NEAR vs Polygon zkEVM: A Developer's Battle-Tested Comparison

Posted on dev.to - August 16, 2025

So, I've been building DApps for about 2.5 years now, and honestly, choosing the right blockchain still gives me analysis paralysis sometimes. Last month I shipped a pretty complex DeFi aggregator on both NEAR and Polygon zkEVM (don't ask why, it seemed like a good idea at the time), and figured I'd share what I learned from actually building on both platforms instead of just reading whitepapers.

Spoiler alert: they're both good, but in very different ways. And yes, I'm going to include actual code because I'm tired of blockchain comparisons that never show you what development actually looks like.

TL;DR for the Impatient

NEAR: Feels like building modern web apps, predictable costs, human-friendly addresses, but smaller ecosystem
Polygon zkEVM: Ethereum compatibility is huge, massive ecosystem, cheaper than mainnet Ethereum, but gas can still be unpredictable

Getting Started - First Impressions Matter

NEAR: "Wait, this is actually straightforward?"

Setting up NEAR development was surprisingly painless. Here's literally all I needed to do:

npm install -g near-cli
near login

That's it. No fighting with RPC endpoints, no configuring custom networks. The CLI just works.

For my first contract, I started with JavaScript (I know, I know, but hear me out):

import { NearBindgen, call, view, near } from 'near-sdk-js';

@NearBindgen({})
class TokenAggregator {

  @call({payableFunction: true})
  swap_tokens({token_in, token_out, amount_in}) {
    // Basic validation
    if (amount_in <= 0) {
      throw new Error("Amount must be positive");
    }

    const deposit = near.attachedDeposit();
    near.log(`Swapping ${amount_in} of ${token_in} for ${token_out}`);

    // Cross-contract call to DEX
    return near.promiseBatchCreate(token_in)
      .functionCall("swap", {
        token_out: token_out,
        amount: amount_in,
        min_amount_out: "0" // probably should calculate this properly lol
      }, deposit, "300000000000000");
  }

  @view({})
  get_swap_rate({token_in, token_out}) {
    // This would normally call multiple DEXes
    return "1.05"; // hardcoded for now, don't judge
  }
}

Yes, that's actual JavaScript running on a blockchain. The near-sdk-js handles all the serialization/deserialization magic. It's not the most performant option, but for prototyping? Chef's kiss.

Polygon zkEVM: "Oh right, this is just Ethereum"

Polygon zkEVM setup is basically Ethereum setup with different RPC endpoints:

// hardhat.config.js
module.exports = {
  networks: {
    polygonZkEVM: {
      url: "https://zkevm-rpc.com",
      accounts: [process.env.PRIVATE_KEY],
      chainId: 1101
    },
    polygonZkEVMTestnet: {
      url: "https://rpc.public.zkevm-test.net",
      accounts: [process.env.PRIVATE_KEY], 
      chainId: 1442
    }
  }
};

The big advantage here is that literally every Ethereum tool works out of the box. Hardhat, Foundry, OpenZeppelin contracts, all the libraries you're used to.

Here's the same aggregator logic in Solidity:

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.20;

import "@openzeppelin/contracts/security/ReentrancyGuard.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/access/Ownable.sol";

contract TokenAggregator is ReentrancyGuard, Ownable {

    struct SwapParams {
        address tokenIn;
        address tokenOut;
        uint256 amountIn;
        uint256 minAmountOut;
    }

    mapping(address => bool) public approvedDEXes;

    event SwapExecuted(address indexed user, address tokenIn, 
                      address tokenOut, uint256 amountIn, uint256 amountOut);

    constructor() {}

    function swapTokens(SwapParams memory params) external nonReentrant {
        require(params.amountIn > 0, "Amount must be positive");
        require(approvedDEXes[msg.sender] || msg.sender == tx.origin, "Not authorized");

        // Transfer tokens from user
        IERC20(params.tokenIn).transferFrom(msg.sender, address(this), params.amountIn);

