Gas-free Swaps — What They Are and When They Apply

Network fees (gas) are normally paid from your source wallet — you need extra native tokens (ETH, etc.) on top of the amount you are swapping. On gas-free routes, the quote is settled so that the network fee is deducted from the swap output instead, removing the need to hold a gas balance.

This is not free money: the gas cost still exists, it is just paid differently. The quote you see already accounts for it, so the output is final — no surprise deductions after confirmation.

Gas-free settlement is tied to the routing engine: single-leg aggregator swaps that can absorb the fee into the fill. Cross-chain routes with multiple hops may still require native gas for the source leg, so check the preview — it always shows the gas line explicitly.

If you have no ETH at all and your trade is not marked gas-free, the preview will flag it and suggest covering gas in the quote where supported.

Because gas is folded into the output, gas-free quotes can cost a fraction less in raw output than a route where you pay gas in ETH — that is the fee, clearly visible, not hidden. Compare both options when the pair supports it and pick whichever leaves more value in your wallet.

If your router logs or the request tracker show the gas line, that is the reconciliation record — your quote and the settled fee always add up to the same total value.