Go VS Zig benchmarks

Current benchmark data was generated on Mon Apr 14 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
go 1.go 1227ms 3.5ms 55.0MB 1207ms 7ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 1894ms 41ms 49.0MB 1867ms 17ms zig 0.14.0
go 1-m.go 2353ms 1.9ms 39.8MB 5253ms 37ms go 1.24.2

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 113ms 1.4ms 5.6MB 100ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 152ms 2.5ms 7.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1-m.go 209ms 2.4ms 8.1MB 370ms 10ms go 1.24.2

coro-prime-sieve

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1-m.go 621ms 136ms 15.5MB 2377ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 719ms 7.5ms 268.8MB 663ms 40ms tinygo 0.37.0

Input: 1000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1-m.go 43ms 2.2ms 7.4MB 143ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 68ms 2.1ms 68.5MB 47ms 10ms tinygo 0.37.0

edigits

Input: 250001

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 117ms 0.9ms 10.4MB 110ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 1.zig 2266ms 7.9ms 2.5MB 2240ms 17ms zig 0.14.0

Input: 100000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 33ms 0.2ms 8.2MB 27ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 1.zig 382ms 1.2ms 1.9MB 367ms 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 631ms 8.0ms 1.4MB 2400ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3-m.go 727ms 1.8ms 5.5MB 2810ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 3-i.zig 1768ms 2.0ms 1.0MB 1760ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3.go 2004ms 3.4ms 48.9MB 1983ms 3ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 2714ms 7.8ms 1.1MB 2707ms 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 1.2ms 1.4MB 200ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3-m.go 76ms 1.0ms 5.6MB 207ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 3-i.zig 148ms 1.0ms 1.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3.go 191ms 1.3ms 48.1MB 163ms 13ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 229ms 0.7ms 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 87ms 0.7ms 1.0MB 80ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3-m.go 117ms 0.3ms 7.5MB 380ms 0ms go 1.24.2

Input: 250000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 11ms 0.8ms 1.0MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3-m.go 17ms 1.3ms 7.5MB 30ms 0ms go 1.24.2

helloworld

Input: QwQ

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 0.9ms 0.0ms 0.4MB 0ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 1.0ms 0.0ms 1.0MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 1.5ms 0.1ms 3.4MB 0ms 0ms go 1.24.2

http-server

Input: 3000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1-http2.go 123ms 2.4ms 60.3MB 333ms 77ms go 1.24.2
go 2-m.go 416ms 8.9ms 174.9MB 703ms 690ms go 1.24.2
go 1-m.go 422ms 20ms 172.9MB 730ms 673ms go 1.24.2

Input: 500

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1-http2.go 21ms 12ms 27.6MB 50ms 15ms go 1.24.2
go 2-m.go 80ms 14ms 37.9MB 97ms 120ms go 1.24.2
go 1-m.go 81ms 19ms 36.6MB 113ms 117ms go 1.24.2

json-serde

Input: sample 5000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 2-ffi.go 46ms 2.2ms 41.1MB 40ms 3ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 142ms 0.7ms 18.7MB 137ms 0ms go 1.24.2

Input: canada 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 2-ffi.go 251ms 15ms 131.1MB 230ms 53ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 751ms 2.0ms 104.9MB 737ms 17ms go 1.24.2

knucleotide

Input: 2500000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1-m.zig 338ms 12ms 65.3MB 910ms 23ms zig 0.14.0
zig 1.zig 506ms 2.3ms 26.2MB 487ms 7ms zig 0.14.0
go 7-m.go 679ms 5.3ms 41.5MB 2393ms 23ms go 1.24.2

Input: 250000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1-m.zig 66ms 2.0ms 54.3MB 140ms 27ms zig 0.14.0
zig 1.zig 67ms 2.4ms 15.3MB 53ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 7-m.go 130ms 3.5ms 22.2MB 343ms 17ms go 1.24.2

lru

Input: 1000 1000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 34ms 1.8ms 2.8MB 23ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3.go 119ms 2.9ms 3.5MB 113ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 3.go 131ms 2.5ms 0.5MB 123ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0

Input: 1000 3000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 93ms 2.6ms 2.8MB 87ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3.go 388ms 3.0ms 0.5MB 380ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 3.go 391ms 1.6ms 3.5MB 380ms 0ms go 1.24.2

