SOL Faucet – Here’s How You Can Get Free Solana on Testnet

A SOL faucet is a website that enables users to receive a small amount of Solana (SOL) tokens for free. Unlike mainnet SOL coins, Solana testnet faucet-issued SOL tokens do not possess real economic value and primarily serve as a tool used by developers to try out decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts before deploying them to the Solana mainnet. 

This doesn’t render the mainnet SOL tokens useless when making developments on the network, as they also play a major role when developing on Solana. Developers need the mainnet SOL tokens to deploy smart contracts, or programs on Solana. Meanwhile, the need for testnet SOL tokens comes into play earlier in the development process, when it’s time for developers to test the programs out on testnet and devnet.

What is a SOL faucet?

A SOL faucet is a website that sends users testnet SOL coins for free. Sol Faucet is the go-to website for Solana developers who want to get test SOL tokens for the purpose of deploying smart contracts to the Solana Devnet and Testnet. However, several alternatives, like Thirdweb’s and Stakely’s Solana coin faucet services, also attract plenty of users.

To reiterate our previous point, users who intend to use Solana free faucets should note that these tools do not give out real SOL tokens but rather testnet versions. Hence, they can be leveraged on both the Solana Testnet and Devnet for public use. Moreso, test SOL tokens generated from the SOL faucet cannot be transferred to or used on Solana’s mainnet. In addition to this, the tokens cannot be cashed out as they are meant for development purposes only. The tokens are solely used by blockchain developers and testers to test Solana programs and dApps.

What is Solana Devnet and Testnet?

Solana Devnet is a test network deployed by Solana developers for the trial phase of a new dApp. Solana Devnet functions as a sandbox for developers to test out their applications before deploying them to the mainnet. Meanwhile, only the test SOL tokens are required to execute transactions on the Devnet. This way, developers do not need to spend money to test their applications.

Solana Testnet is very similar to Devnet. While the Devnet is recommended for developers to test their new applications, the Solana Testnet is primarily used by Solana Labs to test network upgrades. Basically, it is where the Solana core contributors stress test recent feature releases and bug fixes on a live cluster, particularly focused on network performance, stability and validator behavior. It also allows for the development of blockchain applications without the risk of losing funds. The testnet tokens can be obtained freely from various token-issuing services on the Solana faucet list.

How to get free Solana testnet coins?

As said earlier, the SOL Faucet does not give regular Solana tokens but testnet tokens. To get free Solana testnet coins from a SOL faucet, users must first complete a process that can be categorized into a couple of basic steps.

Step 1 – Install the Solana Command Line Interface on your device

To start with, users are required to install the Solana Command Line Interface (CLI), one of the fundamental Solana developer tools on their device. This step must be completed before you can have Solana installed on your device.

To get the Solana CLI installer into your transient directory, you’ll need to open your command prompt as an admin, then run the code displayed below:

curl
https://release.solana.com/v1.10.32/solana-install-init-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.exe 
–output 
C:\solana-install-tmp\solana-install-init.exe 
–create-dirs

The previous step will see you have the Solana installer on your device. Hence, you can proceed to install Solana itself on our Windows. You can achieve this by running this command on your device:

C:\solana-install-tmp\solana-install-init.exe

This concludes the Solana installation process on your device. The successful installation of the Solana CLI will be displayed on your screen like the image below:

Meanwhile, to confirm that the Solana CLI has been properly installed, you should open a new command line interface on your device, not as an admin, and run the code below:

solana -version

Step 2 – Create a Solana wallet

Creating a Solana wallet is essential as it is the tool that helps you to receive the free Solana faucet tokens. Note, there are multiple types of wallets featured on the network for people to use. This includes browser-based wallets, hardware wallets, paper wallets, or file system wallets. Let’s learn how to use a paper wallet to claim free SOL faucet tokens.

To create a paper wallet from the command line and get your seed phrase, run this script:

solana-keygen new –no-outfile

This will launch you to a stage where you’ll be asked for a passphrase that you will have to set, after which your wallet address and seed phrase will be displayed.

You can proceed to get your free SOL faucet tokens from any of the two types of Solana faucets, which include the command line Solana faucet website options.

Step 3 – Request free SOL faucet tokens

To receive test SOL tokens using the command line, use the script below:

solana airdrop 2 <RECIPIENT_ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> 
–url https://api.devnet.solana.com

After this, you should replace the recipient account address with the wallet address displayed for you earlier. This process will see you receive 2 SOL in your paper wallet. The image below will be displayed on your screen.

To confirm if the tokens are in your wallet, close that interface and open another one. Then run this command.

solana balance <ACCOUNT_ADDRESS> 
–url https://api.devnet.solana.com

The display above is what you’ll see after completing the step.

Alternative ways to get testnet and devnet SOL

Another way to get devnet SOL – which is more suitable for users that prefer graphical user interfaces over command lines – is to request SOL devnet or testnet tokens using a Solana faucet website.

Sol Faucet

Sol Faucet allows users to request the number of SOL tokens to receive in a devnet/testnet-supporting wallet. Keep in mind that the max amount of tokens you can on testnet is 1 SOL, while up to 10 SOL can be airdropped into a devnet Solana blockchain address. 

ThirdWeb SOL faucet for Solana devnet

ThirdWeb provides a faucet where you can get devnet SOL tokens for free. However, please keep in mind that the faucet only distributes 1 devnet SOL token at a time. 

All you need to do in order to use the ThirdWeb SOL faucet is to input the address you’re using on the Solana devnet and click “Request Funds”. After that, the 1 SOL should arrive in your Solana devnet wallet almost immediately.

QuickNode Solana faucet 

Blockchain infrastructure company QuickNode provides a Solana devnet and testnet faucet where you can get devnet SOL coins for free every 12 hours. You can connect to the QuickNode faucet using your Phantom wallet. If you want to increase the amount of SOL coins you get from this faucet, you can share a tweet mentioning the faucet and QuickNode will provide you with a 2x bonus.

The bottom line

SOL faucets allow developers who desire to build decentralized applications on the Solana network to test their apps in a secure and risk-free environment. As you can see from our guide, getting free test SOL coins is a very straightforward process..

Aside from the SOL faucet, developers who intend to build on Binance can also get testnet BNB for free on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) testnet.