---
title: Overview
metaTitle: Overview | Core Candy Machine
description: Provides a high-level overview of Core Candy Machines.
---

The Metaplex Protocol **Candy Machine** is the leading minting and distribution program for fair NFT collection launches on Solana. With the introduction of the `Metaplex Core Protocol` simplifying the NFT process on Solana it was only fitting for a Core edition of the Candy Machine to come to the masses. Much like its name suggests, you can think of a Candy Machine as a temporary structure which is first loaded by creators and then unloaded by buyers. It allows creators to bring their digital assets onchain in a secure and customisable way. {% .lead %}

The name refers to the vending machines that dispense candy for coins via a mechanical crank. In this case the candy are NFTs and the payment is SOL or a SPL token.

{% quick-links %}
{% quick-link title="Getting Started" icon="InboxArrowDown" href="/core-candy-machine/getting-started" description="Find the language or library of your choice and get started with Candy Machines." /%}


{% quick-link title="API reference" icon="JavaScript" href="https://mpl-core-candy-machine.typedoc.metaplex.com/" target="_blank" description="Check out the Javascript API docs." /%}


{% quick-link title="API reference" icon="Rust" href="https://docs.rs/mpl-core-candy-machine-core/" target="_blank" description="Check out the Rust API docs." /%}
{% /quick-links %}

{% callout %}
This documentation refers to the latest iteration of Candy Machine known as Core Candy Machine. It allows minting [Core](/core) Assets. If you want to mint Metaplex Token Metadata NFTs [please refer to Candy Machine V3 instead](https://developers.metaplex.com/candy-machine/).
{% /callout %}


