The Polygon stack: Clarifying the choice¶
When entering the Polygon ecosystem, the choice of which stack to build on can be daunting. This document aims to clarify the different options available and help you make an informed decision.
Polygon CDK is a developer toolkit for designing ZK-powered Layer 2s which inherit the security of the Ethereum mainnet, and play well with the AggLayer. This enables these L2s to leverage unified liquidity and the unlimited composability the AggLayer makes possible.
With Polygon CDK you can build a custom blockchain with modules and core-level modifications. Those can be so versatile they can enable teams to tweak anything from account model to consensus algorithm to state transition function.
If you are looking to build an application on top of Polygon, two main options are available, both inheriting the security of the Ethereum mainnet:
Polygon PoS is a proof-of-stake blockchain and a good choice if you are looking to build a fast and low-cost application. Its massive ecosystem also makes it a good target for DeFi applications, game projects, and other applications which could benefit from hooking into a vibrant and popular environment.
Polygon zkEVM is a ZK-powered Layer 2. This can be a good choice if you’re looking to build a fast and cheap application while leveraging ZK to provide validation and fast finality of off-chain transactions. With ZK progress ramping up and zkEVM connecting to AggLayer, zkEVM gives builders the same connectivity to a built-out ecosystem as PoS, but with a brand new architectural approach. The zkEVM ecosystem is exploding, but the fact that it’s new leaves room for claiming some more first-mover-advantages. One caveat is that due to the nature of ZK technology and its mathematical specificity, EVM and zkEVM aren’t exactly at full feature parity, so exercise some caution. For a full list of differences, please see the zkEVM docs.
Polygon Miden is a zero-knowledge rollup for private, high-throughput applications. It’s a modular execution layer that extends Ethereum’s capabilities using powerful features such as parallel transaction execution and client-side proving.
Miden lets users prove state changes locally while the network only tracks a commitment, leading to privacy and high-throughput. Users can also let the operator prove public state changes like other rollups.
With Miden, developers can create novel, high-throughput, privacy-preserving dApps for DeFi, RWA, and on-chain games with languages such as Rust and TypeScript.
Which one should you choose? Consult the table below.