        // Get best rate from multiple DEXes (simplified for example)
        uint256 amountOut = _getBestSwapRate(params.tokenIn, params.tokenOut, params.amountIn);

        require(amountOut >= params.minAmountOut, "Slippage too high");

        // Execute swap on best DEX
        _executeSwap(params, amountOut);

        emit SwapExecuted(msg.sender, params.tokenIn, params.tokenOut, 
                         params.amountIn, amountOut);
    }

    function _getBestSwapRate(address tokenIn, address tokenOut, uint256 amountIn) 
        internal pure returns (uint256) {
        // In reality this would call multiple DEX contracts
        // For now just return a fixed rate
        return amountIn * 105 / 100; // 5% markup because why not
    }

    function _executeSwap(SwapParams memory params, uint256 amountOut) internal {
        // This is where you'd interact with actual DEX contracts
        // Uniswap V3, QuickSwap, etc.
    }
}

Much more verbose than the NEAR version, but also more explicit about what's happening. The type safety is nice when you're dealing with money.

Development Experience Deep Dive

Testing: Where the Rubber Meets the Road

NEAR Testing:
NEAR's testing story is pretty solid with near-workspaces. Here's what a typical test looks like:

import { Worker } from 'near-workspaces';
import test from 'ava';

test.beforeEach(async t => {
  const worker = Worker.init();
  const root = worker.rootAccount;

  const contract = await root.devDeploy('./build/contract.wasm');
  const alice = await root.createSubAccount('alice');

  t.context.worker = worker;
  t.context.contract = contract;
  t.context.alice = alice;
});

test('swap tokens successfully', async t => {
  const { contract, alice } = t.context;

  // This actually calls the blockchain
  const result = await alice.call(contract, 'swap_tokens', {
    token_in: 'wrap.near',
    token_out: 'usdc.near', 
    amount_in: '1000000000000000000000000' // 1 NEAR in yoctoNEAR
  }, {
    attachedDeposit: '1000000000000000000000000',
    gas: '300000000000000'
  });

  t.is(result.logs[0], 'Swapping 1000000000000000000000000 of wrap.near for usdc.near');
});

The testing framework spins up actual blockchain instances, which is slow but gives you confidence that things actually work. I've caught so many edge cases this way that unit tests would have missed.

Polygon zkEVM Testing:
Since it's EVM-compatible, you get all the mature Ethereum testing tools. Here's the same test with Hardhat:

const { expect } = require("chai");
const { ethers } = require("hardhat");

describe("TokenAggregator", function () {
  let contract, owner, alice, mockTokenA, mockTokenB;

  beforeEach(async function () {
    [owner, alice] = await ethers.getSigners();

    // Deploy mock tokens for testing
    const MockToken = await ethers.getContractFactory("MockERC20");
    mockTokenA = await MockToken.deploy("TokenA", "TKNA", ethers.utils.parseEther("1000000"));
    mockTokenB = await MockToken.deploy("TokenB", "TKNB", ethers.utils.parseEther("1000000"));

    const TokenAggregator = await ethers.getContractFactory("TokenAggregator");
    contract = await TokenAggregator.deploy();

    // Setup allowances
    await mockTokenA.transfer(alice.address, ethers.utils.parseEther("1000"));
    await mockTokenA.connect(alice).approve(contract.address, ethers.constants.MaxUint256);
  });

  it("should swap tokens successfully", async function () {
    const swapParams = {
      tokenIn: mockTokenA.address,
      tokenOut: mockTokenB.address,
      amountIn: ethers.utils.parseEther("100"),
      minAmountOut: ethers.utils.parseEther("95")
    };

    await expect(contract.connect(alice).swapTokens(swapParams))
      .to.emit(contract, "SwapExecuted")
      .withArgs(alice.address, mockTokenA.address, mockTokenB.address, 
               swapParams.amountIn, ethers.utils.parseEther("105"));
  });
});

The testing is faster and you have more mature tools (Foundry's fuzzing is incredible), but sometimes I miss the integration-heavy approach of NEAR's testing.

