Part of the handbook:

No Man's Sky Beginner's Guide (2026): Start here if you're new to the game.

Best Money-Making Methods Ranked by Game Stage: A quick-reference tier list for every wallet size.

No Man's Sky Exploration & Endgame Guide: Where to go once the Units start flowing.

Quick Answer

Earliest Units: Sell discoveries from your Analysis Visor. Zero setup required.
Best early active grind: Dig up Salvaged Data from Buried Technology Modules and sell at the Space Anomaly.
Best mid-game active: Storm Crystals on extreme-weather planets. Each crystal sells for a high base price and a good storm run yields dozens in minutes.
Best mid-game passive: Chlorine duplication loop in a Medium or Large Refiner (1 Chlorine + 2 Oxygen → 6 Chlorine).
Best late-game active: Stasis Device and Fusion Igniter crafting. Each item sells for 15,600,000 Units.
Best late-game passive: An Activated Indium mining base runs while you're offline and scales with the size of your Mineral Extractor network.
Bonus income: Trading routes and scrapping unwanted ships add reliable income at every stage.

Overview

Units are No Man's Sky's primary currency: used to buy ships, multi-tools, upgrade modules, freighters, and most things you'll want across hundreds of hours of play. The game gives you a wide menu of income methods, and almost every playstyle has a lucrative match.

The bad news for newcomers: the richest methods are locked behind infrastructure that takes time to build. If you try to jump straight to a billion-Unit passive farm on day one, you'll hit a wall of missing blueprints. This hub maps every viable method to the right game stage so you spend your time on whichever approach actually pays off right now.

Currencies beyond Units, Nanites and Quicksilver, have their own dedicated guides because their farming loops are completely separate.

Early Game (Hours 1–20): Get Your First Millions

When you're still repairing your ship and learning the menus, complexity is your enemy. These methods have little or no setup.

Analysis Visor Scanning

Every scan of undiscovered fauna, flora, or minerals earns Units on upload, and completing a full planetary catalog earns a bonus. Upgrade your Scanner with S-class Scanner modules and each animal scan can reach six figures. It's not the fastest grind, but it's always running in the background while you explore.

See the full breakdown in our Analysis Visor scanning guide.

Salvaged Data (Buried Technology Modules)

Using your Surveyor Mode on the Analysis Visor reveals Buried Technology Modules on almost every planet. Dig them up, collect Salvaged Data, and sell it at the Anomaly's Construction Research terminal. This method requires only a charged Terrain Manipulator and scales well. You can reasonably pull in several million Units per hour once you're moving efficiently.

Full route tips are in the Salvaged Data farming guide.

Crashed Ship Salvage

Crashed ships can be claimed for free, repaired just enough to fly, then sold or scrapped. Even a C-class wreck earns a meaningful sum early on, and an S-class Hauler is worth substantially more. Check our crashed ship salvage guide and ship scrapping guide for the fastest workflow.

Mid Game (Freighter + First Base): Tens of Millions per Hour

Once you have a base computer, a Medium or Large Refiner, and a bit of inventory space, the income ceiling rises dramatically.

Storm Crystal Farming

Storm Crystals only spawn during active extreme weather on hazardous planets. Each crystal commands a high sell price, and a good storm run with a well-protected suit can yield dozens of crystals in minutes. The bottleneck is finding the right planet and keeping your Hazard Protection topped up.

The Storm Crystals farming guide covers planet selection and the best suit builds.

Chlorine Duplication

This is the most approachable passive multiplier in the game. The refiner recipe 1 Chlorine + 2 Oxygen → 6 Chlorine lets you multiply your Chlorine supply exponentially across multiple refiners running in parallel. Chlorine itself sells for a solid price per unit, and a full stack across several refiners adds up quickly. Oxygen is easily gathered from plants almost anywhere. Run multiple Medium Refiners side by side and you can turn a modest starting supply into massive stacks within an hour of real time.

Whispering Eggs (Hive Raiding)

Abandoned buildings on aggressive planets are guarded by Biological Horrors, but each nest holds Whispering Eggs that drop Larval Cores, worth roughly 70,000 Units each at base market value. A single building can yield over a million Units in a few minutes if you move fast. It's chaotic and requires decent combat readiness, but it's one of the highest bursts of early-to-mid income in the game.

Trading Routes

Buying commodities cheap in one economy type and selling them in a marked-up economy is one of the oldest money-making loops in NMS. Our Trading Guide explains how to read economy scanners, identify profitable goods, and string together multi-stop routes. This pairs well with upgrading your freighter for greater cargo capacity.

