Zig VS Go 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
go 1.go 1752ms 19ms 51.9MB 1730ms 10ms tinygo 0.38.0
zig 1.zig 1880ms 29ms 49.0MB 1853ms 13ms zig 0.14.1
go 1-m.go 2372ms 7.5ms 42.0MB 5283ms 43ms go 1.24.4

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 152ms 0.9ms 7.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 154ms 0.3ms 5.0MB 140ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 1-m.go 209ms 2.0ms 7.9MB 373ms 7ms go 1.24.4

edigits

Input: 250001

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 118ms 1.1ms 8.5MB 107ms 0ms go 1.24.4
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
go 1.go 34ms 0.1ms 8.2MB 30ms 0ms go 1.24.4
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
go 3-m.go 673ms 1.0ms 5.6MB 2600ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 3-m.go 726ms 2.7ms 2.9MB 2673ms 37ms tinygo 0.38.0
zig 3-i.zig 1766ms 1.5ms 1.0MB 1760ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
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
go 3-m.go 74ms 0.2ms 5.5MB 197ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 3-m.go 102ms 2.8ms 2.9MB 187ms 33ms tinygo 0.38.0
zig 3-i.zig 147ms 0.1ms 1.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
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
go 3-m.go 125ms 0.3ms 7.5MB 380ms 0ms go 1.24.4

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
go 3-m.go 17ms 0.6ms 7.6MB 30ms 0ms go 1.24.4

helloworld

Input: QwQ

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 0.7ms 0.0ms 0.3MB 0ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
zig 1.zig 0.9ms 0.0ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 1.4ms 0.1ms 3.4MB 0ms 0ms go 1.24.4

knucleotide

Input: 2500000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1-m.zig 348ms 15ms 67.1MB 953ms 30ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 509ms 2.9ms 27.4MB 487ms 10ms zig 0.14.1
go 7-m.go 676ms 7.8ms 38.9MB 2393ms 23ms go 1.24.4

Input: 250000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 67ms 1.9ms 15.4MB 50ms 7ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1-m.zig 70ms 2.7ms 54.3MB 147ms 33ms zig 0.14.1
go 7-m.go 130ms 2.8ms 23.9MB 343ms 23ms go 1.24.4

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
go 3.go 121ms 1.2ms 3.5MB 113ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 3.go 132ms 2.6ms 0.4MB 127ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0

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
go 3.go 383ms 2.1ms 0.4MB 373ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 3.go 394ms 12ms 3.5MB 387ms 0ms go 1.24.4

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
go 3.go 51ms 1.2ms 3.5MB 40ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 3.go 67ms 2.9ms 0.3MB 60ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0

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
go 1.go 3227ms 6.6ms 7.7MB 3220ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 1.go 3605ms 41ms 3.3MB 3593ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0

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
go 1.go 137ms 3.0ms 3.6MB 130ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 1.go 152ms 4.4ms 0.4MB 143ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0

merkletrees

Input: 17

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 913ms 47ms 41.0MB 887ms 10ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 1049ms 0.9ms 35.4MB 1030ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 2.go 1343ms 6.2ms 51.9MB 1317ms 10ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 1-m.go 1463ms 6.3ms 38.9MB 3117ms 33ms go 1.24.4
go 2-m.go 1677ms 22ms 40.9MB 3687ms 33ms go 1.24.4

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 178ms 4.2ms 11.0MB 163ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 211ms 4.8ms 11.6MB 197ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 2.go 258ms 3.7ms 15.4MB 247ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 1-m.go 340ms 9.7ms 12.1MB 670ms 23ms go 1.24.4
go 2-m.go 372ms 0.6ms 14.0MB 787ms 20ms go 1.24.4

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
go 1.go 346ms 1.4ms 0.3MB 337ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 1.go 349ms 1.6ms 3.5MB 340ms 0ms go 1.24.4

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
go 1.go 36ms 0.4ms 0.3MB 30ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 1.go 37ms 0.1ms 3.5MB 30ms 0ms go 1.24.4

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
go 1.go 300ms 4.8ms 71.7MB 287ms 0ms go 1.24.4
zig 2.zig 325ms 2.3ms 6.0MB 317ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 349ms 21ms 39.5MB 337ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 2.go 469ms 3.1ms 20.0MB 457ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 2.go 747ms 5.8ms 21.7MB 733ms 10ms go 1.24.4

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
go 1.go 57ms 3.3ms 21.5MB 50ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 1.go 64ms 4.2ms 10.1MB 53ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
zig 2.zig 80ms 0.7ms 2.3MB 70ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 2.go 117ms 4.5ms 4.1MB 110ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0
go 2.go 187ms 2.3ms 6.3MB 177ms 0ms go 1.24.4

pidigits

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 8.go 1174ms 6.0ms 10.6MB 1160ms 3ms go 1.24.4
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
go 8.go 278ms 2.4ms 8.6MB 267ms 0ms go 1.24.4
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
go 4-m.go 1917ms 15ms 5.5MB 7387ms 13ms go 1.24.4
go 1.go 3646ms 8.0ms 5.6MB 3637ms 0ms go 1.24.4
zig 1.zig 3686ms 3.1ms 1.4MB 3677ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go timeout 0.0ms 0.5MB 4990ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 4-m.go 481ms 1.8ms 5.6MB 1843ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 1.go 915ms 1.3ms 3.5MB 907ms 0ms go 1.24.4
zig 1.zig 924ms 1.9ms 1.3MB 917ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 1397ms 1.7ms 0.4MB 1387ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0

Input: 2000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 4-m.go 126ms 0.7ms 5.6MB 450ms 0ms go 1.24.4
go 1.go 231ms 1.9ms 3.5MB 220ms 0ms go 1.24.4
zig 1.zig 233ms 1.2ms 1.3MB 223ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 351ms 0.1ms 0.4MB 340ms 0ms tinygo 0.38.0