Benchmarks of Go serialization methods

This is a test suite for benchmarking various Go serialization methods.

Tested serialization methods

• encoding/gob
• encoding/json
• github.com/json-iterator/go
• github.com/alecthomas/binary
• github.com/davecgh/go-xdr/xdr
• github.com/Sereal/Sereal/Go/sereal
• github.com/ugorji/go/codec
• github.com/vmihailenco/msgpack/v4
• labix.org/v2/mgo/bson
• github.com/tinylib/msgp (code generator for msgpack)
• github.com/golang/protobuf (generated code)
• github.com/gogo/protobuf (generated code, optimized version of goprotobuf)
• go.dedis.ch/protobuf (reflection based)
• github.com/google/flatbuffers
• github.com/hprose/hprose-go/io
• github.com/glycerine/go-capnproto
• zombiezen.com/go/capnproto2
• github.com/andyleap/gencode
• github.com/pascaldekloe/colfer
• github.com/linkedin/goavro
• github.com/ikkerens/ikeapack
• github.com/niubaoshu/gotiny
• github.com/prysmaticlabs/go-ssz
• github.com/200sc/bebop (generated code)
• github.com/shamaton/msgpackgen (generated code)

Running the benchmarks

go get -u -t
go test -bench='.*' ./

To update the table in the README:

./stats.sh

Recommendation

If performance, correctness and interoperability are the most important factors, gogoprotobuf is currently the best choice. It does require a pre-processing step (eg. via Go 1.4's "go generate" command).

But as always, make your own choice based on your requirements.

Data

The data being serialized is the following structure with randomly generated values:

type A struct {
    Name     string
    BirthDay time.Time
    Phone    string
    Siblings int
    Spouse   bool
    Money    float64
}

Results

2021-6-2 Results with Go 1.16.2 darwin/amd64 on an Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz

