateGas on other chains

Frequently asked questions

Does MegaETH support eth_estimateGas?

Yes. eth_estimateGas answered on the SwiftNodes MegaETH endpoint when our weekly probe called it through the customer path (2026-10-13).

How much gas does a plain transfer use on MegaETH?

eth_estimateGas returned 60,000 for a plain transfer on 2026-10-13; it is not the 21,000 of Ethereum.

What does "insufficient funds for gas * price + value" mean from eth_estimateGas on MegaETH?

The sender's balance cannot cover the value plus the gas. Fund the account or lower the value; the have and want figures in the message are in wei.

MegaETH endpoints, live block height and WebSocket status are on the MegaETH RPC page.

One key covers every chain we serve, and SwiftNodes has a free tier.