Gas/Transaction Costs: The Developer Tax

This is where things get interesting and sometimes frustrating.

NEAR Gas Model:
NEAR's gas is measured in "gas units" and is pretty predictable. Here's what I typically see:

// Simple function call
near.functionCall("simple_view", {}, 0, "30000000000000") // ~0.003 NEAR

// Cross-contract call
near.functionCall("complex_swap", swapData, attachedDeposit, "300000000000000") // ~0.03 NEAR

// Storage-heavy operation  
near.functionCall("store_user_data", userData, storageDeposit, "100000000000000") // varies based on storage

What I love about NEAR is that you can calculate gas costs pretty accurately. A simple function call costs around 0.003 NEAR ($0.001-$0.003 depending on NEAR price), and it's consistent.

Polygon zkEVM Gas Reality:
Here's where it gets tricky. Polygon zkEVM inherits Ethereum's gas model, which means:

// Simple ERC20 transfer
const gasLimit = await contract.estimateGas.transfer(recipient, amount);
// Usually ~21,000 gas units

// Complex DeFi interaction
const swapGas = await aggregator.estimateGas.swapTokens(swapParams);
// Can range from 100,000 to 500,000+ depending on complexity

// Current gas price (changes constantly)
const gasPrice = await provider.getGasPrice();
console.log(`Current gas price: ${ethers.utils.formatUnits(gasPrice, 'gwei')} gwei`);

In practice, transaction costs on Polygon zkEVM are usually $0.001-$0.05, which is great compared to mainnet Ethereum, but the unpredictability can be annoying when you're building user-facing apps.

The Architectural Differences That Actually Matter

Account Models: More Important Than You Think

NEAR's Human-Readable Accounts:
This is legitimately one of NEAR's best features. Users have addresses like alice.near instead of 0x1234.... But it goes deeper than just UX:

use near_sdk::borsh::{self, BorshDeserialize, BorshSerialize};
use near_sdk::{env, near_bindgen, AccountId, Promise};

#[near_bindgen]
#[derive(BorshDeserialize, BorshSerialize)]
pub struct SocialToken {
    pub balances: HashMap<AccountId, u128>,
    pub allowances: HashMap<AccountId, HashMap<AccountId, u128>>,
}

impl SocialToken {
    pub fn transfer(&mut self, to: AccountId, amount: u128) -> bool {
        let sender = env::predecessor_account_id();

        // Look how clean this is - no hex address validation needed
        if sender == "alice.near".parse().unwrap() && to == "bob.near".parse().unwrap() {
            // Direct account name logic
        }

        // Transfer logic here...
        true
    }

    // Multi-key functionality example
    pub fn add_function_call_key(&mut self, public_key: PublicKey, method_names: Vec<String>) {
        // Users can have keys that only work for specific functions
        // Great for mobile apps or limited-access scenarios
    }
}

The multi-key system is really powerful. You can give your mobile app a key that can only call specific functions, so if your phone gets hacked, the attacker can't drain your entire account.

Polygon zkEVM's Ethereum Compatibility:
The standard Ethereum account model means you get all the existing tooling, but also inherit some limitations:

contract UserProfile {
    mapping(address => string) public usernames;
    mapping(address => UserData) public profiles;

    struct UserData {
        string bio;
        string avatar;
        uint256 reputation;
    }

    function setProfile(string memory username, string memory bio, string memory avatar) external {
        // Address is just hex, so you need additional mapping for human-readable names
        require(bytes(usernames[msg.sender]).length == 0, "Username already set");
        usernames[msg.sender] = username;
        profiles[msg.sender] = UserData(bio, avatar, 0);
    }

    // ENS integration would help here, but adds complexity
    function getProfileByENS(string memory ensName) external view returns (UserData memory) {
        // Would need ENS resolver integration
        // More complex than NEAR's built-in readable accounts
    }
}