benchmark	iter	time/iter	bytes/op	allocs/op	tt.sec	tt.kb	ns/alloc
Benchmark_Gotiny_Marshal-8	13055208	94 ns/op	48	0	1.23	62664	0.00
Benchmark_Gotiny_Unmarshal-8	5709070	210 ns/op	47	112	1.20	27397	1.88
Benchmark_GotinyNoTime_Marshal-8	12246804	110 ns/op	47	0	1.35	58772	0.00
Benchmark_GotinyNoTime_Unmarshal-8	6063762	210 ns/op	47	96	1.28	29099	2.19
Benchmark_Msgp_Marshal-8	8012299	151 ns/op	97	128	1.21	77719	1.18
Benchmark_Msgp_Unmarshal-8	4554123	253 ns/op	97	112	1.15	44174	2.26
Benchmark_VmihailencoMsgpack_Marshal-8	1438852	839 ns/op	100	392	1.21	14388	2.14
Benchmark_VmihailencoMsgpack_Unmarshal-8	996763	1249 ns/op	100	408	1.24	9967	3.06
Benchmark_Json_Marshal-8	918471	1568 ns/op	148	208	1.44	13648	7.54
Benchmark_Json_Unmarshal-8	398766	3299 ns/op	148	383	1.32	5929	8.61
Benchmark_JsonIter_Marshal-8	769125	1482 ns/op	138	248	1.14	10636	5.98
Benchmark_JsonIter_Unmarshal-8	1000000	1280 ns/op	138	263	1.28	13820	4.87
Benchmark_EasyJson_Marshal-8	957908	1253 ns/op	148	896	1.20	14244	1.40
Benchmark_EasyJson_Unmarshal-8	1000000	1158 ns/op	148	159	1.16	14860	7.28
Benchmark_Bson_Marshal-8	1155300	1099 ns/op	110	376	1.27	12708	2.92
Benchmark_Bson_Unmarshal-8	901801	1379 ns/op	110	224	1.24	9919	6.16
Benchmark_Gob_Marshal-8	2049348	652 ns/op	63	40	1.34	13035	16.30
Benchmark_Gob_Unmarshal-8	1434219	751 ns/op	63	112	1.08	9113	6.71
Benchmark_XDR_Marshal-8	804596	1540 ns/op	88	376	1.24	7080	4.10
Benchmark_XDR_Unmarshal-8	1000000	1155 ns/op	88	216	1.16	8800	5.35
Benchmark_UgorjiCodecMsgpack_Marshal-8	1304835	922 ns/op	91	1304	1.20	11873	0.71
Benchmark_UgorjiCodecMsgpack_Unmarshal-8	1220308	973 ns/op	91	496	1.19	11104	1.96
Benchmark_UgorjiCodecBinc_Marshal-8	1000000	1000 ns/op	95	1320	1.00	9500	0.76
Benchmark_UgorjiCodecBinc_Unmarshal-8	1000000	1143 ns/op	95	656	1.14	9500	1.74
Benchmark_Sereal_Marshal-8	564523	2060 ns/op	132	832	1.16	7451	2.48
Benchmark_Sereal_Unmarshal-8	503326	2402 ns/op	132	976	1.21	6643	2.46
Benchmark_Binary_Marshal-8	1000000	1090 ns/op	61	312	1.09	6100	3.49
Benchmark_Binary_Unmarshal-8	1000000	1107 ns/op	61	320	1.11	6100	3.46
Benchmark_FlatBuffers_Marshal-8	5481980	212 ns/op	95	0	1.16	52166	0.00
Benchmark_FlatBuffers_Unmarshal-8	5858466	201 ns/op	95	112	1.18	55819	1.80
Benchmark_CapNProto_Marshal-8	3527721	343 ns/op	96	56	1.21	33866	6.13
Benchmark_CapNProto_Unmarshal-8	3433887	350 ns/op	96	192	1.20	32965	1.82
Benchmark_CapNProto2_Marshal-8	2280529	528 ns/op	96	244	1.20	21893	2.16
Benchmark_CapNProto2_Unmarshal-8	1878963	640 ns/op	96	304	1.20	18038	2.11
Benchmark_Hprose_Marshal-8	1578699	726 ns/op	82	354	1.15	12989	2.05
Benchmark_Hprose_Unmarshal-8	1359528	878 ns/op	82	303	1.19	11183	2.90
Benchmark_Hprose2_Marshal-8	2846406	423 ns/op	82	0	1.20	23411	0.00
Benchmark_Hprose2_Unmarshal-8	2624582	454 ns/op	82	136	1.19	21587	3.34
