Base shut its own bridge down. Visit bridge.base.org today and you’ll find it’s deprecated, with Base’s docs pointing people to independent bridges instead, and for funds coming from Ethereum they name exactly two: Superbridge and Brid.gg.
Across didn’t make that list. It still works with Base, though, and it fills most transfers in roughly 2 seconds, which is why the decision most of you will actually face comes down to the standard route (neatly packaged by Superbridge) versus a quick relayer bridge such as Across.
Want the quick version? Go with Superbridge when you’re happy to use the standard route at cost, or when you’d like a single app that lines the routes up for you. Go with Across when the money has to reach Base, or get back to Ethereum, in seconds and you don’t mind paying for that.
Holding coins on Coinbase? You might skip bridging entirely.
The sections below cover how the two work, how safe they are, what using them feels like, and what they cost in fees and time, and they end by matching each to a job. Heading to a different layer 2 instead, meaning a network that settles back to Ethereum? That’s covered in our best Arbitrum bridge roundup.
Table of contents
Superbridge vs Across at a glance
Superbridge vs Across: Base Bridge Comparison Chart | |
|---|---|
| <strong>Does Base’s documentation recommend it?</strong> | Superbridge: yes, for Ethereum to Base <br> Across: it isn’t on Base’s list |
| <strong>How the money moves</strong> | Superbridge: an aggregator that leans on native, canonical bridges and offers third-party routes too <br> Across: intents, with relayers putting up their own funds on the destination chain |
| <strong>Getting onto Base</strong> | Superbridge’s standard route: usually included within 3 minutes <br> Across: roughly 2 seconds |
| <strong>Getting back to Ethereum</strong> | Superbridge’s standard route: 7 days and three steps, or minutes on a third-party route <br> Across: roughly 2 seconds |
| <strong>What you pay</strong> | Superbridge: native routes at cost with no third-party fees, so just gas <br> Across: the gap between what you send and what arrives (an LP fee plus a relayer fee) |
| <strong>Chain count</strong> | Superbridge: its docs list 21 chains <br> Across: 23 mainnet chains, though other Across pages say 24+ or 26+ |
| <strong>What keeps it secure</strong> | Superbridge: Base’s standard bridge contracts on native routes <br> Across: optimistic verification, backed by UMA’s oracle |
| <strong>Published audits</strong> | Superbridge: we didn’t see any listed in the docs we read <br> Across: OpenZeppelin audits are listed |
| <strong>Wallet checks</strong> | Superbridge: TRM Labs, Zero Shadow and its own blocklist <br> Across: the docs we read don’t mention it |
| <strong>Swaps between chains</strong> | Superbridge: supported <br> Across: supported |
| <strong>Who it suits</strong> | Superbridge: deposits, and withdrawals you can wait on, at cost <br> Across: quick exits from Base and hops between layer 2s |
So what is Superbridge?
Superbridge calls itself a way to move money between chains “at cost,” and it comes as both an app and an API. It collects routes from native bridges and from outside protocols, then puts the choices next to each other so you can compare.
Its numbers are big. Since its 2023 launch, Superbridge says, it’s served 1M+ users and pushed $12B+ in volume across 100+ networks.
A native bridge, sometimes called canonical, is simply the one a chain’s own contracts provide. The Base docs list Superbridge as one of just two picks for coming over from Ethereum, and Superbridge’s docs describe superbridge.app as the Optimism Superchain’s recommended bridge.
What about Brid.gg, the second name on Base’s list? It handles bridging between Ethereum and Superchain chains, but its site won’t show much without JavaScript and we couldn’t read enough to review it properly, so Superbridge gets the attention here.
What Superbridge does well
- It goes through canonical, native bridges wherever it can, and those routes don’t carry third-party fees.
- Withdrawals that would normally take up to 7 days can finish in minutes, because it plugs in third-party routes.
- Its docs list 21 chains, with Ethereum, Base, Solana, Arbitrum One and Polygon among them.
- You can swap any token on one chain for any token on another in a single transaction.
- Every wallet that connects gets checked against TRM Labs, Zero Shadow and Superbridge’s own blocklist.
And what’s Across?
Across works differently. It’s a cross-chain protocol built around intents, which are orders describing the result you’re after (“I want 100 USDC on Base,” say) instead of the steps to get there.
