PolygonScan is the most complete Polygon explorer available in 2026 and earns a 4.8 out of 5 in our review. Built by the Etherscan team, it lets you look up any Polygon PoS transaction, wallet, token or contract, verify and interact with smart contracts, check token approvals and pull data through Etherscan API V2. The trade-offs are a busy interface and a keyed API.
Our verdict in 30 seconds
If you only bookmark one Polygon explorer, make it PolygonScan. It decoded everything in our test set, has the best labels and the only built-in approval checker among the big explorers. Choose Blockscout instead if you prefer open-source software or need an API without registering.
We have used PolygonScan almost every working day since before the MATIC-to-POL rename. For this review we went through it systematically in September 2026: the same USDC transfer, failed swap, NFT mint and exchange wallet we use to test every explorer in our Polygon explorer ranking, plus a contract we deployed and verified ourselves.
What PolygonScan is and who runs it
PolygonScan is the Polygon PoS edition of Etherscan, the best-known Ethereum explorer. The same team builds and operates it, and it shares Etherscan's code base, design and account system. That matters in practice: every habit you have built on Etherscan — where to find the input data, how to read logs, how the token tracker works — carries over one to one.
It is not run by Polygon Labs. There is no single official Polygon explorer, but PolygonScan is the closest thing to one: it is the block explorer URL in MetaMask's default Polygon network settings, and most wallets, bridges and dApps link to it when they show you a transaction. When somebody sends you a "Polygon tx link", it is usually a polygonscan.com link.
Features: what the PolygonScan Polygon explorer can do
The feature list is long. Here are the parts we actually use and how well they worked.
Transactions. Every transaction page shows status (Success, Fail or Pending), block and confirmations, timestamp, from and to, value in POL, transaction fee, gas price in gwei, gas limit and usage, nonce, and a list of every ERC-20, ERC-721 and ERC-1155 transfer inside it. Input data is decoded for verified contracts, and the Logs tab shows every emitted event. Internal transactions — value moved by contracts rather than wallets — have their own tab. In our failed-swap test, PolygonScan showed the revert message right beside the status, which saved a trip to a debugger.
Addresses. A wallet page gives you the POL balance with a USD estimate, a token holdings dropdown with values, and tabbed histories for normal transactions, internal transactions, token transfers and NFT transfers. Labels matter here: the exchange hot wallet in our test set was clearly tagged, which none of the smaller explorers matched.
Tokens and NFTs. Token tracker pages show total supply, holders, transfers, the contract, and — for tokens whose issuers have submitted information — the official website and social links. NFT pages list token IDs and ownership. PolygonScan also flags many suspicious tokens and hides obvious spam in wallet views, though no filter catches everything. For the stablecoins people most often get tricked with, compare contracts against our USDT and USDC explorer page.
Contracts. You can verify source code (single file, multi-file, standard JSON input and via common frameworks' plugins), then read state and call write functions by connecting a wallet. Proxy contracts are detected, and you can read the implementation through the proxy. Our own test contract verified in under a minute using the standard JSON option.
Tools. A gas tracker, charts and statistics (daily transactions, addresses, gas used), a unit converter, a token approval checker, and a CSV export for transactions and token transfers. The gas tracker splits prices into low, average and high tiers in gwei.
UI walkthrough: reading a PolygonScan transaction page
The layout is dense, so here is the order we read a transaction page in. It takes about fifteen seconds once you are used to it.
- Status and confirmations. Top of the Overview tab. Success plus a handful of confirmations is final — since Heimdall v2 in July 2025, Polygon reaches finality in about five seconds.
- From and To. "To" is often a contract (a token, a router, a bridge), not the final recipient. For token payments, the real recipient appears in the transfers section below.
- ERC-20 Tokens Transferred. This is the line that matters for USDT and USDC payments. Check the amount, the recipient and — crucially — click the token to confirm its contract address.
- Value and Transaction Fee. Value is native POL moved. The fee is what the sender paid for gas, usually fractions of a cent.
- More details. Expand it to see gas price, gas limit and usage, nonce and input data. Switch to the Logs tab for raw events.
The biggest improvement in the last couple of years is the transaction "action" summary near the top, which describes swaps and transfers in a sentence. It is not as polished as Blockscout's version, but it helps beginners. If you want a gentler introduction to every field, our guide to checking a Polygon transaction follows the same field order and applies to any Etherscan-style explorer.
Free account features: watchlists, alerts, notes and exports
You can use PolygonScan without an account, but a free one (shared with Etherscan) is worth the two minutes. It gives you:
- Watchlists for addresses, with email notifications for incoming and outgoing transactions — ideal for monitoring a donation or business wallet.
- Private name tags and notes, visible only to you, so "0x8f3…" becomes "Supplier A".