Benchmark_Protobuf_Marshal-8	2041483	585 ns/op	52	144	1.19	10615	4.06
Benchmark_Protobuf_Unmarshal-8	2076415	577 ns/op	52	184	1.20	10797	3.14
Benchmark_Goprotobuf_Marshal-8	5145343	228 ns/op	53	64	1.18	27270	3.57
Benchmark_Goprotobuf_Unmarshal-8	3470637	344 ns/op	53	168	1.20	18394	2.05
Benchmark_Gogoprotobuf_Marshal-8	11631740	106 ns/op	53	64	1.24	61648	1.66
Benchmark_Gogoprotobuf_Unmarshal-8	7103046	174 ns/op	53	96	1.24	37646	1.82
Benchmark_Colfer_Marshal-8	11822221	100 ns/op	51	64	1.19	60411	1.57
Benchmark_Colfer_Unmarshal-8	8095731	151 ns/op	52	112	1.23	42097	1.36
Benchmark_Gencode_Marshal-8	9361725	133 ns/op	53	80	1.25	49617	1.67
Benchmark_Gencode_Unmarshal-8	7527206	189 ns/op	53	112	1.43	39894	1.70
Benchmark_GencodeUnsafe_Marshal-8	15368806	98 ns/op	46	48	1.51	70696	2.05
Benchmark_GencodeUnsafe_Unmarshal-8	9819229	154 ns/op	46	96	1.52	45168	1.61
Benchmark_XDR2_Marshal-8	9061377	150 ns/op	60	64	1.36	54368	2.35
Benchmark_XDR2_Unmarshal-8	11242050	135 ns/op	60	32	1.53	67452	4.24
Benchmark_GoAvro_Marshal-8	553201	2644 ns/op	47	872	1.46	2600	3.03
Benchmark_GoAvro_Unmarshal-8	188358	6233 ns/op	47	3024	1.17	885	2.06
Benchmark_GoAvro2Text_Marshal-8	504949	2319 ns/op	133	1320	1.17	6751	1.76
Benchmark_GoAvro2Text_Unmarshal-8	558674	2324 ns/op	133	783	1.30	7475	2.97
Benchmark_GoAvro2Binary_Marshal-8	1691079	697 ns/op	47	464	1.18	7948	1.50
Benchmark_GoAvro2Binary_Unmarshal-8	1534810	774 ns/op	47	544	1.19	7213	1.42
Benchmark_Ikea_Marshal-8	2366568	509 ns/op	55	72	1.21	13016	7.08
Benchmark_Ikea_Unmarshal-8	1900034	643 ns/op	55	160	1.22	10450	4.02
Benchmark_ShamatonMapMsgpack_Marshal-8	1572403	705 ns/op	92	192	1.11	14466	3.67
Benchmark_ShamatonMapMsgpack_Unmarshal-8	1735891	666 ns/op	92	136	1.16	15970	4.90
Benchmark_ShamatonArrayMsgpack_Marshal-8	2050185	702 ns/op	50	160	1.44	10250	4.39
Benchmark_ShamatonArrayMsgpack_Unmarshal-8	2914256	408 ns/op	50	136	1.19	14571	3.00
Benchmark_ShamatonMapMsgpackgen_Marshal-8	6816490	174 ns/op	92	96	1.19	62711	1.82
Benchmark_ShamatonMapMsgpackgen_Unmarshal-8	5988542	183 ns/op	92	80	1.10	55094	2.30
Benchmark_ShamatonArrayMsgpackgen_Marshal-8	9056970	135 ns/op	50	64	1.23	45284	2.12
Benchmark_ShamatonArrayMsgpackgen_Unmarshal-8	9500049	129 ns/op	50	80	1.23	47500	1.62
Benchmark_SSZNoTimeNoStringNoFloatA_Marshal-8	334351	3701 ns/op	55	440	1.24	1838	8.41
Benchmark_SSZNoTimeNoStringNoFloatA_Unmarshal-8	206965	6014 ns/op	55	1184	1.24	1138	5.08
Benchmark_Mum_Marshal-8	14044489	85 ns/op	48	0	1.21	67413	0.00
Benchmark_Mum_Unmarshal-8	6952032	172 ns/op	48	80	1.20	33369	2.16
Benchmark_Bebop_Marshal-8	11255248	105 ns/op	55	64	1.19	61903	1.65
Benchmark_Bebop_Unmarshal-8	12815527	84 ns/op	55	32	1.09	70485	2.65
Benchmark_FastJson_Marshal-8	2340780	505 ns/op	133	504	1.18	31319	1.00
Benchmark_FastJson_Unmarshal-8	770043	1537 ns/op	133	1704	1.18	10303	0.90

