Skip to content
CashboardCashboardOpen app

Guide

How to compare Ethereum layer 2s by cost, activity and stage

Add the L2 scoreboard and pick a sort. It lists every chain in growthepie's main table except Ethereum mainnet, with transactions, active addresses, fees paid and median transaction cost (growthepie data, used under CC BY 4.0), then adds L2BEAT's stage and total value secured. Sort by Cost for the cheapest chain to use and by Txs or Users for where the activity is, then read the stage tag before you park serious money anywhere.

Step by step

  1. 1

    Add the L2 scoreboard

    Press Ctrl K, type l2 and run Add L2 scoreboard. In the Add panel it sits in the Ethereum group, which starts collapsed. Ethereum Desk, under New from template in the Boards panel, already has one.

  2. 2

    Choose what to rank by

    The buttons in the widget's header sort by Txs, Users, TVS, Fees or Cost. Cost puts the cheapest median transaction first, and every other sort puts the biggest figure first. A chain missing that figure drops to the bottom without a rank.

  3. 3

    Read the stage tags

    Under each name sits L2BEAT's stage: amber for Stage 0, blue for Stage 1, green for Stage 2. Hover the tag for the stage and the chain's technology. Polygon PoS shows Sidechain instead, because L2BEAT does not stage it.

  4. 4

    Show more chains

    Select the widget and a row control appears with 8, 12, 20 or 30 chains. Base and Robinhood Chain stay listed under Cashboard venues, with their real rank, even when they fall below the cut.

  5. 5

    Check the day and the source

    The footer says Daily and names the UTC day the numbers cover, usually yesterday. Hover a row to reveal its link to that chain on growthepie.

Tips

  • Active addresses count senders only, and bots send a lot. Read fees paid next to transactions: a chain with huge counts and tiny fees may be mostly automated traffic.
  • TVS is not TVL. L2BEAT counts tokens bridged to the chain or minted on it, whether or not they sit in an app, while DefiLlama TVL counts only what is deposited in apps.
  • For what the rollups themselves pay to post data to Ethereum, the Ethereum pulse shows the blob fee.

Widgets used

Terms in this guide

Frequently asked questions

Which Ethereum layer 2 is cheapest?

It changes from day to day, so check the Cost sort rather than a list in an article. Cost is growthepie's median fee per transaction for the day it covers. A median ignores the odd expensive deployment, but a chain full of cheap bot transfers can still look cheaper than a real swap there would be.

Why is Ethereum mainnet not on the scoreboard?

Because it settles these chains rather than competing with them. For mainnet itself, the Ethereum pulse shows gas tiers, blob fees, the burn and staking APR.

Last reviewed . Market data in Cashboard comes from the providers named on each widget and may be delayed. Nothing here is financial advice.