If you ever tried to send USDT (TRC-20), you’ve probably hit this common but annoying error — “Insufficient TRX to Cover Network Fees.” In this guide, we show how to fix it and complete your transfer successfully.

TL;DR — quick fixes for “insufficient TRX”

In case you don’t want to dig into the why, what, and when — here’s the quick, no-brainer fix: always keep enough TRON resources or TRX in your wallet. You’ll need around 65,000 energy (≈6.5 TRX) to send to a wallet that already holds USDT, and about 131,000 energy (≈13 TRX) if it doesn’t. On the surface, it looks that simple — but then come the fair questions: how do I actually get energy, and what if I’m out of TRX? That’s exactly what we’re breaking down here.

What this error means (and where you’ll see it)

Basically, this error translates to: “I can’t process this transaction because you don’t have the resources — or the TRX to pay for them.” When your resources (energy or bandwidth) run out, the network burns TRX instead. And if you don’t have TRX, the transaction simply won’t go through.

You’ll typically see this on: wallet apps (TronLink, Trust Wallet, Ledger Live, etc.) — usually pops up when you confirm a transfer; DApps and DeFi platforms — whenever you interact with smart contracts.

TRON fees in brief: bandwidth, energy, TRC-20 transfers, fee limit

When you transfer tokens like Tether on the TRON (TRX) network, energy and bandwidth are consumed. You’ll see them displayed in your wallet each time you initiate a transaction. You can stake TRX to earn these resources as a reward — but if you don’t have enough energy for a token transfer, TRX will be burned instead to generate the required energy and bandwidth. And if neither TRX nor resources are sufficient, the transaction will simply fail.

Bandwidth vs energy — the key difference

Bandwidth measures the byte size of a transaction, covering basic operations like TRX transfers or TRC-10 token transfers. Each TRON account gets 600 bandwidth points (BP) per day for free.

Energy represents the computational power needed to run more complex operations — smart contracts and TRC-20 transfers in particular. Some actions require both energy and bandwidth. Unlike bandwidth, there’s no free daily allocation of energy; you only get it by staking TRX or renting it.

Why TRC-20 (USDT transfer) still needs TRX

Sometimes, even if your wallet shows some TRON resources, you’ll still see an error, a failed transaction, or simply can’t send. This happens when the resources you have aren’t enough — and your wallet can’t cover the gap by burning TRX.

Fee limit basics

The fee limit applies to anyone deploying or interacting with smart contracts on TRON. It refers to the upper limit of the smart contract execution cost, measured in TRX, with a maximum of 1000 TRX. The fee limit covers both the caller’s energy — earned by freezing TRX — and TRX burned to cover the rest. Developers can still run into the error, and there are two main ways to address it: increase the energy limit, or make the contract more energy-efficient by reviewing and optimizing the code.

Troubleshooting & fixes (step-by-step)

So here’s a clear pipeline to fix the TRON network error “Insufficient TRX to Cover Network Fees”:

• Step 1: identify action (TRX vs TRC-20)
  
  

• You should first identify your transaction type and estimate how much Energy it will need. For reference, if the recipient’s wallet already holds USDT, each transaction consumes about 64,285 energy (~6.43 TRX) and 345 bandwidth (~0.345 TRX).

• Step 2: check TRX, energy, and bandwidth

  
  Make sure you have either enough resources (energy and bandwidth) — which you’ll see in your wallet interface or when confirming the transaction — or enough TRX to burn for the missing resources. For USDT transfers, that usually means ~6.5 TRX if the recipient already has USDT, or ~13 TRX if they don’t.

• Step 3: apply the fix

  
  If you find that resources or TRX are insufficient, pick the solution that fits best: top up your wallet, stake TRX to earn resources, rent energy, or raise the fee limit.

Cost & decision shortcuts

Here are some quick tips to help you make smart decisions when getting TRON resources:

1. Need a one-off transaction?
   Just keep 3–5 TRX liquid in your wallet. Burning TRX is simplest for small/rare transfers.

2. Send USDT or interact with contracts often?
   Stake (freeze) TRX for energy. It’s free after the initial stake, and you earn Voting Power too.

3. Don’t want to lock TRX long term?
   Rent energy from resource services (it’s cheaper than burning TRX per transaction, no lock-up).

4. Mostly sending TRX (not USDT/DeFi)?
   Stake TRX for bandwidth — covers standard transfers with zero fee.

5. Need absolute reliability?
   The best combination of cost and speed — especially for regular transactions — is to rent TRON energy and keep a certain amount of TRX liquid as an unpredictable fallback.

Prevent & stay safe

For an active user, it’s important to choose a reliable service that optimizes both operational flow and costs, while keeping funds secure. Here’s how to proceed — not only to fix, but to prevent the “Insufficient TRX to Cover Network Fees” error.

Rent energy and keep a TRX buffer

Renting energy is much cheaper than burning TRX and more convenient than staking. Pick a trusted service and enable an automatic mode to keep your address always ready for a transaction. A good service works perfectly — until your balance runs out. For those times when you were too busy to top up, just keep a buffer of about 50 TRX.

Safety notes for energy rentals

When renting energy from a service, never share your keys, seed phrases, or any other sensitive information. Remember — to delegate energy, all that’s needed is your public wallet address.

Focused FAQ

Do I need TRX to send USDT (TRC-20)?

Technically, no — the TRON network is resource-based, using Energy and Bandwidth to process transactions. However, in practice, if your wallet doesn’t have enough resources, the network will burn TRX to cover them. If you rely on Energy rental or staking, you won’t need TRX at all.

How much TRX is “enough”?

It depends on the type of transaction. For USDT transfers, you’ll need roughly ~6.5 TRX (65,000 Energy) or ~13 TRX (131,000 Energy), plus about 0.345 TRX for Bandwidth.

Why do I still get the error after topping up?

Even with TRX in your wallet, insufficient Energy or a low fee limit can still cause failures. Check your Energy balance on TronScan. Keep in mind that TRON consumes resources for every transaction attempt — even failed ones, since computational work is still performed. So while you might calculate that you have enough TRX, some may already have been burned in previous attempts.