Cross-Chain Capabilities: The Future is Multi-Chain

NEAR's Chain Signatures:
This is genuinely innovative stuff. NEAR contracts can sign transactions for other blockchains:

#[near_bindgen]
impl CrossChainBridge {
    pub fn sign_ethereum_transaction(&mut self, ethereum_tx_data: Vec<u8>) -> Promise {
        let signer_account = "chain-signatures.near";

        // This actually creates a valid Ethereum signature from NEAR
        ext_chain_signatures::ext(signer_account.parse().unwrap())
            .with_static_gas(Gas(300_000_000_000_000))
            .sign_ethereum(ethereum_tx_data, env::current_account_id())
            .then(
                ext_self::ext(env::current_account_id())
                    .with_static_gas(Gas(30_000_000_000_000))
                    .on_ethereum_sign_complete()
            )
    }
}

I used this to build a cross-chain portfolio manager that could actually trade on Ethereum DEXes from a NEAR contract. Mind-blowing stuff, though still early.

Polygon zkEVM's Bridge Ecosystem:
Polygon has mature bridge infrastructure, but it's more traditional:

import "./IPolygonZkEVMBridge.sol";

contract CrossChainPortfolio {
    IPolygonZkEVMBridge public bridge;

    function bridgeToMainnet(address token, uint256 amount) external {
        IERC20(token).transferFrom(msg.sender, address(this), amount);
        IERC20(token).approve(address(bridge), amount);

        // Bridge tokens to Ethereum mainnet
        bridge.bridgeAsset(
            1, // destination network (Ethereum mainnet)
            msg.sender, // recipient
            amount,
            token,
            true, // force update global exit tree
            "" // permit data
        );
    }
}

It works, but requires more infrastructure and is less seamless than NEAR's approach.

Developer Tools Ecosystem: Maturity vs Innovation

NEAR's Growing Toolbox

The NEAR ecosystem is smaller but has some nice innovations:

# NEAR CLI is comprehensive
near deploy --wasmFile target/wasm32-unknown-unknown/release/contract.wasm --accountId mycontract.testnet

# Testing with near-workspaces
npm test # runs integration tests against real blockchain instances

# Social features built-in
near call social.near set '{"data": {"alice.near": {"profile": {"name": "Alice"}}}}' --accountId alice.near

The social layer stuff is pretty cool - you can build Twitter-like features directly into your contracts.

Polygon zkEVM's Mature Ecosystem

Since it's EVM-compatible, you get the full Ethereum toolstack:

# All the usual suspects work
npx hardhat compile
npx hardhat test
npx hardhat deploy --network polygonZkEVM

# Plus all the advanced tooling
forge test # if using Foundry
slither . # security analysis 
mythril analyze contracts/MyContract.sol # more security tools

The ecosystem maturity is real. Need oracle data? Chainlink works out of the box. Want to build a DEX? Fork Uniswap V3. The composability is unmatched.

Performance and Scalability: The Numbers Game

NEAR's Sharded Architecture

NEAR's sharding is impressive technically, but as a developer, you mostly don't think about it:

// Cross-shard calls work transparently
const promise = near.promiseBatchCreate("contract-on-different-shard.near")
  .functionCall("some_method", {data: "test"}, 0, "300000000000000");

// Transactions finalize in 1-2 seconds consistently
// I've never had a transaction take longer than 3 seconds

Transaction throughput is good (1000-3000 TPS in practice), and most importantly, it's predictable.

Polygon zkEVM's Ethereum Experience

Performance is generally good, but can be variable:

// During high congestion, transactions can fail
try {
  const tx = await contract.swapTokens(params, {
    gasLimit: estimatedGas,
    gasPrice: gasPrice
  });

  // Wait for confirmation
  const receipt = await tx.wait(1); // Usually 1-10 seconds

} catch (error) {
  // Sometimes need to retry with higher gas price
  if (error.code === 'UNPREDICTABLE_GAS_LIMIT') {
    // Retry with higher gas...
  }
}

When it works, it's fast and cheap. But the occasional congestion or failed transactions mean you need more robust error handling.

