Transaction fees vary enormously across major blockchains. The XRP Ledger consistently maintains some of the lowest fees of any major network, largely due to its consensus mechanism design rather than proof-of-work or auction-based fee models.

XRP Ledger: Base fee of 10 drops (0.00001 XRP). At a price of $2.50 per XRP, this is approximately $0.000025 per transaction — less than three thousandths of a cent. Even during high-congestion periods with elevated load factors, XRPL fees remain a fraction of what other networks charge. Settlement finalises in 3–5 seconds.

Bitcoin: Fees depend on mempool congestion and transaction size in bytes. During busy periods, Bitcoin fees have exceeded $50–$100 per transaction. Even in quiet periods, a standard transaction typically costs $1–$5. Settlement requires 10+ minutes for the first confirmation and 60+ minutes for full finality. Fees go to miners.

Ethereum: Fees (called "gas") fluctuate based on network demand and are set through an auction mechanism. A simple ETH transfer might cost $1–$20 in gas during normal conditions, and simple DeFi interactions can cost $50–$500+ during peak periods. Ethereum burns a portion of fees (base fee) while paying validators a priority fee. Settlement on L1 takes 12–15 seconds for inclusion, with finality in minutes.

The XRPL's fixed-base-fee model with load-factor scaling avoids the auction dynamics that drive up fees on Ethereum and Bitcoin, making it far more predictable for applications like cross-border payments and high-frequency microtransactions — the use cases XRPL was specifically designed for.