Programming Language and compiler
Benchmarks

Zig VS Crystal benchmarks

Current benchmark data was generated on Mon Mar 31 2025, full log can be found HERE

CONTRIBUTIONS are WELCOME!

[x86_64][4 cores] AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor (Model 1)

* -m in a file name stands for multi-threading or multi-processing

* -i in a file name stands for direct intrinsics usage. (Usage of simd intrinsics via libraries is not counted)

* -ffi in a file name stands for non-stdlib FFI usage

* (You may find time < time(user) + time(sys) for some non-parallelized programs, the overhead is from GC or JIT compiler, which are allowed to take advantage of multi-cores as that's more close to real-world scenarios.)

binarytrees

Input: 18

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 1256ms 12ms 64.0MB 1233ms 7ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 1822ms 94ms 49.0MB 1787ms 20ms zig 0.14.0

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 104ms 1.3ms 10.9MB 90ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 154ms 1.6ms 7.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.0

edigits

Input: 250001

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 60ms 2.0ms 6.4MB 50ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 2250ms 2.7ms 2.5MB 2220ms 13ms zig 0.14.0

Input: 100000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 23ms 1.0ms 5.1MB 10ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 380ms 1.3ms 1.9MB 360ms 0ms zig 0.14.0

fannkuch-redux

Input: 11

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 2-m.zig 634ms 1.8ms 1.4MB 2393ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 3-i.zig 1767ms 0.8ms 1.0MB 1760ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 2498ms 12ms 2.8MB 2487ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 2716ms 0.8ms 1.0MB 2710ms 0ms zig 0.14.0

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 2-m.zig 60ms 0.8ms 1.4MB 200ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 3-i.zig 147ms 0.6ms 1.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 206ms 0.7ms 2.9MB 200ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 229ms 0.5ms 1.0MB 220ms 0ms zig 0.14.0

fasta

Input: 2500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 89ms 0.3ms 1.0MB 80ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 2.cr 554ms 2.5ms 3.4MB 460ms 80ms crystal 1.15.1
crystal 1.cr 695ms 3.3ms 14.4MB 573ms 110ms crystal 1.15.1

Input: 250000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 11ms 0.8ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 2.cr 59ms 0.8ms 3.5MB 40ms 7ms crystal 1.15.1
crystal 1.cr 74ms 0.8ms 4.8MB 53ms 10ms crystal 1.15.1

helloworld

Input: QwQ

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 1.0ms 0.0ms 1.0MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 1.9ms 0.1ms 2.9MB 0ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

knucleotide

Input: 2500000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 499ms 8.5ms 26.3MB 477ms 7ms zig 0.14.0

Input: 250000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 66ms 2.2ms 15.4MB 53ms 3ms zig 0.14.0

lru

Input: 1000 1000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 34ms 0.8ms 2.8MB 27ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 0-unsafe.cr 36ms 0.5ms 2.9MB 30ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
crystal 1.cr 65ms 1.2ms 2.9MB 57ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

Input: 1000 3000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 92ms 0.9ms 2.8MB 83ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 0-unsafe.cr 102ms 0.4ms 2.9MB 90ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
crystal 1.cr 184ms 1.1ms 2.9MB 170ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

Input: 100 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 16ms 0.7ms 1.3MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 0-unsafe.cr 18ms 0.7ms 3.0MB 10ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
crystal 1.cr 31ms 1.7ms 2.9MB 20ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

mandelbrot

Input: 5000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 247ms 2.2ms 4.0MB 237ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 313ms 1.6ms 9.2MB 300ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

Input: 1000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 12ms 0.4ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 18ms 0.3ms 6.1MB 10ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

merkletrees

Input: 17

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 824ms 8.5ms 64.0MB 800ms 10ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 855ms 3.1ms 41.0MB 827ms 13ms zig 0.14.0

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 146ms 2.3ms 22.1MB 130ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 173ms 2.3ms 11.0MB 160ms 0ms zig 0.14.0

nbody

Input: 5000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 199ms 0.7ms 1.0MB 190ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 2.zig 279ms 0.3ms 1.0MB 270ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 1.zig 316ms 1.3ms 1.1MB 303ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 344ms 1.7ms 3.1MB 333ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
crystal 2.cr 345ms 2.2ms 3.1MB 337ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

Input: 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 22ms 0.3ms 1.0MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 2.zig 30ms 0.2ms 1.0MB 20ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 1.zig 34ms 0.4ms 1.1MB 30ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 2.cr 38ms 0.8ms 3.1MB 30ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
crystal 1.cr 39ms 1.3ms 3.1MB 30ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

nsieve

Input: 12

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 263ms 1.5ms 40.1MB 250ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 2.cr 298ms 0.7ms 8.1MB 290ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 2.zig 322ms 3.8ms 6.0MB 313ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 416ms 4.8ms 42.3MB 403ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 52ms 1.4ms 10.8MB 40ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 2.cr 77ms 1.4ms 4.4MB 70ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 2.zig 81ms 1.3ms 2.3MB 70ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 89ms 2.5ms 13.0MB 80ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

pidigits

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 1937ms 28ms 6.1MB 1903ms 17ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 2465ms 18ms 2.2MB 2437ms 13ms zig 0.14.0

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 461ms 9.8ms 5.0MB 447ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1
zig 1.zig 569ms 2.6ms 1.6MB 560ms 0ms zig 0.14.0

spectral-norm

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 3705ms 29ms 1.4MB 3693ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 3779ms 15ms 4.4MB 3773ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 922ms 1.2ms 1.3MB 910ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 952ms 5.3ms 4.3MB 943ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 234ms 0.8ms 1.3MB 223ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
crystal 1.cr 246ms 0.8ms 3.8MB 237ms 0ms crystal 1.15.1