- CSV exports of transaction and token-transfer history, useful for bookkeeping. The export has row limits per download, so split long periods.
- API keys, which you will need for any programmatic access.
- Token and address submissions if you are a project owner updating your token profile.
If you want to follow a wallet without creating any account at all, our wallet tracking guide shows the alternatives, including our own explorer's address view.
The PolygonScan API in 2026: Etherscan API V2
The standalone PolygonScan API has been folded into Etherscan API V2. One key, created on etherscan.io, works across all supported chains; you choose the network with a chainid parameter. For Polygon PoS that is 137, for Amoy it is 80002.
curl "https://api.etherscan.io/v2/api?chainid=137&module=account&action=balance&address=0xYourAddress&tag=latest&apikey=YOUR_KEY"The modules are the familiar Etherscan ones: account (balances, transaction lists, token transfers), contract (ABI, source code, verification), transaction (receipt status), block, logs, token and a proxy module that forwards common JSON-RPC calls. Responses are JSON with a status, message and result.
The free tier requires a key and is rate-limited; the exact per-second and per-day limits, and which chains are included for free, have changed more than once. Check the current plan in the Etherscan API documentation before building on it. If you only need moderate volume and prefer not to register, Blockscout's keyless API is the easier start — we compare both, plus public RPC endpoints, in our Polygon explorer API guide.
Testnet and zkEVM subdomains
PolygonScan runs separate sites for Polygon's other networks. Knowing which is which saves a lot of "my transaction disappeared" panic.
| Subdomain | What it covers |
|---|---|
| polygonscan.com | Polygon PoS mainnet (chain ID 137) |
| amoy.polygonscan.com | Amoy testnet (80002), anchored to Sepolia |
| zkevm.polygonscan.com | zkEVM archive (1101), read-only |
| mumbai.polygonscan.com | Retired testnet, no live data |
Amoy is where you test contracts before deploying to mainnet; the explorer has the same verification and read/write tools as the main site. See our Amoy testnet explorer page for faucets and network settings. The zkEVM site is now an archive: Polygon zkEVM was sunset and its sequencer shut down in July 2026, so it is useful for looking up historical transactions but availability may change — our zkEVM explorer page covers what to do with remaining funds.
Limits, weak spots and privacy
No explorer is perfect, and PolygonScan's weaknesses are worth knowing.
Where it shines
- Correct decoding of every transaction in our test set
- The richest entity labels on Polygon
- Contract tools that developers rely on daily
- Stable under load; pages loaded quickly in our tests
Where it falls short
- Crowded layout; ads and sponsored slots near search
- Closed source, so you cannot self-host or audit it
- Occasional bot checks when browsing quickly
- Keyed API with tier limits
Privacy. Browsing without an account is anonymous in the usual web sense: your IP address and browser details reach the site, and standard analytics and advertising cookies apply depending on your consent choices. With an account, your watchlists and tags are linked to your email. Remember that any address you look up is public anyway; the privacy question is whether your interest in an address is linked to you. If that matters, use a tool that runs queries from your browser without accounts — our live Polygon explorer does exactly that — and decline non-essential cookies.
Scale. Very large wallets (exchanges, bridges) have histories in the millions of transactions. The web UI paginates and the CSV export caps rows per file, so for full histories use the API or a data platform such as Dune.
Pro tips for PolygonScan power users
- Search by more than hashes. The search box accepts token names, labelled contract names and block numbers, not just hashes and addresses. Typing "USDC" shows several tokens — pick the one whose contract matches Circle's native address
0x3c499c542cEF5E3811e1192ce70d8cC03d5c3359. - Use the "Click to see more" section on transactions: gas price and nonce are the two fields you need when a transaction is stuck. Our mempool explorer page explains how to replace one.
- Bookmark the verified contract of any dApp you use often and interact through "Write Contract" if the front end goes down.
- Check before you pay. Paste the recipient address into the search box first. A fresh, empty address is fine for a new wallet, but a label like "Fake_Phishing" is a hard stop.
- Share responsibly. A PolygonScan link is the standard proof of payment. If the other side prefers a clean receipt or PDF, our payment verification guide shows how to produce one.
If you need POL for gas or stablecoins to test with, get them from a regulated exchange that holds licences in several jurisdictions and can withdraw directly to Polygon PoS — confirm the withdrawal network is Polygon, not Ethereum, before you send.
Our verdict on PolygonScan
PolygonScan is still the best everyday Polygon block explorer in 2026. Its data is the deepest, its labels the richest and its contract tools the ones developers expect. The interface is busier than we would like and the API now always needs a key, but neither is a reason to look elsewhere for most people. Pair it with Blockscout for a second opinion and an open API, and read our alternatives roundup if you need specialised tools for debugging, tracing or analytics.