Late Game (Billions): The Top-Tier Farms

Stasis Device and Fusion Igniter Crafting

Each Stasis Device and Fusion Igniter sells for 15,600,000 Units: the highest value per item in the game. The crafting chains are deep (Quantum Processors, Cryogenic Chambers, Iridesite, and many sub-components), but once you have the blueprints and a stocked base, you can craft and sell multiple devices per session for tens of millions of Units in under an hour of active play.

This is the best active farming method for late-game players. Everything you need is in the Stasis Device and Fusion Igniter guide.

Automated Mining Base (Passive Income)

Building a base around a high-value mineral deposit (using Mineral Extractors fed by automated supply depots, powered by a solar and battery array) fills storage containers around the clock, even when you're not logged in. The larger your extractor network, the higher your hourly yield. Activated Indium found on blue-star system planets remains a popular choice; note that Hello Games introduced diminishing returns for large stacks of extractors on a single deposit, so spreading extractors across separate networks is the optimal approach.

See the Activated Indium mining base guide for step-by-step build instructions, power budgets, and tips on picking the right planet.

Sentinel Interceptor Scrapping

Dissonant planets spawn Sentinel Interceptors that can be defeated, claimed, and then scrapped for units and upgrade modules. S-class Interceptors yield particularly high returns. This method also doubles as a way to build your fleet or collect upgrade modules to sell for Nanites.

Method Comparison at a Glance

Method	Game Stage	Income Type	Setup Required
Analysis Visor scanning	Early	Active	None
Salvaged Data	Early	Active	Terrain Manipulator
Crashed ship flipping	Early–Mid	Active	None
Storm Crystal farming	Mid	Active	Hazard-rated suit
Chlorine duplication	Mid	Semi-passive	Medium Refiner
Whispering Eggs	Mid	Active	Combat readiness
Trading routes	Any	Active	Economy scanner
Stasis Device crafting	Late	Active	Blueprints + base
Automated mining base	Late	Passive	Full mining base
Interceptor scrapping	Late	Active	Dissonance detector

The Outlaw Route

Pirate-controlled systems run a parallel economy: contraband, smuggling runs past station scans, and bounty contracts from the Mercenaries Guild. The piracy and outlaw systems guide covers that whole lane, including the Suspicious Packets loop that converts units into Nanites.

FAQ

What is the fastest way to make Units in No Man's Sky as a beginner?

Scanning fauna and flora with your Analysis Visor is the fastest zero-setup income source. Pair it with digging up Buried Technology Modules for Salvaged Data, and you can accumulate several million Units in your first few hours without building anything.

Is Activated Indium still worth farming in 2026?

It depends on your goals. Hello Games reduced Activated Indium's price and introduced diminishing returns on stacked extractors in the Waypoint update, so it is no longer the dominant passive earner it once was. That said, a properly spread extractor network still generates meaningful passive income while you're offline. If you want to maximize raw Units per extractor slot, research current high-value deposit options on your platform. Some players now favor other minerals like Gold after the nerfs. The core passive-farming setup is the same regardless of which mineral you target.

How much does a Stasis Device sell for?

A Stasis Device sells for 15,600,000 Units, the same as a Fusion Igniter. Both are tied for the highest single-item value in the game. Crafting several per session is the dominant active late-game money method.

Can I make Units without building a base?

Absolutely. Storm Crystal farming, crashed ship flipping, Whispering Egg runs, and trading routes all work with no base required. A base becomes important mainly when you want passive or semi-passive income through mining or refining.

What should I spend Units on first?

Prioritize expanding your Exosuit slots, then upgrading your ship to a class that fits your playstyle. More inventory means more capacity to carry trade goods or resources, which directly increases your earnings per run.

Do economy type and galactic market affect sell prices?

Yes. Selling at a station whose economy specializes in the goods you're selling typically yields higher prices. Trading posts in wealthy economies also tend to pay more than struggling ones. The Trading Guide covers this in detail.

Key Takeaways

Match your income method to your current game stage. Trying to build a passive mine before you have the blueprints wastes time.
Analysis Visor scanning and Salvaged Data are the best zero-setup early earners.
Chlorine duplication is the easiest mid-game multiplier and only needs a refiner and some Oxygen.
Storm Crystals deliver high active income mid-game with no crafting required.
Stasis Device crafting is the highest-earning active method in the late game at 15,600,000 Units per item.
An automated mining base is the best passive income setup and keeps earning while you're offline: research current high-value deposits, as the best mineral to target has shifted since the Waypoint update.
Every method in this hub has a dedicated child guide. Dive into whichever matches your current situation.

How to Make Units Fast in No Man's Sky (2026): Every Money Method Ranked