A recurring contract transaction starts with 21,000 gas of overhead, before the work the contract performs.
The change
EIP-2780 would reduce that overhead to 15,000 gas for calls to existing contracts that send no native ETH. Token transfers can still qualify.
Why it matters
Payments, token transfers and operational updates could use 6,000 less gas per eligible transaction. At scale, small savings add up.
Limitation / uncertainty
The proposal is under review. New accounts, contract deployment and state-heavy activity need a separate assessment. This isolates the overhead change.
Think of an electricity bill: gas used is like the kWh consumed, and the gas price in gwei is like the price per kWh. Your fee is the quantity used multiplied by the unit price.
For the transactions modeled here, EIP-2780 is like reducing the fixed energy needed to start each job. It reduces the units billed; it does not set the electricity tariff.
Update the highlighted assumptions to calculate a valid scenario.
What the proposal changes
Estimated protocol impact
− gas / affected transaction
gas overhead today → under EIP-2780
average transaction cost
gas / year avoided
Percentage change is averaged across your whole workload, at the same gas price. The reduction per affected transaction stays fixed.
Cost impact
Selected scenario
Annual impact of the modeled gas reduction.
Same workload, different gas prices
Potential annual impact by gas-price scenario
Gas environment
Annual impact · USD
Gwei and the bigger fee picture
Gas measures the work. Gwei prices that work. One gwei is one billionth of an ETH. The gas price includes the network's base fee and a priority fee.
Think of electricity: kWh consumed × price per kWh = bill. Here, gas used × price in gwei = transaction fee in gwei. Gas measures computing work, not literal electricity consumption.
A 120,000-gas transaction costs 0.00024 ETH at 2 gwei, or 0.0012 ETH at 10 gwei. The same work, five times the fee.
What has the trend been?
Ethereum has experienced much cheaper gas in recent years, but the path is uneven. Glassnode and CME's H1 2025 report recorded a low of 0.89 gwei for the seven-day moving average of median transaction gas prices, followed by a recovery to 4.49 gwei. These are observations within 2025, not annual averages.
For a later reference, ethereum.org reported daily averages near 0.5 gwei in April 2026. That is a different metric and period, not a like-for-like trend series or a live quote.
How other upgrades fit in
More room on Ethereum L1. The block gas limit rose from 30 million to 60 million during 2025; EIP-7935 set the 60-million default. More capacity can ease congestion when demand is unchanged.
Cheaper data for rollups.EIP-4844 introduced blobs, and EIP-7691 expanded blob capacity. These address L2 data costs; they are not an extra L1 discount in this calculator.
Pricing each kind of work. EIP-2780 reduces the modeled overhead, while its related proposals EIP-8037 and EIP-8038 reprice state creation and state access. Some operations can become more expensive.
For your budget: compare low, moderate and stressed conditions. More capacity can reduce fee pressure, but demand can rise again. This calculator holds your selected gas price constant to isolate EIP-2780's modeled impact.
