One of the most common questions about the Polygon Bridge is: how much does it cost? Bridge fees consist of two parts: the Ethereum gas fee and the bridge protocol fee. Understanding both helps you minimize costs and choose the right time to bridge.
Understanding Polygon Bridge Fee Structure
Ethereum Gas Fee: When bridging from Ethereum to Polygon, you pay a gas fee on the Ethereum mainnet to execute the bridge smart contract. This is the most significant cost and fluctuates based on Ethereum network congestion. During busy periods (high network activity), gas fees can range from $5 to $50 or more. During off-peak hours, fees can drop to $1–5.
Polygon Bridge Fee: The Polygon bridge itself charges a small fee for the bridge operation. Typical Polygon bridge commissions vary from 0.001 to 0.007 MATIC (approximately $0.01–$0.50). This fee is significantly lower than the Ethereum gas cost.
Polygon Transaction Fees: Once your assets are on Polygon, transaction fees are extremely low — often less than $0.01 per transaction — making Polygon ideal for frequent DeFi interactions.
Typical Cost to Bridge ETH to Polygon
A typical bridge transaction from Ethereum to Polygon costs between $2 and $30 total, depending on gas prices. For a $1,000 transfer, this represents a fee of 0.2% to 3%, comparable to a currency exchange. For larger amounts, the relative fee percentage is lower, making the Polygon Bridge particularly cost-effective for significant transfers.
How to Reduce Polygon Bridge Fees
Bridge During Off-Peak Hours: Ethereum gas fees are lowest during weekdays between 1:00 AM and 7:00 AM UTC, and on weekends. Choosing non-peak hours can save 10–30% on gas costs.
Use Gas Trackers: Tools like ETH Gas Station or Etherscan Gas Tracker show real-time gas prices. Wait for gas to drop below a comfortable level before initiating your bridge transaction.
Batch Transfers: If you need to transfer multiple tokens, consider batching them into fewer transactions to save on per-transaction gas costs.
Use Third-Party Bridges: For faster and sometimes cheaper transfers, protocols like Hop Protocol, Across, and Connext use liquidity pools on both sides. These can execute transfers with fees averaging under $0.04 on Polygon, though they introduce additional smart contract risk.
zkEVM vs PoS Bridge Fees
Fees for bridging to Polygon zkEVM are generally comparable to PoS Bridge fees on the Ethereum gas side. However, as ZK proof generation becomes more efficient with protocol upgrades, zkEVM bridge fees are expected to decrease over time. Currently, the PoS Bridge remains slightly cheaper for small transfers.
Ready to bridge? Read our step-by-step bridging guide or learn about all available Polygon bridge options.
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