Cancel Transaction Gas Fee Right Now
How much does it cost to cancel a stuck Ethereum transaction? The card below shows today's exact cost for a cancel-replacement (21,000 gas at a bumped tip) across three priority tiers — calculated live from real-time gas prices and the current ETH/USD rate.
Live cancel transaction cost
21,000 gas units · ETH ≈ $2,255
Standard
$0.0201
0.425 Gwei
Lowest tier that confirms in a few minutes.
Fast
$0.0291
0.616 Gwei
Default wallet tier — confirms in about a minute.
Rapid
$0.0452
0.955 Gwei
Top priority — confirms in under 30 seconds.
Base fee right now: 0.363 Gwei. Tier prices add the average priority tip seen in recent blocks. Wallets often pad estimates by 10–30%, so your actual quote may be a bit higher.
How a transaction cancel actually works
You can't literally "cancel" a transaction on Ethereum — once it's in the mempool, the only thing you can do is replace it with a higher-paying transaction at the same nonce. A "cancel" is just a replacement that does nothing useful:
- Same nonce as the stuck tx
- Sent to yourself (your own address as the recipient)
- Value of zero (no ETH moved)
- Higher priority tip than the original — at least 10% more, in practice 1.5–2x current Fast
Validators see two competing transactions for the same nonce, pick the higher-paying one (the cancel), and the original gets dropped. You pay 21,000 gas for the cancel — and nothing else.
Cancel vs Speed Up — which to use
Both use the same replace-by-fee mechanism. The difference is intent:
- Cancel: you want the original tx to NOT happen. Maybe wrong recipient, wrong amount, regret. Always 21,000 gas regardless of what the original was doing.
- Speed up: you want the original tx to happen faster. The replacement re-runs the original action with a higher tip — same gas as the original action (could be 21,000 to 250,000+).
If the stuck tx was a 150,000-gas swap and you regret signing it, cancel — pay 21,000 instead of 150,000.
How to avoid needing to cancel
- Read your wallet's preview carefully. Most cancel-because-mistake situations come from clicking confirm too fast. Slow down on the signing step.
- Use simulation tools. Tenderly, Blockaid (built into MetaMask), and similar tools simulate the tx before you sign — they catch malicious contracts and wrong-recipient mistakes.
- Set the right tip the first time. Check live gas before signing. A stuck tx is almost always an under-tipped tx.
- Avoid signing during a base-fee spike. If conditions are volatile, wait it out. Don't lock in a tip that becomes stale by the next block.
- For routine activity, use an L2. Stuck transactions are rare on Layer 2s — stable conditions, low fees, no congestion-induced stalls.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to cancel a stuck transaction?
A cancel is a 0-value self-send at the same nonce as the stuck tx, with a higher priority tip. It uses 21,000 gas (basic transfer). The card above shows live cost across three tiers.
Why isn't canceling free?
To cancel, you broadcast a replacement transaction that has to outbid the original. Validators pick the higher-paying tx (the cancel) and drop the original. The cancel itself is a real tx that uses gas — that's what you're paying for.
Does cancelling refund the gas of the original transaction?
There's nothing to refund — the original tx never confirms. It just gets dropped from the mempool when the cancel tx takes its nonce. You only pay for the cancel tx itself.
How much higher does the cancel tip need to be vs the original?
At minimum 10% higher (per EIP-1559 RBF rules). In practice, you should bid at least 1.5–2x the current Fast tier tip — otherwise the cancel itself can get stuck behind newer, higher-paying transactions.
Is cancelling cheaper than speeding up?
Cancel uses 21,000 gas regardless of what the stuck transaction was doing. Speed-up uses the full gas of the original action (could be 150,000+ for a swap). For complex stuck transactions, cancelling is cheaper.
When should I cancel instead of speeding up?
Cancel when you realize the transaction was wrong (sent to the wrong address, wrong amount, wrong contract). Speed up when the transaction is correct but you just want it to confirm faster. Don't speed up something you didn't want to do — bump it to cancel.
What if my cancel transaction also gets stuck?
Bump the cancel itself (same nonce, even higher tip). Or wait — eventually one of the pending nonce-N transactions will confirm. If you keep bumping with low tips during a congestion spike, you can chase the market without ever clearing.
Related ETH gas tools and guides
Check gas before you sign.
Live mainnet gas conditions, refreshed every 30 seconds.