Base vs BNB Chain: which has cheaper gas?
Base, decisively. It was cheaper than BNB Chain in 100% of the last 332 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 $0.0018 on Base against $0.0056 on BNB Chain. Steadiness differs too: Base's fee spans 1.0× between its quiet and busy hours, BNB Chain's 1.0×. Neither is dramatically more predictable than the other.
Base pays gas in ETH and BNB Chain in BNB, so their gwei numbers are not comparable to each other — ETH gwei and BNB gwei denominate different assets. Only the dollar column compares these two.
Base 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. The real gap between these two is therefore narrower than it looks here.
Side by side, right now
| Transaction | Base | BNB Chain |
|---|---|---|
| Current fee | 0.00500 gwei | 0.050 gwei |
| Send native token | $0.00024 | $0.00078 |
| Send an ERC-20 token | $0.00076 | $0.0024 |
| Swap on a DEX | $0.0017 | $0.0056 |
Gas units are typical values, not measurements. Dollar figures use the current ETH and BNB price.
Over the last 30 days
- Hours compared
- 332
- Base cheaper in
- 100%
- Times the lead changed
- 0
- Mean swap cost gap
- $0.0038
Questions
Is Base or BNB Chain cheaper for gas?
Base was cheaper in 100% of the 332 hours compared over the last 30 days. The ranking did not flip once in that window.
Can I compare their gwei figures directly?
Base pays gas in ETH and BNB Chain in BNB, so their gwei numbers are not comparable to each other — ETH gwei and BNB gwei denominate different assets. Only the dollar column compares these two.
Are these the full fees?
Base 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. The real gap between these two is therefore narrower than it looks here.