Polymer electrolytes were synthesized by two different approaches and applied to electrochromic devices based on electrodeposited tungsten oxide (WO3) or poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) films as the cathode, and a Prussian blue (PB) film as the anode. The first method involved the entrapping of an ionic liquid in a polymer host (poly(methylmethacrylate) or PMMA) and the second approach relied on the in situ thermal polymerization of methylmethacrylate (MMA) in the hydrophobic ionic liquid, yielding a solidified transparent gel. The effect of in situ solid polymer electrolyte formation on device performance characteristics was realized in terms of a larger coloration efficiency of 119 cm2 C-1 (λ = 550 nm) achieved for the WO3-PB (MMA) device, as compared to a value of 54 cm2 C-1 obtained for the WO3-PB (PMMA) device. Similar enhancements in electrochromic coloring efficiency, reflectance contrast, and faster switching kinetics were obtained for the PEDOT-PB (MMA) device. The strategy of introducing an electrolyte to the electrochromic device in a liquid state and then subjecting the same to gradual polymerization allows greater accessibility of the electrolyte ions to the active sites on the electrochromic electrodes and superior interfacial contact. As a consequence, larger optical contrast and faster kinetics are achieved in the MMA based devices. While PEDOT films were amorphous, PB films were semi-crystalline but only in the case of WO3; the hexagonal structure of WO3, equipped with three/four/six-coordinated voids was found to affect bleaching kinetics favorably. The performance of PMMA based electrolyte is limited by high resistance at the electrode-electrolyte interface, and a smaller number of ions available for oxidation and reduction. Large area (∼10 cm × 4 cm) devices were also fabricated using this simple wet chemistry method and their ability to color uniformly without any pinholes was demonstrated. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.