Independent relayers, operators with capital of their own, pay you out on the destination chain first. Across reimburses them afterward.
That’s where the speed comes from. The docs put fills at around 2 seconds on mainnet, the site claims an average of 1.2 seconds between confirmation and money in your wallet, and Across reports $39B+ moved for 5M users with “No user funds lost.”
It’s been doing same-asset transfers since 2021.
The organization behind it is in flux, which we’d keep an eye on. Risk Labs proposed turning the Across DAO into a private U.S. company called AcrossCo, the proposal passed its Snapshot vote, and when we looked in September 2026 the $ACX exchange portal still wasn’t live.
Where Across stands out
- Relayers pay out before settlement, so fills land in about 2 seconds.
- Base is supported, and so are Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Solana and more.
- The quote shows the output amount before you sign, and whatever’s missing from your input is the fee.
- If nobody fills your deposit in time, you get the money back.
- OpenZeppelin audits appear in the docs, and there’s a bug bounty program.
How safe are Superbridge and Across?
You’re trusting different things with each one.
Take Superbridge’s native route first. Your money travels through Base’s standard bridge contracts, and anything headed to Ethereum sits through a 7-day challenge period before it’s released.
One detail we like: proving or finalizing a Base withdrawal isn’t limited to whoever started it. Anyone can do it, so you’re not stuck if a single app goes dark.
It isn’t always smooth, though. Superbridge’s own docs admit that on OP Stack native bridges, dispute-game delays “are common and can vary significantly,” and a rollup can void pending withdrawals during an upgrade or a security fix, which puts you back at the start of the wait.
Across takes an optimistic approach instead, where proposals count as valid unless somebody challenges them. Roughly every 1.5 hours, a whitelisted dataworker (an off-chain operator) bundles up fills and posts them on Ethereum along with a bond.
During the challenge window, anybody can dispute a bundle. If someone does, UMA’s Data Verification Mechanism decides, with UMA token holders voting.
According to Across, a single honest participant is enough to catch a bad proposal. Its site claims every transfer is verified onchain “with no multisigs and no custodial risk,” and the docs point to OpenZeppelin audits covering Across V2 and V3 plus UMA’s oracle.
Superbridge, for its part, runs wallets past TRM Labs and Zero Shadow and blocks anything flagged. An audit list wasn’t something we spotted anywhere in its docs, which bugs us a little.
Whatever bridge you end up on, look at the destination network and the address twice. Funds sent to the wrong network or the wrong address are gone for good, and nobody can reverse the transfer.
Not sure what you’re checking? Our explainer on what a wallet address is walks through it.
Base’s docs suggest a token-specific check too. Make sure the token address is right and that the token carries a base entry in the Superchain token list.
Superbridge and Across in daily use
Day to day, the two feel alike. Connect a wallet, set where the money’s coming from and going to, pick a token and an amount, then confirm.
On Across you’ll see a “Connect Wallet” button up front and tabs labeled “TRANSFER” and “HISTORY.”
Leaving Base is where they part ways. Through Superbridge, a standard withdrawal means starting it on Base, proving it on Ethereum and then finalizing once 7 days have passed; the app guides you through “Prove” and “Finalise,” but you’ve still got to return and sign each of those yourself, which is easy to forget a week later.
Across? One step.
Sign the deposit and the money shows up about 2 seconds later. The catch is the rare transfer no relayer picks up (a huge amount or an odd token pair are the usual culprits), since that refund can take several hours.
Superbridge does list third-party routes for quick withdrawals too, so speed is an option without leaving the app. Across happens to be one of the protocols it supports.
If your coins are still on an exchange, start with our walkthrough on how to transfer crypto from Coinbase to Coinbase Wallet.
Superbridge vs Across on fees and speed
Coming onto Base, there’s not much in it. The standard route from Ethereum typically gets you included within 3 minutes, and Across fills in about 2 seconds.
Going the other way is a different story: 7 days on the standard route, versus seconds with Across or minutes on one of Superbridge’s third-party routes.
Base wants to shorten that wait. Its Azul upgrade docs set a 1-day target window for proposals that carry both TEE and ZK proofs, but they don’t give an activation date, and the withdrawals page still reads 7 days, so we wouldn’t count on it yet.
