Programming Language and compiler
Benchmarks

Crystal VS Zig benchmarks

Current benchmark data was generated on Mon Jun 23 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 1282ms 30ms 64.2MB 1257ms 10ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 1880ms 29ms 49.0MB 1853ms 13ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 109ms 0.7ms 11.0MB 97ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 152ms 0.9ms 7.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

coro-prime-sieve

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 1505ms 22ms 19.9MB 1440ms 53ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 1000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 85ms 1.6ms 7.1MB 63ms 10ms crystal 1.16.3

edigits

Input: 250001

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 58ms 1.4ms 6.4MB 43ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 2272ms 16ms 2.5MB 2240ms 17ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 100000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 23ms 1.5ms 5.3MB 10ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 381ms 1.4ms 1.9MB 367ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

fannkuch-redux

Input: 11

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 2-m.zig 637ms 2.3ms 1.4MB 2397ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 3-i.zig 1766ms 1.5ms 1.0MB 1760ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 1.cr 2481ms 9.0ms 2.9MB 2470ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 2723ms 11ms 1.0MB 2713ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 2-m.zig 61ms 0.4ms 1.4MB 200ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 3-i.zig 147ms 0.1ms 1.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 1.cr 213ms 7.6ms 2.9MB 200ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 229ms 0.5ms 1.0MB 220ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

fasta

Input: 2500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 88ms 1.0ms 1.0MB 80ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 2.cr 535ms 2.1ms 3.5MB 447ms 80ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 681ms 1.3ms 14.6MB 573ms 93ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 250000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 10ms 0.0ms 1.0MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 2.cr 57ms 0.7ms 3.6MB 40ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 73ms 0.9ms 4.9MB 57ms 3ms crystal 1.16.3

helloworld

Input: QwQ

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 0.9ms 0.0ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 1.cr 1.9ms 0.2ms 2.9MB 0ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

http-server

Input: 3000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 2297ms 153ms 300.0MB 313ms 450ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 500

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 1282ms 15ms 53.0MB 33ms 70ms crystal 1.16.3

lru

Input: 1000 1000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 35ms 2.2ms 2.8MB 27ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 0-unsafe.cr 36ms 0.9ms 3.0MB 30ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 65ms 1.9ms 3.0MB 60ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 1000 3000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 92ms 1.2ms 2.8MB 80ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 0-unsafe.cr 101ms 2.3ms 3.0MB 93ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 186ms 0.8ms 3.0MB 180ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 100 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 16ms 1.4ms 1.3MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 0-unsafe.cr 19ms 1.1ms 3.0MB 10ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 30ms 0.6ms 3.0MB 20ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

mandelbrot

Input: 5000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 248ms 0.9ms 4.1MB 240ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 1.cr 316ms 2.7ms 9.3MB 303ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 1000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 13ms 0.1ms 1.1MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 1.cr 17ms 0.6ms 6.1MB 10ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

merkletrees

Input: 17

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 880ms 16ms 64.2MB 857ms 10ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 913ms 47ms 41.0MB 887ms 10ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 173ms 3.0ms 22.2MB 157ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 178ms 4.2ms 11.0MB 163ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

nbody

Input: 5000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 198ms 0.3ms 1.0MB 190ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 281ms 1.9ms 1.0MB 270ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 317ms 0.8ms 1.1MB 310ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 2.cr 342ms 1.3ms 3.3MB 330ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 344ms 2.9ms 3.3MB 333ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 22ms 0.6ms 1.3MB 13ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 30ms 0.1ms 1.0MB 20ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 33ms 0.1ms 1.1MB 27ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 2.cr 38ms 0.4ms 3.3MB 30ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 38ms 1.4ms 3.3MB 30ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

nsieve

Input: 12

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 291ms 9.9ms 40.2MB 273ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 325ms 2.3ms 6.0MB 317ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 2.cr 350ms 2.1ms 8.3MB 340ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 432ms 2.5ms 42.9MB 420ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 51ms 0.2ms 10.9MB 40ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 80ms 0.7ms 2.3MB 70ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 2.cr 89ms 2.4ms 4.5MB 80ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
crystal 1.cr 92ms 3.7ms 13.2MB 83ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

pidigits

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 1928ms 26ms 6.3MB 1897ms 17ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 2452ms 13ms 2.2MB 2420ms 13ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
crystal 1.cr 447ms 9.3ms 4.9MB 433ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3
zig 1.zig 565ms 2.4ms 1.8MB 553ms 0ms zig 0.14.1

spectral-norm

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 3686ms 3.1ms 1.4MB 3677ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 1.cr 3760ms 10ms 4.5MB 3747ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 924ms 1.9ms 1.3MB 917ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 1.cr 949ms 7.6ms 4.4MB 940ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 233ms 1.2ms 1.3MB 223ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
crystal 1.cr 241ms 5.4ms 3.8MB 233ms 0ms crystal 1.16.3