Base vs Polygon: which has cheaper gas?
Base, decisively. It was cheaper than Polygon in 97% 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 $0.0018 on Base against $0.0032 on Polygon. Steadiness differs too: Base's fee spans 1.0× between its quiet and busy hours, Polygon's 1.2×. Neither is dramatically more predictable than the other.
Base 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.
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 | Polygon |
|---|---|---|
| Current fee | 0.00500 gwei | 249.4 gwei |
| Send native token | $0.00024 | $0.00047 |
| Send an ERC-20 token | $0.00076 | $0.0015 |
| Swap on a DEX | $0.0017 | $0.0034 |
Gas units are typical values, not measurements. Dollar figures use the current ETH and POL price.
Over the last 30 days
- Hours compared
- 721
- Base cheaper in
- 97%
- Times the lead changed
- 24
- Mean swap cost gap
- $0.0014
Questions
Is Base or Polygon cheaper for gas?
Base was cheaper in 97% of the 721 hours compared over the last 30 days. The ranking changed hands 24 times in that window, so the answer is not fixed.
Can I compare their gwei figures directly?
Base 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?
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.