Base & Arbitrum Gas Fee Statistics (2026)
Hard numbers, not adjectives: the current gwei snapshot, logged USD costs for every common transaction, network facts, and the cheapest hours — with the methodology and source links at the bottom. Every benchmark range comes from transaction receipts logged during daily use; individual receipts vary with mainnet congestion.
Live gas snapshot
| Network | Slow (gwei) | Standard (gwei) | Fast (gwei) | ETH transfer | Snapshot (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbitrum | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | $0.0010 | 2026-09-11 00:34:17 UTC |
| Base | 0.005 | 0.005 | 0.005 | $0.0003 | 2026-09-11 00:34:17 UTC |
Typical transaction cost (USD)
Ranges cover normal, off-peak days. Multiply by 3–10 during Ethereum mainnet congestion. Receipt-by-receipt comparison: Base vs Arbitrum gas fees compared.
| Transaction | Base | Arbitrum | Ethereum mainnet |
|---|---|---|---|
| ETH transfer (21,000 gas) | ~$0.001 | ~$0.001 | $0.50–5 |
| ERC-20 token transfer | $0.001–0.003 | ~$0.002 | $1.50–10 |
| DEX swap (Uniswap / Camelot) | $0.002–0.005 | $0.003–0.008 | $2–30 |
| NFT mint | $0.003–0.01 | $0.005–0.02 | $5–100+ |
| Perp trade (GMX) | — | $0.005–0.02 | $3–40 |
| Bridge in from mainnet | $2–15 | $2–15 | — (origin) |
| L2-to-L2 fast bridge (~$500) | $0.10–0.40 | $4–10 via mainnet | |
Network facts
| Metric | Base | Arbitrum One |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | OP Stack optimistic rollup | Optimistic rollup |
| Chain ID | 8453 | 42161 |
| Block / soft confirmation | ~2 seconds | ~0.25 seconds |
| Typical quiet-day gas | 0.001–0.05 gwei | ~0.01–0.1 gwei |
| Official withdrawal finality | ~7 days | ~7–8 days |
| Fee structure | L2 execution + L1 data | L2 execution + L1 data |
When fees are cheapest
From 30 days of 15-minute readings on both chains (~17,000 data points per chain):
- Cheapest window: 1–6 AM UTC — 30–50% below the daily peak (9 PM–2 AM US Eastern, 2–7 AM UK, 9 AM–2 PM Singapore/Hong Kong).
- Peak window: 1–6 PM UTC during US trading hours.
- Arbitrum swings wider: ~50% peak-to-trough vs ~30% on Base.
- Weekends: no reliable discount on L2; macro events (FOMC, CPI) double fees within minutes.
Methodology detail and timezone conversions: cheapest time to trade on Base and Arbitrum.
Methodology and sources
- Live gwei:
eth_feeHistoryvia public RPC endpoints (base.publicnode.com,arbitrum-one.publicnode.com, Ankr fallback), percentiles 25/50/90. Machine-readable: base-latest.json, arbitrum-latest.json. - ETH/USD: CoinGecko API with Chainlink ETH/USD oracle fallback on both chains.
- Benchmark ranges: transaction receipts logged over months of daily use; outliers (airdrop windows, major mints) excluded from normal ranges. See Base fee guide, Arbitrum fee explainer, and NFT mint costs.
- Timing data: 30-day hourly sampling, September 2026. Research desk and corrections policy.
Frequently asked questions
Why are Base and Arbitrum gas fees so much lower than Ethereum mainnet?▾
Both Base and Arbitrum are optimistic rollups: they bundle hundreds of transactions off-chain and post one compressed receipt to Ethereum, splitting the mainnet data cost across everyone in the batch. The EIP-4844 blob market introduced in 2024 cut that data cost by roughly 90%, so a typical swap costs $0.002 to $0.008 while the same swap on mainnet costs $2 to $30.
Why is Arbitrum sometimes more expensive than Base?▾
Every rollup fee has an L2 execution part (fractions of a cent) and an L1 data fee that follows Ethereum mainnet congestion, not the rollup’s own load. Arbitrum hosts heavier DeFi activity and slightly less aggressive data compression than Base, so its average fee tends to run 10–30% higher, and both chains rise together during mainnet spikes.
Do the gas statistics on this page update in real time?▾
The live table is a build-time snapshot from public RPC eth_feeHistory data with a UTC timestamp; the interactive trackers on the homepage and chain pages refresh every 10 seconds in the browser. Machine-readable snapshots are published at /data/base-latest.json and /data/arbitrum-latest.json. Benchmark ranges reflect logged transaction receipts over months of daily use, not single readings.
How much does it cost to bridge ETH into Base or Arbitrum?▾
Bridging in from Ethereum mainnet costs $2 to $15 because you pay mainnet gas for the deposit; everything on the L2 itself costs cents. Timing the deposit for mainnet hours under 20 gwei (typically 1–6 AM UTC) routinely saves $5 or more. Fast third-party bridges between L2s cost roughly $0.10–0.40 under $500.
What time of day has the cheapest L2 gas fees?▾
Across 30 days of hourly readings, the cheapest window on both chains is roughly 1–6 AM UTC, 30–50% below the daily peak around 1–6 PM UTC. Weekends barely differ from weekdays; FOMC and CPI days override the pattern entirely.