A comparison of the computational efficiency between Continuous Galerkin (CG) methods, with Taylor–Hood approximations, and Hybridizable Discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) methods is presented for the solution of the incompressible Stokes and Navier–Stokes equations. Both methods are implemented under the same platform and study is made in terms of CPU time and accuracy for steady state problems using triangular and quadrilateral elements. Several plots like error vs. CPU time of the linear solver, error vs. ratio of CPU times of HDG to CG, etc. are presented. The results suggest that HDG is computationally more efficient than CG for high degree of approximation, for a given level of accuracy, as HDG produces lesser error than CG for a given mesh and degree.