Is Photon dead?
No, and we are not going to pretend otherwise for a headline. Photon still collected $656K in fees over the last 30 days. It is 99.2% below its own peak, which is the part the old articles get wrong in the other direction. Here is the whole series, and the source, so you do not have to take our word for it.
Photon is still running and is not currently shrinking, but it is a fraction of what it was. $656K in fees over the last 30 days (+21.1% on the prior 30) against a peak 30-day window of $84.2M, so it is 99.2% off its high.
Monthly fees, Jul 25 to Aug 26:
Figures as of August 23, 2026 (UTC). Source: DefiLlama › Photon. Series starts 2024-01-12.
What Photon was, and what it is now
Fast web terminal that was the default pre-Axiom. It runs on Solana. DefiLlama has been tracking its fee take since 2024-01-12.
Its strongest 30-day window collected $84.2M in fees and ended 2025-02-01. The trailing 30 days collected $656K. That is the entire story on one line: it is running at 0.8% of its own best month.
The number in the listicles is the peak, not the present
Fee take is the cleanest public signal for a trading bot, because it is on-chain and it moves with real usage. It also decays fast, which is exactly why stale numbers survive: an article written in the peak month reads fine on the day it is published and is wrong six months later. Nobody goes back and edits it.
Every figure on this page is regenerated from DefiLlama's public API and stamped with the date it was pulled. If it is old, the date on it will say so.
Where the volume went
Ranked by live 30-day fee take, these are the biggest tools in the same category right now. This measures where money is moving, nothing more. We have not tested any of them for you, and a bot being large is not a claim that using it is profitable.
| Tool | Fees, 30d | 30d change | Status | 14-month shape |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axiom Web terminal · Solana, BSC · status · source |
$32.6M | +60.1% | Growing | |
| GMGN Web + Telegram · Solana, Ethereum, Base, BSC and more · status · source |
$26.6M | +43.5% | Growing | |
| fomo Mobile wallet · Solana · source |
$11.5M | +112% | Growing | |
| pump.fun Terminal Web terminal · Solana, Ethereum, BSC, Base · source |
$4.30M | +47.2% | Growing | |
| Maestro Telegram bot · BSC, Ethereum, Solana, Base and more · status · source |
$1.13M | -16.6% | Diminished |
All figures as of August 23, 2026 (UTC), from DefiLlama.
Questions people ask about Photon
Is Photon dead in 2026?
No, and we are not going to pretend otherwise for a headline. Photon still collected $656K in fees over the last 30 days. It is 99.2% below its own peak, which is the part the old articles get wrong in the other direction. Over the last 30 days Photon collected $656K in fees, against a peak 30-day window of $84.2M that ended 2025-02-01. Figures as of August 23, 2026, sourced from DefiLlama.
How much is Photon actually earning now?
$656K in trading fees over the trailing 30 days, $164K over the trailing 7 days, and $18K in the last 24 hours. Fees are what the protocol collected from users, not what any user made.
Why do articles say Photon does far more volume than this?
Almost always because the figure being quoted is a peak figure. Photon's best 30-day stretch collected $84.2M in fees and ended 2025-02-01. A number like that is correct on the day it is written and stays in circulation long after. The trailing 30 days collected $656K. If a figure you have read does not carry a date, assume it is the first number and not the second.
What are people using instead of Photon?
On live fee take, the largest tools in this category right now are Axiom ($32.6M over 30 days), GMGN ($26.6M over 30 days), fomo ($11.5M over 30 days), pump.fun Terminal ($4.30M over 30 days), Maestro ($1.13M over 30 days). That is a measure of where money is flowing, not a recommendation.