Layer-2 is a chain that derives from layer-1. There is no layer-2 without layer-1. This can be expressed by saying that it is locking coins in a multisignature smart contract, which means that the tokens formed in layer-2 are 1:1 to the tokens of layer-1, but these tokens have higher scalability and more efficient management of smart contracts.
When comparing you are comparing Layer 2 to side networks not Layer 1.