{"slug":"best-ethereum-l2","title":"Best Ethereum L2","question":"What are the best Ethereum layer-2 networks in 2026?","verdict":"As of 2026-07-14, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok collectively rank Arbitrum #1 for ethereum l2 on ModelsAgree by aggregate score. The models' case: Best overall balance of deep DeFi liquidity, broad application coverage, EVM compatibility, low fees, and relatively mature Stage 1 rollup safeguards. The models' main caveat: Centralized sequencing and Security Council emergency powers remain meaningful trust assumptions, while native withdrawals inherit the. The strongest alternative is Base — Near-tied with Arbitrum One; offers unparalleled distribution to mainstream retail users via Coinbase's smart wallet integration, off-ramp rails, and. Not unanimous: Gemini picks Base. Source: https://modelsagree.com/best/best-ethereum-l2 (modelsagree.com, CC BY 4.0).","category":"Crypto","url":"https://modelsagree.com/best/best-ethereum-l2","updated":"2026-07-14","models":["ChatGPT","Claude","Gemini","Grok"],"consensus":"3 of 4 models rank Arbitrum the top pick","disagreement":"Gemini picks Base","combined":[{"rank":1,"product":"Arbitrum","domain":"arbitrum.io","score":19,"appearances":4,"modelRanks":{"ChatGPT":1,"Claude":1,"Gemini":2,"Grok":1},"reason":"Best overall balance of deep DeFi liquidity, broad application coverage, EVM compatibility, low fees, and relatively mature Stage 1 rollup safeguards; ranked for a typical developer or onchain user, and narrowly leads Base on security maturity and capital efficiency"},{"rank":2,"product":"Base","domain":"base.org","score":17,"appearances":4,"modelRanks":{"ChatGPT":2,"Claude":2,"Gemini":1,"Grok":2},"reason":"Near-tied with Arbitrum One; offers unparalleled distribution to mainstream retail users via Coinbase's smart wallet integration, off-ramp rails, and low gas fees, making it the premier choice for consumer-focused applications under the assumption that user acquisition is the developer's primary bottleneck."},{"rank":3,"product":"Optimism","domain":"optimism.io","score":12,"appearances":4,"modelRanks":{"ChatGPT":3,"Claude":3,"Gemini":3,"Grok":3},"reason":"Battle-tested EVM-equivalent execution, Stage 1 fault proofs, substantial liquidity, strong developer tooling, and alignment with the widely adopted OP Stack make it a dependable general-purpose network"},{"rank":4,"product":"Starknet","domain":"starknet.io","score":5,"appearances":3,"modelRanks":{"ChatGPT":4,"Claude":5,"Gemini":4},"reason":"Powerful validity-proof architecture, Ethereum-posted data, account abstraction, high potential throughput, and Cairo’s performance-oriented design make it the strongest differentiated ZK option"},{"rank":5,"product":"zkSync Era","domain":"zksync.io","score":3,"appearances":2,"modelRanks":{"Claude":4,"Gemini":5},"reason":"The largest ZK-rollup ecosystem, offering validity-proof security and far faster finality than optimistic rollups (no multi-day withdrawal wait), plus first-class native account abstraction and the Elastic Chain model for interconnected ZK chains — real practitioner wins for UX and bridging speed."},{"rank":6,"product":"Linea","domain":"linea.build","score":1,"appearances":1,"modelRanks":{"ChatGPT":5},"reason":"Combines ZK validity proofs with close EVM compatibility and familiar Ethereum tooling, making it a practical ZK choice for Solidity teams; it edges ZKsync Era, but only narrowly, on practitioner accessibility and ecosystem integration"}],"perModel":{"ChatGPT":[{"rank":1,"product":"Arbitrum","reason":"Best overall balance of deep DeFi liquidity, broad application coverage, EVM compatibility, low fees, and relatively mature Stage 1 rollup safeguards; ranked for a typical developer or onchain user, and narrowly leads Base on security maturity and capital efficiency","fix":"Centralized sequencing and Security Council emergency powers remain meaningful trust assumptions, while native withdrawals inherit the optimistic-rollup delay"},{"rank":2,"product":"Base","reason":"Near-tied with Arbitrum for first: exceptional transaction capacity, low costs, excellent EVM tooling, strong consumer-app distribution, and one of the richest active ecosystems","fix":"Its upgrade governance and sequencer remain centralized, and its evolving proof system carries greater trust assumptions than the activity numbers suggest"},{"rank":3,"product":"Optimism","reason":"Battle-tested EVM-equivalent execution, Stage 1 fault proofs, substantial liquidity, strong developer tooling, and alignment with the widely adopted OP Stack make it a dependable