How to Create an ERC-20 Token on Ethereum, Base, Polygon or BNB Chain (No Code)
iMintify· Published November 14, 2026
In dit artikel
An ERC-20 token deploys for a few cents on Base, Polygon or BNB Chain and for anywhere between twenty cents and eleven dollars on Ethereum mainnet, depending on the hour. The contract is the same standard on all four chains, so the choice is about where your buyers are and what the pool will cost, not about the token.
Same contract, four very different bills.
Below: that choice, the deploy itself, the pool on Uniswap, Aerodrome or PancakeSwap, and the trust signals EVM buyers look for.
Ethereum, Base, Polygon or BNB Chain?
Base for reach through Coinbase, BNB Chain for retail trading volume, Polygon for cheap utility tokens, Ethereum when liquidity and credibility matter more than fees. Gas on 14 November 2026, a quiet Saturday morning:
| Chain | Deploy an ERC-20 (1.2 to 1.5M gas) | Create a pool | Main DEX | Who is there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | about $0.01 plus a small L1 data fee | cents on Uniswap v4 or Aerodrome | Uniswap, Aerodrome | Coinbase users, on-chain apps |
| BNB Chain | about $0.04 | well under a dollar | PancakeSwap | Large retail and meme coin crowd |
| Polygon | about $0.03 | cents | Uniswap, QuickSwap | Gaming and utility tokens |
| Ethereum | $0.20 at weekend gas, $2 to $11 on a weekday | $25 to $200 on Uniswap v3, far less on v4 | Uniswap | Deepest liquidity, exchange listings |
Weekday gas on Ethereum runs several times the weekend figure, so if you must deploy on mainnet, do it on a Sunday morning European time.
Gas is the only variable. Everything else costs the same on every chain.
How to create an ERC-20 token, step by step
- Connect MetaMask or Rabby on the chain you picked, with a few dollars of ETH, BNB or POL for gas.
- Name, symbol, decimals. 18 decimals is the ERC-20 convention and what every DEX assumes. Keep it unless you have a reason.
- Supply. Minted to your wallet on deploy. Decide the split between pool, community and treasury before this step.
- Logo and links. ERC-20 has no on-chain metadata standard like Solana; your logo reaches wallets and DEXScreener through their own listing forms, and iMintify fills your hosted token page with it right away.
- Ownership. The ERC-20 equivalent of revoking authorities is renouncing ownership of the contract, so nobody can mint more or change rules later. Do it once the launch settings are final.
- Deploy. One signature in the token creator. The creator is free to use; deploying costs a small amount of credits plus gas, the current number is on the pricing page. The audited contract lands in your wallet.
Renounce last, not first. Once ownership is gone you cannot fix a typo in the settings.
Open a pool and lock it
On Base, use Uniswap v4 or Aerodrome; v4 made pool creation about 99% cheaper than v3 because it writes to storage instead of deploying a new contract per pool. On BNB Chain, PancakeSwap. On Ethereum mainnet, avoid v3 unless you need a v3 feature: a v3 pool deploys a contract and costs $25 to $200 in gas, while v4 is a fraction of that.
Lock it before you announce it.
Pair your tokens with ETH, BNB or POL, then lock the LP position with a locker contract or burn the LP tokens. Buyers on EVM chains check the lock on DEXScreener and DEXTools before anything else. Read what a liquidity pool is if the mechanics are new.
What EVM buyers check
GoPlus, Token Sniffer and the audit tab on DEXScreener score the same things: is the contract verified, is ownership renounced, can the owner mint, pause or blacklist, is there a hidden tax, is the LP locked, and how concentrated are the top holders. A standard, verified, renounced ERC-20 with a locked pool and the top ten holders under 25 to 30% of supply scores clean. Anything custom, from a transfer tax to a whitelist, costs you points and buyers.
Standard beats clever here.
After the deploy
Now the part that is not technical starts.
Airdrop to early holders with the multisender, submit the logo to DEXScreener (the pool shows up automatically once it trades), and point everything at the free token website with the buy button. Listings on CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap come later; see how to list a token. Launching a meme coin rather than a utility token? The meme coin guide covers tokenomics, pump.fun and the first 48 hours.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to create an ERC-20 token?
Gas for 1.2 to 1.5 million units: a few cents on Base, Polygon or BNB Chain, and $0.20 to $11 on Ethereum mainnet depending on the time of day. The pool is extra: cents on Base, up to $200 for a Uniswap v3 pool on mainnet.
Is Base better than Ethereum for a new token?
For most new tokens, yes: the same contract standard, a direct path to Coinbase users, and fees that let people buy small amounts. Ethereum mainnet makes sense when you expect large trades or want centralised exchange listings sooner.
Can I use the same token on several EVM chains?
You can deploy the same contract on each chain, but each deploy is a separate token with its own pool and holders. Start on one chain and bridge later if there is demand.
Where do ERC-20 tokens trade?
On the DEX where you opened the pool: Uniswap or Aerodrome on Base, PancakeSwap on BNB Chain, Uniswap or QuickSwap on Polygon, Uniswap on Ethereum. Aggregators route to all of them.
Bouwt de tools van iMintify en schrijft de handleidingen. Praktisch, stap voor stap, met de knoppen erbij.
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