The Verdict: What I'd Choose Today

After building substantial applications on both platforms, here's my honest take:

Choose NEAR if:

• You're building social applications or anything needing human-readable identities
• You want predictable transaction costs and timing
• You're exploring cross-chain functionality beyond basic bridges
• Your team is more comfortable with JavaScript/TypeScript
• You can work with a smaller but growing ecosystem

Choose Polygon zkEVM if:

• You need access to the mature Ethereum DeFi ecosystem
• You're migrating existing Ethereum contracts
• You want maximum tooling options and community support
• You're building complex financial applications that benefit from battle-tested libraries
• You can handle occasional network congestion

Real Talk: The Gotchas Nobody Tells You

NEAR gotchas:

• Storage staking can lock up more tokens than expected for data-heavy apps
• JavaScript contracts have performance limitations for compute-intensive operations
• Cross-contract calls are async, which takes some mental adjustment
• Documentation for advanced features can be sparse

Polygon zkEVM gotchas:

• Bridge withdrawals to Ethereum mainnet have a ~1 hour delay due to ZK proof generation
• Some edge-case Ethereum opcodes aren't supported yet (though this rarely matters)
• Gas estimation can be wrong during network congestion
• You're still dealing with Ethereum's inherent complexity

Code Examples You Can Actually Use

Here are some useful patterns I've developed:

NEAR: Handling Cross-Contract Call Results

use near_sdk::serde_json;

#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
pub struct SwapResult {
    success: bool,
    amount_out: U128,
    error: Option<String>,
}

impl TokenAggregator {
    #[private]
    pub fn on_swap_complete(&mut self, #[callback_result] call_result: Result<U128, PromiseError>) -> SwapResult {
        match call_result {
            Ok(amount_out) => {
                env::log_str(&format!("Swap completed successfully: {}", amount_out.0));
                SwapResult {
                    success: true,
                    amount_out,
                    error: None,
                }
            },
            Err(e) => {
                env::log_str(&format!("Swap failed: {:?}", e));
                SwapResult {
                    success: false,
                    amount_out: U128(0),
                    error: Some(format!("{:?}", e)),
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Polygon zkEVM: Handling Failed Transactions Gracefully

contract RobustAggregator {
    uint256 public constant MAX_SLIPPAGE = 300; // 3%

    function swapWithRetry(SwapParams memory params) external {
        uint256 attempts = 0;
        uint256 maxAttempts = 3;

        while (attempts < maxAttempts) {
            try this._attemptSwap(params) {
                return; // Success!
            } catch Error(string memory reason) {
                if (bytes(reason).length > 0) {
                    // If it's a revert with reason, don't retry
                    revert(reason);
                }
                attempts++;

                // Increase slippage tolerance for retry
                params.minAmountOut = params.minAmountOut * (1000 - MAX_SLIPPAGE * attempts) / 1000;
            } catch {
                attempts++;
                // Generic error, try again
            }
        }

        revert("Swap failed after max attempts");
    }

    function _attemptSwap(SwapParams memory params) external {
        require(msg.sender == address(this), "Internal only");
        // Actual swap logic here
    }
}

Final Thoughts

Both platforms are solid choices depending on your needs. NEAR feels more "future-focused" with features like chain signatures and human-readable accounts, while Polygon zkEVM gives you immediate access to everything Ethereum has built.

My personal recommendation? If you're exploring new paradigms and don't mind a smaller ecosystem, NEAR is genuinely innovative. If you need to ship fast with maximum ecosystem support, Polygon zkEVM is probably your best bet.

Either way, you're not going to go wrong. The multi-chain future is here, and honestly, we'll probably end up building on multiple chains anyway.

---

This post got way longer than I intended, but I hope it helps someone make a more informed decision. If you've built on either platform and have different experiences, I'd love to hear about them in the comments.