Optimism vs Polygon: which has cheaper gas?
Optimism, decisively. It was cheaper than Polygon 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 $0.0000022 on Optimism against $0.0032 on Polygon. Steadiness differs too: Optimism's fee spans 49× between its quiet and busy hours, Polygon's 1.2×. Polygon is the more predictable of the two, which can matter more than the average if you are pricing transactions in advance.
Optimism 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.
Optimism 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 | Optimism | Polygon |
|---|---|---|
| Current fee | 0.000000501 gwei | 247.0 gwei |
| Send native token | $0.000000024 | $0.00047 |
| Send an ERC-20 token | $0.000000076 | $0.0014 |
| Swap on a DEX | $0.00000017 | $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
- Optimism cheaper in
- 100%
- Times the lead changed
- 0
- Mean swap cost gap
- $0.0032
Questions
Is Optimism or Polygon cheaper for gas?
Optimism 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?
Optimism 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?
Optimism 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.