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Zsh-bench Alternatives
Similar projects and alternatives to zsh-bench
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ohmyzsh
🙃 A delightful community-driven (with 2,500+ contributors) framework for managing your zsh configuration. Includes 300+ optional plugins (rails, git, macOS, hub, docker, homebrew, node, php, python, etc), 140+ themes to spice up your morning, and an auto-update tool that makes it easy to keep up with the latest updates from the community.
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zsh-z
Jump quickly to directories that you have visited "frecently." A native Zsh port of z.sh with added features.
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dotfriedrice
Set up a developer friendly niri / Arch Linux system in minutes. Also supports WSL 2, Debian, Ubuntu and macOS for CLI tools!
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NOTE:
The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives.
Hence, a higher number means a better zsh-bench alternative or higher similarity.
zsh-bench discussion
zsh-bench reviews and mentions
Posts with mentions or reviews of zsh-bench.
We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives
and similar projects. The last one was on 2026-01-09.
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You probably don't need Oh My Zsh
Until reading this thread I never knew so many in the industry were against performant software and workflows, but I suppose that explains the state of things.
Oh My Zsh is more sluggish than benching zsh -ic 'exit 0' would suggest. This benchmark will show command lag among other things, which is very noticeable on a slower computer. https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench
I use https://github.com/romkatv/zsh4humans. I installed it once, took an hour or two to tweak it to my liking, and haven't touched it since. It's in maintenance mode so I'm not worried about my zshrc breaking randomly. I have transient git prompt, autosuggestions, autocomplete, syntax highlighting, vim mode, a whole bunch of added functions and line editor additions, and my terminal opens in one frame. It feels more like an extension of my mind than a tool I'm interacting with. OMZ by comparison, feels like typing over a slow ssh connection.
- Zoxide: A Better CD Command
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Oh My Zsh
Someone's made a benchmarking system for zsh: https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench#premade-configs
Of course, their config is the best according to the benchmark (and ohmyzsh is the slowest option), but DIY configs are also covered, particularly possible performance optimizations.
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Faster Shell Startup with Shell Switching
Unfortunately, running exit is not a great strategy for running benchmarks. For zsh specifically, plugin managers are optimized for fast exit.
romkatv did a great write-up and benchmark within the context of zsh[0]. It's a great read.
[0] https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench#how-not-to-benchmark
- Dynamic Aliases and Functions in Zsh
- Benchmark for interactive zsh – plugins, frameworks and plugin managers
- zsh-smartcache: another evalcache but can update the cache
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Announcing Spaceship v4.0 — a customizable Zsh prompt with asynchronous rendering
Given the addition of async rendering in the latest release of spaceship, I wasn't sure whether I should include performance in the list of features found in powerlevel10kbut but not in spaceship. I used zsh-bench to benchmark powerlevel10k on my laptop running on battery (I'm writing this on a train) with a config that makes powerlevel10k looks similar to spaceship. I simply ran p10k configure and chose what looked most similar: Lean Style, UNICODE, 256 colors, two lines, etc. Here are the benchmark results:
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7x slowdown when modify $fpath and add completion script
Obligatory link since you are engaging in profiling interactive zsh: https://github.com/romkatv/zsh-bench.
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What is the best plugin manager in your opinion?
1.) It's fast. Like, really fast. 1.) It supports deferred loading via zsh-defer 1.) It supports local plugins as well as ones hosted via a git provider (aka: GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, etc) 1.) The codebase is simple and easy to understand and contribute to 1.) It supports git branches (with tag/shas on the roadmap) 1.) It supports partial plugin loading such as loading Oh-My-Zsh plugins and Prezto modules without loading the whole framework. 1.) There's an easy migration path from legacy plugin managers like Antigen/Antibody. 1.) Plugins are managed via a simple plugins file that makes it easy to share your config with others. 1.) And lots more
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A note from our sponsor - SaaSHub
www.saashub.com | 7 Jun 2026
Stats
Basic zsh-bench repo stats
28
972
5.0
about 1 month ago
romkatv/zsh-bench is an open source project licensed under MIT License which is an OSI approved license.
The primary programming language of zsh-bench is Shell.
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