Airdrop Cost Calculator

How do you calculate the cost of an airdrop?

Multiply the tokens allocated by the token price at distribution to get the airdrop's value, add what you spend running the campaign, then divide by the users you actually keep. The cost per retained user is the number that tells you whether the airdrop worked, because value sent to farmers and to recipients who sell and leave buys you nothing.

What is a good cost per retained user for an airdrop?

It depends on what a retained user is worth to you. Enter that value (the fees, deposits or revenue you expect from a user) in the optional field and the calculator compares the two. If a retained user costs more than they are worth, the airdrop is a loss however large the headline numbers look.

What are airdrop farmers and sybil wallets?

Farmers are people who interact with a project only to qualify for its airdrop. Sybil wallets are many wallets controlled by one person to multiply their allocation. Both take tokens meant for real users, and most sell soon after the claim opens. Eligibility rules, activity thresholds and sybil filtering reduce their share.

How do I reduce the share of an airdrop that goes to farmers?

Reward sustained, meaningful activity instead of simple transaction counts, filter clusters of wallets funded from the same source, weight allocations toward users who held or used the product over time, and keep the criteria unannounced until the snapshot. The calculator shows how much each point of farmer share costs you.

How does an airdrop create sell pressure?

Recipients who do not plan to stay sell their tokens, often in the first days after the claim. Comparing the tokens likely sold in week one to your average daily trading volume shows how many days of normal volume the market has to absorb. Several days of volume in one week usually means a sharp price drop unless demand grows with it.

Is a points program cheaper than an airdrop?

A points program is an airdrop with a longer runway: users earn points over months and convert them to tokens later. It can filter out farmers better because sustained activity is harder to fake, but the cost math is the same. Enter the tokens the points will convert into to see the cost per retained user.

How do you market an airdrop so the right users claim it?

Reach the users you want to keep before the snapshot, not after it. Creator campaigns, community programs and clear eligibility communication bring in people who will use the product, while quest farms and airdrop-hunter channels bring in people who will sell. Coinbound ran the creator campaign around the Walrus mainnet and $WAL airdrop: 90+ posts from 20+ crypto creators and 2.2M+ tracked views.