Across vs Wormhole: Relayer Pricing

Unique pricing model: Users pay only for the destination chain gas. The relayer fee is covered by liquidity providers who earn rewards from a separate incentivization pool. This results in near-zero user-facing fees for the transfer itself. This matters for high-frequency, low-value transfers where gas fees are the primary cost barrier.

Specific advantage: The optimistic model introduces a ~10-20 minute latency for full economic finality, as it includes a fraud-proof window. This matters for applications where lowest possible cost is paramount over instant finality, such as scheduled treasury operations or non-urgent NFT bridging.

Specific advantage: Wormhole's Automatic Relayer and third-party relay services pay for gas on the destination chain and charge the user a single, predictable fee. This enables single-transaction UX (no need for destination gas tokens). This matters for consumer dApps and wallets requiring a seamless, predictable cost experience.

Specific advantage: Users see a total fee upfront, and transactions typically complete in 1-2 minutes with strong finality. Fees are calculated based on real-time gas estimates and a relayer profit margin. This matters for DeFi arbitrage, gaming, and real-time interactions where speed and cost certainty are critical.

• Cost-sensitive bulk operations where you can batch transfers and absorb the latency.
• Protocols subsidizing user transfers via the liquidity pool incentives.
• EVM-to-EVM transfers where its liquidity concentration is strongest.

• Multi-chain dApps needing consistent UX across 30+ blockchains (Solana, Sui, Aptos, EVM, etc.).
• Applications requiring <2-minute finality and predictable all-in pricing.
• Complex payloads like cross-chain governance or NFT minting using Wormhole's generic message passing.

Capital-efficient pricing: Relayers are paid from a liquidity pool's spread, not user fees, leading to predictable, often zero-cost bridging for users. This model is optimal for high-volume, cost-sensitive applications like perpetual DEX arbitrage or DAO treasury management.

Delayed finality for security: The "optimistic" model introduces a challenge period (typically 20-30 minutes on L1 destinations). This is a poor fit for real-time trading, NFT minting, or gaming where instant guaranteed finality is required, despite the cost savings.

Validator-staked security: Messages are signed by the 19-node Guardian network for instant verification. Users pay a clear fee for this service, making it ideal for high-value institutional transfers, real-time oracle data (like Pyth), and cross-chain NFTs where speed and certainty are paramount.

Explicit fee structure: Users pay relay fees to the Guardian network, which can be variable and add up for high-frequency transactions. This creates a clear operating cost that must be budgeted for, unlike Across's subsidy model. Less suitable for micro-transactions or protocols aiming for zero-fee UX.

Optimistic relaying model: Relayers front gas costs and are reimbursed later, allowing users to pay only for the destination chain's gas. This results in predictable, often lower total costs for end-users, especially for high-value transfers where speed is less critical. This matters for protocols like UMA and Across Capital that prioritize user cost savings over absolute speed.

Capital is not locked: Relayers provide liquidity as a service, not as a staked asset. Their funds are only at risk for the short dispute period (e.g., 20 minutes on Optimism). This lowers the barrier to entry for relayers and creates a more competitive, decentralized network. This matters for building a sustainable, permissionless relay ecosystem.

Fixed fee model: Users pay a known, quoted fee upfront that covers source and destination gas, plus a small protocol fee. This provides full cost certainty before signing the transaction, with no surprise reimbursements or slashing. This matters for enterprise users and dApps like Uniswap and Circle (CCTP) that require precise cost accounting.

Staked, permissioned relayers: The Guardian network and ecosystem relayers are incentivized through staking and fee rewards, ensuring high reliability and fast attestation speeds (typically 1-2 seconds). This model prioritizes security and liveness. This matters for high-frequency applications like Pyth Network or MarginFi that depend on sub-second finality.