general-purpose network","fix":"Base now offers greater user activity and distribution on similar technology, while OP Mainnet still has centralized sequencing and instant Security Council upgrade authority"},{"rank":4,"product":"Starknet","reason":"Powerful validity-proof architecture, Ethereum-posted data, account abstraction, high potential throughput, and Cairo’s performance-oriented design make it the strongest differentiated ZK option","fix":"Cairo and Starknet-specific tooling impose substantially more migration and learning friction than EVM-compatible networks, with a smaller liquidity and application base"},{"rank":5,"product":"Linea","reason":"Combines ZK validity proofs with close EVM compatibility and familiar Ethereum tooling, making it a practical ZK choice for Solidity teams; it edges ZKsync Era, but only narrowly, on practitioner accessibility and ecosystem integration","fix":"Stage 0 maturity, centralized upgrades and proposing, and much thinner usage and liquidity than the leaders make it unsuitable for applications prioritizing minimized trust or deep markets"}],"Claude":[{"rank":1,"product":"Arbitrum","reason":"Deepest DeFi liquidity and TVL of any L2, the most mature security posture (L2Beat Stage 1 with BOLD permissionless fraud proofs), near-perfect EVM equivalence via the Nitro stack, battle-tested tooling, and Orbit for spinning up app-specific L3s — the default choice for a team that wants ecosystem depth without company lock-in; near-tie with Base at the top, edging it on decentralization and liquidity.","fix":"Optimistic design means ~7-day native withdrawal challenge windows (you lean on third-party fast bridges) and the sequencer is not yet fully decentralized — not for those needing instant L1 finality."},{"rank":2,"product":"Base","reason":"Highest real user activity and the best onboarding funnel in the space via native Coinbase fiat/exchange distribution, very low fees, reliable OP Stack engineering, and the strongest consumer/social app gravity (Farcaster, onchain apps) — the pragmatic pick if reaching mainstream users matters more than credible neutrality.","fix":"Sequencer is fully Coinbase-operated and the chain is Coinbase-dependent with no native token, so it's the wrong choice for maximal decentralization or censorship-resistance; same optimistic withdrawal delay as Arbitrum."},{"rank":3,"product":"Optimism","reason":"The foundational OP Stack and Superchain — shared, open-source infrastructure that Base, Worldchain and dozens of others build on, with live fault proofs, native cross-chain interop, and a strong public-goods/retro-funding ethos; high value for teams that want standardized tooling and Superchain interoperability.","fix":"The flagship chain itself carries less native liquidity and activity than Base or Arbitrum — much of its worth is in the stack, not OP Mainnet as a deployment target."},{"rank":4,"product":"zkSync Era","reason":"The largest ZK-rollup ecosystem, offering validity-proof security and far faster finality than optimistic rollups (no multi-day withdrawal wait), plus first-class native account abstraction and the Elastic Chain model for interconnected ZK chains — real practitioner wins for UX and bridging speed.","fix":"Not bytecode-EVM-equivalent (Solidity compiles through zksolc, so some contracts and tooling need adaptation), and DeFi liquidity trails Arbitrum/Base — not a drop-in for battle-tested EVM code or deep-liquidity trading."},{"rank":5,"product":"Starknet","reason":"The strongest cryptographic foundation (STARK proofs, no trusted setup), excellent scalability headroom, native account abstraction, and Cairo's ability to express things the EVM cannot — a merit pick for teams pushing performance and novel onchain logic.","fix":"Cairo is not EVM-compatible, forcing a full rewrite and a new toolchain/talent pool, which is a steep adoption cost and shrinks its ecosystem versus EVM L2s — not for teams porting existing Solidity or wanting instant EVM tooling."}],"Gemini":[{"rank":1,"product":"Base","reason":"Near-tied with Arbitrum One; offers unparalleled distribution to mainstream retail users via Coinbase's smart wallet integration, off-ramp rails, and low gas fees, making it the premier choice for consumer-focused applications under the assumption that user acquisition is the developer's primary bottleneck.","fix":"High centralization risk due to Coinbase operating as the sole sequencer, making it unsuitable for applications requiring strict censorship resistance."