Totals:

benchmark	iter	time/iter	bytes/op	allocs/op	tt.sec	tt.kb	ns/alloc
Benchmark_Bebop_-8	24070775	190 ns/op	110	96	4.58	264778	1.98
Benchmark_Colfer_-8	19917952	252 ns/op	103	176	5.03	205354	1.43
Benchmark_GencodeUnsafe_-8	25188035	253 ns/op	92	144	6.37	231729	1.76
Benchmark_Mum_-8	20996521	258 ns/op	96	80	5.43	201566	3.23
Benchmark_ShamatonArrayMsgpackgen_-8	18557019	265 ns/op	100	144	4.92	185570	1.84
Benchmark_Gogoprotobuf_-8	18734786	281 ns/op	106	160	5.27	198588	1.76
Benchmark_XDR2_-8	20303427	286 ns/op	120	96	5.81	243641	2.98
Benchmark_Gotiny_-8	18764278	304 ns/op	95	112	5.72	180118	2.72
Benchmark_GotinyNoTime_-8	18310566	321 ns/op	95	96	5.88	175744	3.34
Benchmark_Gencode_-8	16888931	323 ns/op	106	192	5.46	179022	1.68
Benchmark_ShamatonMapMsgpackgen_-8	12805032	358 ns/op	184	176	4.59	235612	2.04
Benchmark_Msgp_-8	12566422	404 ns/op	194	240	5.08	243788	1.69
Benchmark_FlatBuffers_-8	11340446	413 ns/op	190	112	4.69	215967	3.70
Benchmark_Goprotobuf_-8	8615980	573 ns/op	106	232	4.94	91329	2.47
Benchmark_CapNProto_-8	6961608	693 ns/op	192	248	4.83	133662	2.80
Benchmark_Hprose2_-8	5470988	877 ns/op	164	136	4.80	89997	6.45
Benchmark_ShamatonArrayMsgpack_-8	4964441	1110 ns/op	100	296	5.51	49644	3.75
Benchmark_Ikea_-8	4266602	1153 ns/op	110	232	4.92	46932	4.97
Benchmark_Protobuf_-8	4117898	1162 ns/op	104	328	4.79	42826	3.54
Benchmark_CapNProto2_-8	4159492	1168 ns/op	192	548	4.86	79862	2.13
Benchmark_ShamatonMapMsgpack_-8	3308294	1371 ns/op	184	328	4.54	60872	4.18
Benchmark_Gob_-8	3483567	1403 ns/op	127	152	4.89	44293	9.24
Benchmark_GoAvro2Binary_-8	3225889	1472 ns/op	94	1008	4.75	30323	1.46
Benchmark_Hprose_-8	2938227	1605 ns/op	164	657	4.72	48345	2.44
Benchmark_UgorjiCodecMsgpack_-8	2525143	1896 ns/op	182	1800	4.79	45957	1.05
Benchmark_FastJson_-8	3110823	2042 ns/op	267	2208	6.35	83245	0.93
Benchmark_VmihailencoMsgpack_-8	2435615	2088 ns/op	200	800	5.09	48712	2.61
Benchmark_UgorjiCodecBinc_-8	2000000	2143 ns/op	190	1976	4.29	38000	1.08
Benchmark_Binary_-8	2000000	2197 ns/op	122	632	4.39	24400	3.48
Benchmark_EasyJson_-8	1957908	2411 ns/op	297	1055	4.72	58208	2.29
Benchmark_Bson_-8	2057101	2478 ns/op	220	600	5.10	45256	4.13
Benchmark_XDR_-8	1804596	2695 ns/op	176	592	4.86	31760	4.55
Benchmark_JsonIter_-8	1769125	2762 ns/op	276	511	4.89	48916	5.41
Benchmark_Sereal_-8	1067849	4462 ns/op	264	1808	4.76	28191	2.47
Benchmark_GoAvro2Text_-8	1063623	4643 ns/op	267	2103	4.94	28451	2.21
Benchmark_Json_-8	1317237	4867 ns/op	297	591	6.41	39161	8.24
Benchmark_GoAvro_-8	741559	8877 ns/op	94	3896	6.58	6970	2.28
Benchmark_SSZNoTimeNoStringNoFloatA_-8	541316	9715 ns/op	110	1624	5.26	5954	5.98

Issues

The benchmarks can also be run with validation enabled.

VALIDATE=1 go test -bench='.*' ./

Unfortunately, several of the serializers exhibit issues:

1. (minor) BSON drops sub-microsecond precision from time.Time.
2. (minor) Ugorji Binc Codec drops the timezone name (eg. "EST" -> "-0500") from time.Time.

--- FAIL: BenchmarkBsonUnmarshal-8
    serialization_benchmarks_test.go:115: unmarshaled object differed:
        &{20b999e3621bd773 2016-01-19 14:05:02.469416459 -0800 PST f017c8e9de 4 true 0.20887343719329818}
        &{20b999e3621bd773 2016-01-19 14:05:02.469 -0800 PST f017c8e9de 4 true 0.20887343719329818}
--- FAIL: BenchmarkUgorjiCodecBincUnmarshal-8
    serialization_benchmarks_test.go:115: unmarshaled object differed:
        &{20a1757ced6b488e 2016-01-19 14:05:15.69474534 -0800 PST 71f3bf4233 0 false 0.8712180830484527}
        &{20a1757ced6b488e 2016-01-19 14:05:15.69474534 -0800 -0800 71f3bf4233 0 false 0.8712180830484527}

All other fields are correct however.

Additionally, while not a correctness issue, FlatBuffers, ProtoBuffers, Cap'N'Proto and ikeapack do not support time types directly. In the benchmarks an int64 value is used to hold a UnixNano timestamp.