Disclosure: Jumpbit builds Multisender, one of the tools covered here. We list every tool under the same rules and show only values each tool states. See the editorial policy.
Why compressed airdrops are cheaper
A regular Solana token account needs a rent-exempt balance. Light Protocol's comparison lists about 2,000,000 lamports (0.002 SOL) for a regular token account against about 5,000 lamports for a ZK-compressed one, because compressed token accounts do not need a rent-exempt balance. For a large airdrop that is the biggest cost. Helius estimated about 20 SOL or more for 10,000 recipients with standard transfers against far less with compression, in an article that is now dated.
What recipients have to do
Compressed tokens are stored in a different structure. To hold them as regular tokens, a recipient decompresses them, which creates a regular token account and brings the rent back into play. Jumpbit's Multisender states that recipients of compressed tokens must claim them with its Claim Airdrop tool or any Light Protocol compatible tool, once per token type.
Limits to know
- Compressed accounts cost extra compute to read and write, about 6,000 compute units each, so frequent updates can erase the saving.
- Explorers cannot decode compressed tokens, so balances need a compatible RPC.
- Leading wallets such as Phantom and Backpack support them, but not every app does.
- The exact decompression cost is not published in the sources we found, so test on devnet.
When it makes sense
Choose compression when many recipients will simply hold the tokens. Stay with standard transfers when recipients will trade or move them right away. Jumpbit's Multisender offers a compressed mode at 0.0015 SOL per recipient against 0.003 SOL standard. See fees compared and how to airdrop a token.