L2 Gas Fees: Live Comparison
Live L2 comparisonCheapest L2 right now
Optimism — $0.00004745 (execution gas only)
Browse gas costs by transaction type
Live mainnet cost for every common action. Each page shows the exact USD across Standard, Fast, and Rapid tiers, refreshed every minute.
What this measures: 21,000-gas transfer at the current L2 execution gas price × native-token USD. This is not a full wallet fee for OP Stack rollups.
Optimism / Base: OP Stack adds an L1 calldata/security fee on top — real wallet quotes will be higher.
Arbitrum: Nitro typically bundles the parent-chain calldata fee into eth_gasPrice — real quotes are close to the figure above, sometimes a touch higher.
Polygon PoS: No L1 calldata fee — the figure above is the full transfer cost.
What is a Layer 2, and why use one?
Ethereum mainnet is secure but expensive. A Layer 2 is a separate chain that settles back to Ethereum, giving you mainnet-level security at a fraction of the cost. Rollups (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base) batch transactions and post compressed proofs to L1. Sidechains (Polygon PoS) run their own consensus and checkpoint to Ethereum periodically. Either way, you pay cents or less for an operation that would cost dollars on mainnet.
How to pick the right L2
- For routine DeFi: any major L2 works. Pick the cheapest with the app you need.
- For Coinbase users: Base wins — free direct withdrawals from Coinbase, no bridge round-trip.
- For deep liquidity: Arbitrum has the largest L2 TVL — most depth for big swaps.
- For OP-native apps: Optimism hosts Velodrome and other native venues with tuned gas usage.
- For tiny fees and gaming/NFTs: Polygon PoS has near-zero gas and stays cheap even when Ethereum is congested.
Mainnet vs L2 — when to stay on Ethereum
L2s win for most active use, but mainnet is still right when you need composability with mainnet-only contracts, are depositing to a centralized exchange that does not support L2 withdrawals, or moving very large value where the bridge round-trip plus L2 finality wait exceeds the fee savings. See the live Ethereum mainnet gas fees and full guide to reducing mainnet gas.
Frequently asked questions
Which L2 has the cheapest gas fees right now?
The comparison table above is sorted from cheapest to most expensive in real time. The cheapest L2 changes day to day depending on Ethereum mainnet base fee and per-chain congestion.
What is an Ethereum L2?
A Layer 2 is a separate blockchain that settles transactions back to Ethereum mainnet for security. Optimistic rollups (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base) post compressed transaction data to L1. Sidechains (Polygon PoS) run independent consensus with periodic checkpoints.
Why are L2s cheaper than Ethereum mainnet?
L2s batch many transactions together and either post a single compressed proof to Ethereum (rollups) or skip L1 settlement entirely (sidechains). Each user pays a tiny share of the L1 cost instead of the full mainnet fee.
How do L2 gas fees actually work?
On rollups (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base), your fee covers two things: L2 execution gas and an L1 data fee for posting calldata to Ethereum. The L1 portion is the bigger share most days. On Polygon PoS, there's no L1 calldata — just regular gas in MATIC.
Should I always use the cheapest L2?
Not necessarily. The cheapest L2 today might not have the dApp you need. Pick a chain where (a) the app you need is deployed, (b) liquidity is deep enough, and (c) the bridge round-trip is worth it for your transaction size.
Is the data on this page live?
Yes. Gas prices are pulled directly from each L2 RPC every minute. Native-token USD prices come from CoinGecko on the same cadence.
Why do L2 fees spike when mainnet is congested?
Rollup L1 data fees track Ethereum base fee. When mainnet base fee rises, the cost of posting calldata rises, and so does every rollup transaction fee. Polygon PoS is the exception — it has no L1 calldata cost, so it stays cheap during mainnet congestion.
Related ETH gas tools and guides
Get notified when mainnet gas drops.
L2 fees follow mainnet base fee. Set a gas alert at your target Gwei and we'll email you when L1 — and every rollup — gets cheaper.