The Short Version
Go to raydium.io → Liquidity → Create Pool → CPMM. Enter your token mint address, choose SOL or USDC as the base pair, set the initial price, deposit both sides, sign. Your token becomes tradeable within minutes. Budget 0.3–0.5 SOL in pool creation fees plus however much liquidity you want to seed.
Why Raydium?
Raydium is the largest AMM (automated market maker) on Solana by volume. When your token has a Raydium pool, it gets picked up automatically by Jupiter — Solana's dominant swap aggregator — which means anyone searching for your token on Jupiter, Phantom's built-in swap, or most Solana wallets can trade it immediately.
You could also use Orca (another solid Solana DEX), but Raydium has deeper integrations across Solana tooling and tends to get picked up faster by aggregators. For most new token launches, Raydium is the default first choice.
CPMM vs CLMM: Which Pool Type?
Raydium offers two pool types. Understanding the difference matters because once a pool is created, you're committed to that type.
CPMM — Standard Pool
Constant Product Market Maker. Liquidity is spread across the entire price range. Simple to set up, no management required. This is what most people use for new token launches.
Use this for: new launches, community tokens, anything where simplicity matters
CLMM — Concentrated Pool
Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker. You specify a price range. More capital-efficient within that range, but if the price moves outside it, your liquidity earns nothing. Requires active management.
Use this for: established tokens with predictable price ranges, experienced LPs
If you're adding liquidity for the first time: use CPMM. You can always create a CLMM pool later.
Step-by-Step: Creating Your Raydium Pool
Get your token mint address
You'll need this to add your token to the pool. Find it in your Solana wallet (check the token details in Phantom or Solflare), or in your Solscan history from when you created the token. It looks like a base58 string, e.g. 7xKX...
Fund your wallet with both assets
You need your token AND SOL (or USDC, whichever you're pairing with). The liquidity pool requires both sides. If you want a SOL/TOKEN pool, make sure you have enough SOL for both the pool creation fee (~0.3–0.5 SOL) and the liquidity deposit on top.
Go to Raydium and navigate to Create Pool
Visit raydium.io, connect your Solana wallet, go to Liquidity in the top menu, and click Create Pool. You'll see options for CPMM and CLMM — select CPMM.
Enter your token mint address
In the "Token B" field, paste your token's mint address. Raydium will look it up and show your token's name and logo if the metadata is set correctly. If it shows "Unknown Token" you may need to wait a few minutes for the metadata to propagate, or check that your metadata was uploaded correctly during creation.
Set the initial price
This is the starting price of your token in SOL or USDC. Think carefully about this — it determines how much of each asset you'll need to seed the pool. A higher price means you need fewer tokens but more SOL per token. A lower price means your token supply goes further but each token is worth less. There's no objectively right answer, but consider your total supply and how much of it you're putting in the pool.
Set the start time
You can set the pool to open immediately or at a future date/time. For community launches, setting a start time a few hours ahead can help build anticipation. Leave it as immediate if you just want trading available now.
Confirm the fee tier and sign
Raydium charges a small fee on each trade (typically 0.25% for CPMM pools). This goes to liquidity providers, which includes you if you leave your liquidity in the pool. Review the summary and sign the creation transaction in your wallet.
How Much Liquidity Do You Actually Need?
This is the question most people don't think about enough before creating a pool. There's no enforced minimum, but there's a practical minimum — pools with very low liquidity have extreme price impact, which means a single small trade moves the price dramatically. That makes your token look volatile and unappealing.
These are USD equivalents at time of pool creation. The actual SOL/token amounts depend on your token's starting price.
Common Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
Setting the wrong initial price
The initial price you set determines how many tokens you need to deposit alongside your SOL. Run the numbers before you start — figure out what market cap you want at launch and work backwards from your total supply. Changing the price after creation means closing the pool and starting again.
Not locking liquidity
If you're launching a community token, consider locking your liquidity using a service like Streamflow or Raydium's own LP locking. Locked liquidity proves you can't rug-pull by withdrawing it, which significantly increases holder trust. It's optional but strongly recommended for any token trying to build a real community.
Seeding with 100% of your token supply
Don't put every token into the pool. Keep some back for marketing, community rewards, team allocation, or whatever you've planned. The percentage you put in the pool affects the price discovery — research your target initial market cap and supply allocation before deciding.
Forgetting about Raydium creation fees
The pool creation fee (~0.3–0.5 SOL) comes on top of the SOL you're depositing as liquidity. Budget for both separately so you don't find yourself short at the signing step.
What Happens After You Create the Pool
Within a few minutes of pool creation, your token shows up on Raydium's swap interface. Jupiter's indexer picks up new Raydium pools quickly — typically within an hour, sometimes faster. Once Jupiter has it, your token is accessible to anyone using Jupiter, most Solana wallets' built-in swap features, and third-party Solana aggregators.
CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap are separate. They require manual listing requests and typically want to see trading volume, liquidity depth, and verified metadata before approving. Expect this to take days to weeks.
Read our Jupiter listing guide for more on getting your token fully visible across the Solana ecosystem.
FAQ
How do I add my Solana token to Raydium?
How much does it cost to create a Raydium pool?
What is the difference between CPMM and CLMM?
How much liquidity do I need?
Can I remove my liquidity later?
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