Zig VS Go benchmarks

Current benchmark data was generated on Sun Jun 01 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 1201ms 11ms 55.0MB 1180ms 10ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 1718ms 14ms 49.0MB 1683ms 20ms zig 0.14.1
go 1-m.go 2364ms 13ms 41.9MB 5290ms 33ms go 1.24.3

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 113ms 2.0ms 5.6MB 100ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 150ms 2.1ms 7.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1-m.go 209ms 2.8ms 8.1MB 367ms 10ms go 1.24.3

edigits

Input: 250001

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 117ms 0.4ms 8.8MB 110ms 0ms go 1.24.3
zig 1.zig 2257ms 7.3ms 2.5MB 2230ms 10ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 100000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 34ms 1.3ms 8.4MB 27ms 0ms go 1.24.3
zig 1.zig 384ms 5.4ms 1.9MB 370ms 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 638ms 2.2ms 1.4MB 2400ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3-m.go 683ms 22ms 5.5MB 2597ms 0ms go 1.24.3
zig 3-i.zig 1764ms 0.6ms 1.0MB 1753ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3.go 2009ms 15ms 49.0MB 1987ms 10ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 2716ms 5.8ms 1.0MB 2707ms 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 60ms 0.3ms 1.4MB 200ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3-m.go 73ms 0.3ms 5.5MB 200ms 0ms go 1.24.3
zig 3-i.zig 147ms 0.4ms 1.0MB 140ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3.go 189ms 1.2ms 49.4MB 170ms 7ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 229ms 0.8ms 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 87ms 1.4ms 1.0MB 80ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3-m.go 124ms 0.9ms 5.6MB 373ms 0ms go 1.24.3

Input: 250000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 10ms 0.1ms 1.0MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3-m.go 17ms 0.4ms 5.6MB 30ms 0ms go 1.24.3

helloworld

Input: QwQ

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 0.8ms 0.1ms 0.4MB 0ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 1.1ms 0.4ms 1.1MB 0ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 1.4ms 0.0ms 3.4MB 0ms 0ms go 1.24.3

knucleotide

Input: 2500000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1-m.zig 314ms 1.1ms 66.5MB 827ms 30ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 500ms 5.4ms 28.0MB 483ms 7ms zig 0.14.1
go 7-m.go 679ms 12ms 39.2MB 2393ms 20ms go 1.24.3

Input: 250000_in

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1-m.zig 63ms 0.5ms 54.3MB 123ms 33ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 66ms 1.0ms 15.5MB 50ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 7-m.go 131ms 1.0ms 32.2MB 350ms 20ms go 1.24.3

lru

Input: 1000 1000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 35ms 0.8ms 2.8MB 30ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3.go 120ms 4.7ms 3.5MB 113ms 0ms go 1.24.3
go 3.go 132ms 2.8ms 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 95ms 3.4ms 2.8MB 87ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3.go 384ms 3.9ms 0.5MB 373ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 3.go 392ms 5.4ms 3.5MB 383ms 0ms go 1.24.3

Input: 100 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 15ms 0.4ms 1.3MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 3.go 51ms 2.7ms 3.5MB 40ms 0ms go 1.24.3
go 3.go 64ms 1.5ms 0.4MB 57ms 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 0.8ms 4.1MB 240ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 3230ms 12ms 7.7MB 3223ms 0ms go 1.24.3
go 1.go 4079ms 17ms 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 0.14.1
go 1.go 139ms 3.4ms 3.6MB 130ms 0ms go 1.24.3
go 1.go 172ms 3.3ms 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
zig 1.zig 856ms 8.4ms 41.0MB 830ms 10ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 877ms 10ms 63.2MB 857ms 10ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 2.go 1100ms 11ms 55.0MB 1080ms 10ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1-m.go 1481ms 35ms 41.1MB 3197ms 37ms go 1.24.3
go 2-m.go 1665ms 17ms 43.1MB 3667ms 40ms go 1.24.3

Input: 15

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 1.go 173ms 0.8ms 9.8MB 160ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
zig 1.zig 178ms 3.3ms 11.0MB 167ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 2.go 205ms 6.1ms 17.1MB 190ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1-m.go 333ms 1.3ms 12.2MB 673ms 23ms go 1.24.3
go 2-m.go 373ms 2.6ms 13.9MB 797ms 23ms go 1.24.3

nbody

Input: 5000000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 198ms 1.0ms 1.0MB 190ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 279ms 0.5ms 1.0MB 270ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 315ms 0.7ms 1.1MB 310ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 347ms 4.4ms 0.4MB 340ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1.go 351ms 3.3ms 3.5MB 343ms 0ms go 1.24.3

Input: 500000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 3.zig 21ms 0.2ms 1.0MB 10ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 2.zig 30ms 0.1ms 1.0MB 20ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
zig 1.zig 34ms 0.6ms 1.1MB 30ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 38ms 1.2ms 0.4MB 30ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1.go 38ms 0.5ms 3.5MB 30ms 0ms go 1.24.3

nsieve

Input: 12

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 255ms 8.2ms 40.2MB 240ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 277ms 8.7ms 39.8MB 267ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1.go 291ms 2.9ms 71.6MB 277ms 3ms go 1.24.3
zig 2.zig 328ms 2.8ms 6.0MB 320ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 2.go 424ms 4.8ms 21.3MB 413ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 2.go 739ms 2.5ms 21.6MB 723ms 10ms go 1.24.3

Input: 10

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
zig 1.zig 55ms 1.4ms 10.9MB 43ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 57ms 1.1ms 10.3MB 50ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 1.go 58ms 2.3ms 21.6MB 50ms 0ms go 1.24.3
zig 2.zig 81ms 1.1ms 2.3MB 70ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 2.go 107ms 2.9ms 4.9MB 97ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0
go 2.go 180ms 1.4ms 5.9MB 170ms 0ms go 1.24.3

pidigits

Input: 8000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 8.go 1178ms 8.3ms 8.6MB 1163ms 7ms go 1.24.3
zig 1.zig 2458ms 11ms 2.3MB 2430ms 17ms zig 0.14.1

Input: 4000

lang code time stddev peak-mem mem time(user) time(sys) compiler compiler/runtime
go 8.go 276ms 1.1ms 8.6MB 267ms 0ms go 1.24.3
zig 1.zig 565ms 4.7ms 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 1909ms 15ms 5.6MB 7397ms 7ms go 1.24.3
zig 1.zig 3684ms 1.8ms 1.4MB 3670ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 3690ms 9.5ms 5.6MB 3687ms 0ms go 1.24.3
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 1.5ms 5.5MB 1840ms 0ms go 1.24.3
zig 1.zig 927ms 2.1ms 1.3MB 920ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 929ms 22ms 3.5MB 923ms 0ms go 1.24.3
go 1.go 1397ms 0.5ms 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 125ms 0.3ms 5.5MB 453ms 0ms go 1.24.3
go 1.go 231ms 0.6ms 3.5MB 220ms 0ms go 1.24.3
zig 1.zig 232ms 0.3ms 1.3MB 220ms 0ms zig 0.14.1
go 1.go 351ms 0.3ms 0.4MB 340ms 0ms tinygo 0.37.0