},{"rank":2,"product":"Arbitrum","reason":"Near-tied with Base; offers the deepest DeFi liquidity, highest capital efficiency, and most robust Nitro-driven EVM compatibility, making it the industry standard for financial applications under the assumption that liquidity composability is the developer's primary bottleneck.","fix":"Lacks a native, direct-to-retail consumer pipeline, making user onboarding friction higher for non-financial consumer-facing applications."},{"rank":3,"product":"Optimism","reason":"Serves as the central hub of the OP Stack Superchain, providing developers with modular blueprints, shared governance, and native interoperability with a fast-growing multi-chain network.","fix":"High user and liquidity fragmentation to its own derivative networks (such as Base), reducing its appeal as a standalone deployment destination."},{"rank":4,"product":"Starknet","reason":"Offers native, protocol-level account abstraction (enabling seamless session keys and gas sponsorship) and high computational scalability via ZK-STARK proofs, making it excellent for performance-intensive applications like gaming.","fix":"Uses a non-EVM execution environment (Cairo), which creates a steep learning curve and separates developers from standard Ethereum developer tooling."},{"rank":5,"product":"zkSync Era","reason":"Combines the mathematical finality of ZK-rollups with native account abstraction and EVM compatibility, while facilitating multi-chain scaling through its ZK Stack Elastic Chain framework.","fix":"Its Type 4 zkEVM VM uses a compiler-based translation rather than bytecode equivalence, which can break compatibility with complex legacy Solidity contracts."}],"Grok":[{"rank":1,"product":"Arbitrum","reason":"Largest or near-largest TVL (~$10-20B range across 2026 data), deepest DeFi liquidity and composability with major protocols (Uniswap, Aave, GMX) deployed at scale, mature EVM-compatible Nitro stack, strong developer adoption, proven track record, and Stage 1 security progress on L2Beat; assumption: real-world merit prioritizes usable liquidity and ecosystem depth for typical DeFi/trading practitioners over raw user counts.","fix":"Optimistic rollup withdrawal delays (7-day challenge period) and still-evolving full sequencer decentralization; NOT for users needing instant finality or ultra-low latency apps."},{"rank":2,"product":"Base","reason":"High activity and user growth driven by Coinbase integration/onboarding, strong consumer/retail focus with low fees and fiat-native flows, significant TVL (~$10-13B), OP Stack reliability, and rapid scaling for everyday onchain use; earns spot via proven real adoption metrics and accessibility for typical practitioners.","fix":"More centralized sequencer (Coinbase-operated) and reliance on parent OP Stack governance; NOT for maximal decentralization purists or heavy DeFi liquidity seekers where Arbitrum dominates depth."},{"rank":3,"product":"Optimism","reason":"Foundational OP Stack powering multiple chains (including Base), solid TVL and ecosystem, emphasis on public goods funding and Superchain interoperability, established optimistic rollup tech with Stage 1 progress; strong for infrastructure-minded developers valuing long-term Ethereum-aligned scaling.","fix":"Lower direct TVL/liquidity compared to Arbitrum and Base in many snapshots, with activity sometimes fragmented across Superchain; NOT for users prioritizing the single deepest liquidity pool or simplest consumer onboarding."}]},"missedByModel":{"ChatGPT":[{"product":"ZKsync Era","reason":"strong ZK Stack technology and EVM compatibility, but Stage 0 controls, limited current activity, and past proof-system intervention keep it just behind Linea"},{"product":"Scroll","reason":"Ethereum-aligned zkEVM design, but very low current usage and liquidity plus Stage 0 governance make the practitioner value case weaker"}],"Claude":[{"product":"Scroll","reason":"most faithful bytecode-level EVM-equivalent ZK rollup and admirably security-first/open-source, but thin liquidity and a smaller ecosystem cap its practical value today"}],"Gemini":[{"product":"Scroll","reason":"missed due to lower developer adoption, higher proof costs, and lack of native UX improvements like account abstraction compared to zkSync Era despite its superior bytecode equivalence"},{"product":"Linea","reason":"missed due to centralized control and a smaller independent developer ecosystem compared to OP Stack and Arbitrum alternatives despite strong MetaMask distribution"}],"Grok":[{"product":"zkSync Era","reason":"strong ZK tech for faster finality/privacy but trailed in TVL/ecosystem maturity and adoption vs optimistic leaders"}]}}