Pricing works in two different ways. Superbridge’s native routes don’t carry third-party fees, so all you pay is gas (the network’s charge for processing a transaction).
With Across, the fee is baked into the quote. Whatever you send minus whatever arrives is the total fee.
It splits in two. Liquidity providers (LPs) get the LP fee, which climbs as their pool gets busier, and the relayer gets the rest, covering its gas, roughly 1.5 hours of waiting to be repaid, and the risk it carries.
Where the money lands changes things as well. Across says filling on Ethereum costs more gas than filling on Base or Arbitrum, some of its routes are sponsored with zero bridge fees, and apps built on top of Across are allowed to add a fee of their own.
| Route | Onto Base | Back to Ethereum | Your cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Superbridge standard route | Usually within 3 minutes | 7 days over three steps | Gas only, no third-party fees |
| Superbridge third-party route | Varies by route | Minutes | Whatever the chosen route charges |
| Across | Roughly 2 seconds | Roughly 2 seconds | LP fee and relayer fee, both in the quote |
Is Superbridge or Across better value?
You won’t find a price tag on either. There’s no device and no subscription, just a cost per transfer that shifts with gas and liquidity, so we can’t give you a fixed September 2026 figure.
Superbridge’s standard route charges gas at cost. What you really give up is time, 7 days whenever you leave, but deposits land within minutes, so going in costs you next to nothing.
Across flips that around. You pay for speed, and on a withdrawal the fee is what buys back those 7 days; since the quote shows it before you sign, it’s easy to line it up against Superbridge first.
Got funds on Coinbase? Then the cheapest bridge might be none. Base’s docs say many assets can be withdrawn straight onto Base if you select Base as the network.
Superbridge and Across: the good and the bad
Superbridge: what we like and what we don’t
Across: what we like and what we don’t
Which Base bridge should you use?
Moving ETH from Ethereum onto Base and fine waiting a few minutes? Use Superbridge, since it’s on Base’s own list and the native route skips third-party fees.
Need money off Base and back on Ethereum today? Across is the one, paying out in seconds rather than 7 days, though we’d still glance at Superbridge’s third-party routes before signing.
For hops between layer 2s, like Arbitrum to Base, we’d also reach for Across. It lists both chains, and a single signature handles it. After you land, our rundown of the best decentralized exchanges can help with whatever you’re swapping into.
Coins sitting on Coinbase? Don’t bridge at all; just withdraw and select Base as the network. Coming from Solana, Base points you to the Base-Solana bridge, and for Bitcoin it suggests Garden, which converts BTC into cbBTC.
Base bridge questions people ask
Does Base have an official bridge?
Not anymore. bridge.base.org is deprecated, and for funds coming from Ethereum the Base docs send you to Superbridge or Brid.gg.
How long is the wait going from Base back to Ethereum?
On the standard route, 7 days before you can finalize. Across gets it done in roughly 2 seconds, while Superbridge’s third-party routes take minutes.
Can I trust Across?
Mostly, in our view. It relies on optimistic verification backed by UMA’s oracle, points to OpenZeppelin audits, runs a bug bounty and says no user funds have been lost. Every bridge carries some risk, though, so send a small test amount before anything large.
Is Superbridge free?
Almost. Superbridge says its native, canonical routes carry no third-party fees, which leaves you paying gas, and other routes list their own costs.
Do I need a bridge to get from Coinbase to Base?
No. Per Base’s docs, lots of assets can go straight onto Base when you select Base as the network.
What if no Across relayer fills my transfer?
You’ll get it back. The money waits in the origin contract until Across settlement refunds it, which can take several hours.
I picked the wrong network. Can it be fixed?
No. Those funds are gone and nobody can reverse the transfer, so check the network and address every single time.
Our verdict: the best Base bridge for you
Getting onto Base? We’d use Superbridge. Base lists it, its native route has no third-party fees, and deposits typically arrive within 3 minutes.
Leaving Base, or hopping between layer 2s, is where Across earns its fee, paying out in about 2 seconds instead of making you wait 7 days.
In practice we’d keep both bookmarked, Superbridge for the trip in and Across for the trip out. And once the money’s on Base, hold it in a wallet whose keys are yours; our pick of the best non-custodial wallet is a sensible starting point.
This article is for general information only and is not financial, legal, or investment advice. Prices and features change; check the vendor’s official page before buying.