Input: 100 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 15ms 0.2ms 1.3MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 3.go 52ms 0.6ms 3.5MB 40ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 3.go 65ms 1.0ms 0.4MB 60ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0

mandelbrot

Input: 5000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 247ms 0.1ms 4.0MB 240ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 2665ms 11ms 7.7MB 2660ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 4081ms 15ms 3.4MB 4070ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0

Input: 1000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 12ms 0.2ms 1.1MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 114ms 1.2ms 3.7MB 110ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 173ms 2.8ms 0.5MB 167ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0

merkletrees

Input: 17

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 815ms 44ms 63.2MB 797ms 7ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 905ms 67ms 41.0MB 880ms 10ms zig 0.14.0
go 2.go 1122ms 7.5ms 54.9MB 1103ms 7ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1-m.go 1448ms 9.5ms 38.9MB 3070ms 33ms go 1.24.2
go 2-m.go 1677ms 13ms 43.0MB 3693ms 33ms go 1.24.2

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 176ms 3.7ms 9.8MB 163ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 178ms 2.5ms 11.0MB 170ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 2.go 207ms 2.5ms 17.1MB 190ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1-m.go 331ms 5.3ms 14.0MB 663ms 20ms go 1.24.2
go 2-m.go 373ms 0.8ms 13.9MB 783ms 23ms go 1.24.2

nbody

Input: 5000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 198ms 0.4ms 1.0MB 190ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 2.zig 280ms 0.3ms 1.0MB 270ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 1.zig 315ms 0.5ms 1.1MB 307ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 348ms 0.6ms 3.5MB 340ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 351ms 5.8ms 0.4MB 343ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0

Input: 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 22ms 0.2ms 1.0MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 2.zig 30ms 0.1ms 1.0MB 20ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
zig 1.zig 34ms 0.4ms 1.1MB 30ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 37ms 0.7ms 0.4MB 30ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1.go 39ms 0.7ms 3.5MB 30ms 0ms go 1.24.2

nsieve

Input: 12

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 263ms 1.3ms 40.1MB 250ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 287ms 7.7ms 39.7MB 273ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1.go 310ms 4.7ms 71.6MB 293ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 2.zig 328ms 2.0ms 6.0MB 320ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 2.go 425ms 4.9ms 21.4MB 413ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 2.go 801ms 7.5ms 21.5MB 783ms 10ms go 1.24.2

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 50ms 1.1ms 10.8MB 40ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 54ms 2.7ms 10.4MB 47ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1.go 65ms 3.1ms 21.6MB 57ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 2.zig 80ms 0.0ms 2.3MB 70ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 2.go 106ms 1.1ms 4.9MB 97ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 2.go 195ms 2.9ms 6.1MB 183ms 0ms go 1.24.2

pidigits

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 8.go 1132ms 4.8ms 8.7MB 1117ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 1.zig 2458ms 14ms 2.2MB 2430ms 13ms zig 0.14.0

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 8.go 269ms 4.3ms 8.5MB 257ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 1.zig 568ms 5.0ms 1.8MB 557ms 0ms zig 0.14.0

regex-redux

Input: 2500000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 3.go timeout 0.0ms 122.4MB 4990ms 40ms go 1.24.2
go 3.go timeout 0.0ms 132.0MB 4977ms 10ms tinygo 0.37.0

Input: 250000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 3.go 1787ms 20ms 20.4MB 1770ms 20ms go 1.24.2
go 3.go 2260ms 16ms 27.5MB 2243ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0

secp256k1

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 0-ffi.go 93ms 0.9ms 7.2MB 90ms 0ms go 1.24.2

Input: 500

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 0-ffi.go 27ms 0.2ms 5.2MB 20ms 0ms go 1.24.2

spectral-norm

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 4-m.go 1911ms 19ms 5.4MB 7407ms 10ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 3650ms 0.9ms 5.6MB 3640ms 3ms go 1.24.2
zig 1.zig 3690ms 5.3ms 1.4MB 3680ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go timeout 0.0ms 0.5MB 4990ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 4-m.go 481ms 0.8ms 5.5MB 1843ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 921ms 11ms 3.5MB 913ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 1.zig 923ms 2.2ms 1.3MB 913ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 1397ms 1.5ms 0.5MB 1390ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 4-m.go 126ms 0.6ms 5.5MB 450ms 0ms go 1.24.2
zig 1.zig 234ms 1.1ms 1.3MB 230ms 0ms zig 0.14.0
go 1.go 235ms 5.5ms 3.5MB 223ms 0ms go 1.24.2
go 1.go 352ms 1.2ms 0.4MB 340ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0