Arbitrum vs Polygon: which has cheaper gas?
Polygon, decisively. It was cheaper than Arbitrum in 100% of the last 721 hours we observed — not most of the time, effectively all of the time. This is not a close call and there is no window in which the answer flips.
Priced as a swap at each chain's own mean fee, that is $0.0070 on Arbitrum against $0.0032 on Polygon. Steadiness differs too: Arbitrum's fee spans 1.0× between its quiet and busy hours, Polygon's 1.2×. Neither is dramatically more predictable than the other.
Arbitrum pays gas in ETH and Polygon in POL, so their gwei numbers are not comparable to each other — ETH gwei and POL gwei denominate different assets. Only the dollar column compares these two.
Arbitrum is a rollup, and the figure shown for it excludes the L1 data fee that settles its transactions on Ethereum — usually the larger share of what you actually pay. Arbitrum is already the dearer of the two before that fee, so the real gap is wider than it looks here.
Side by side, right now
| Transaction | Arbitrum | Polygon |
|---|---|---|
| Current fee | 0.020 gwei | 247.0 gwei |
| Send native token | $0.00098 | $0.00047 |
| Send an ERC-20 token | $0.0030 | $0.0014 |
| Swap on a DEX | $0.0070 | $0.0033 |
Gas units are typical values, not measurements. Dollar figures use the current ETH and POL price.
Over the last 30 days
- Hours compared
- 721
- Arbitrum cheaper in
- 0%
- Times the lead changed
- 0
- Mean swap cost gap
- $0.0038
Questions
Is Arbitrum or Polygon cheaper for gas?
Polygon was cheaper in 100% of the 721 hours compared over the last 30 days. The ranking did not flip once in that window.
Can I compare their gwei figures directly?
Arbitrum pays gas in ETH and Polygon in POL, so their gwei numbers are not comparable to each other — ETH gwei and POL gwei denominate different assets. Only the dollar column compares these two.
Are these the full fees?
Arbitrum is a rollup, and the figure shown for it excludes the L1 data fee that settles its transactions on Ethereum — usually the larger share of what you actually pay. Arbitrum is already the dearer of the two before that fee, so the real gap is wider than it looks here.