Direct answer · §01 Proof system

Which proof system is cheapest to verify on Ethereum?

Short answer

Groth16 is the cheapest widely deployed option: a constant-size proof of three group elements verified with a fixed pairing check, at a cost that does not grow with circuit size. PLONK-family verifiers are somewhat more expensive but remove the per-circuit ceremony. FRI-based STARK proofs are considerably larger and more expensive to verify on-chain, which is why STARK-based systems that settle on Ethereum typically wrap the STARK in a final SNARK before submitting it. See Section 01.

By MarketComp Updated 2026-09-12 v1.3 About the authors Changelog

Cite this page

MarketComp (2026). Which proof system is cheapest to verify on Ethereum?. The ZK Field Manual (Version 1.3). MarketComp. https://zkpick.com/faq/which-proof-system-is-cheapest-to-verify-on-ethereum/

@misc{zkfieldmanual-which-proof-system-is-cheapest-to-verify,
  title        = {Which proof system is cheapest to verify on Ethereum? — The ZK Field Manual},
  author       = {MarketComp},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {1.3},
  howpublished = {\url{https://zkpick.com/faq/which-proof-system-is-cheapest-to-verify-on-ethereum/}},
  note         = {Accessed: YYYY-MM-DD}
}