Money, payments and refunds
What is the minimum deposit on an SMM panel?
Last updated by The PanelCompare editorial team
Why does the minimum deposit matter so much?
Because money that enters a panel wallet generally does not leave it. There is no per-order card charge and usually no withdrawal path, so the minimum deposit is not a pricing detail — it is the size of the bet you are required to place on an operator you have not tested. A $1 minimum lets you buy proof; a $50 minimum requires you to trust first.
Read a high minimum as a signal, not a hurdle
A panel confident in its delivery has no reason to require a large first deposit. A high floor concentrates the operator’s float and raises the amount at risk in an exit, which is why low-minimum panels are disproportionately the ones new buyers should test with.
What figures are actually published?
The $1–$10 band, with a cohort at $0.10–$1, is recorded in PanelCompare domain research (2026-09-06) as an estimate across surveyed panels rather than a measurement — many panels state the minimum only on a funded deposit page, so it cannot be read from a public catalogue. Where PanelCompare has verified a panel’s minimum it is shown on the panel’s own page with the date it was checked, and where it has not, the field renders empty rather than guessing.
Free test credit is a separate thing and is typically $0.10–$1.00 where it is real at all. It is an acquisition tactic rather than a discount, and the fake version requires a deposit to unlock.
Think this answer is wrong?
Prices, refill terms and platform policies in this market all move, so an answer that was right in September may not be right in December. Every figure above names its source and the date it was checked; if one of them is stale or wrong, the correction process on the about page has a two-working-day reply target, and corrections are published with a dated note rather than quietly patched.