README.md

Entity-Component-System Benchmarks

This repository contains a collection of benchmarks for popular Entity-Component-System (ECS) frameworks. The benchmarks cover different aspects of ECS frameworks, such as update systems, component additions/removals, and entity creation/destruction. It's important to note that different ECS frameworks have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, some frameworks might excel in adding/removing components, while others might be better at creating/destroying entities or have query support. Therefore, it's crucial to choose an ECS framework based on your specific requirements.

ECS (Entity-Component-System) Frameworks:

• EntityX
• EnTT
• Ginseng
• mustache
• flecs
• pico_ecs
• gaia-ecs

TL;DR Results

Main feature of an ECS is the iterating over a lot of entities and using system to update the components. The results of these benchmarks should be used as a starting point for your own benchmarking efforts.

Update systems (for-each entities (with mixed components) in 7 systems)

Graph shows cost per entity, tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update 1 entities with 7 Systems	123ns	130ns	89ns	131ns	48ns	221ns	1741ns	67ns	227ns	225ns
Update 4 entities with 7 Systems	223ns	364ns	138ns	169ns	106ns	475ns	2727ns	125ns	416ns	394ns
Update 8 entities with 7 Systems	310ns	684ns	203ns	237ns	173ns	534ns	2868ns	209ns	454ns	454ns
Update 16 entities with 7 Systems	348ns	838ns	207ns	182ns	205ns	425ns	2663ns	209ns	355ns	332ns
Update 32 entities with 7 Systems	574ns	1622ns	304ns	237ns	368ns	520ns	2810ns	370ns	419ns	443ns
Update 64 entities with 7 Systems	1038ns	3052ns	501ns	353ns	728ns	661ns	2960ns	652ns	560ns	558ns

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update 256 entities with 7 Systems	7us	21us	4us	4us	4us	2us	4us	5us	2us	2us
Update ~1K entities with 7 Systems	31us	91us	18us	21us	16us	7us	10us	19us	9us	10us
Update ~4K entities with 7 Systems	138us	374us	89us	103us	68us	27us	30us	91us	45us	45us
Update ~16K entities with 7 Systems	569us	1455us	403us	365us	321us	113us	120us	366us	219us	211us

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update ~65K entities with 7 Systems	2ms	5ms	1ms	1ms	1ms	0ms	0ms	1ms	1ms	1ms
Update 262K entities with 7 Systems	12ms	24ms	8ms	6ms	6ms	3ms	3ms	6ms	7ms	7ms
Update ~1M entities with 7 Systems	40ms	102ms	35ms	26ms	27ms	16ms	19ms	25ms	31ms	32ms
Update ~2M entities with 7 Systems	85ms	184ms	87ms	51ms	55ms	33ms	42ms	53ms	62ms	69ms

While this benchmark only includes up to 6 components and 7 small systems, it's important to note that Entity-Component-Systems can become much more complex in the wild, with hundreds of components and systems. Therefore, it's crucial to always benchmark your specific cases and systems when necessary and compare results. Choose an ECS framework based on its features, for example, EnTT offers resource management and event handling, while flecs provides useful add-ons and querying, and EntityX includes a built-in world/system manager.

To evaluate a framework, look at the examples and API design, and pick the one that suits your needs.

Details

Features

All benchmarks are located in the benchmark/benchmarks/ directory and write with with the google/benchmark library. Each benchmark uses an example application for each framework (see src/ directory), and every example application has specific base features implemented (see src/base).

Components

1. PositionComponent: includes x and y coordinates.
2. VelocityComponent: includes x and y coordinates for movement.
3. DataComponent: includes some arbitrary data.
4. HealthComponent: Hero/Monster data includes HP/MaxHP and status.
5. DamageComponent: Hero/Monster data includes damage.
6. SpriteComponent: Hero/Monster ASCII character as sprite.

Systems

1. MovementSystem: updates the PositionComponent with a constant VelocityComponent.
2. DataSystem: updates the DataComponent with arbitrary data.
3. MoreComplexSystem: updates components with random data and arbitrary information.
4. HealthSystem: update Hero/Monster health (update HP and status).
5. DamageSystem: update Hero/Monster health by taking damage.
6. SpriteSystem: update Hero/Monster ASCII character depending on health and type.
7. RenderSystem: "render"(write) Hero/Monster character sprite into a "frame buffer"(string buffer).

Additional Benchmarks

Benchmarks for more common features, such as "Creating entities", "Adding and removing components", and others.

Features tested

• Entity Creation
• Entity Destruction
• Component Retrieval
• Adding and removing components
• Iterating entities/quires

Environment

• OS: Linux 64-Bit (Kernel: 6.10.4)
• CPU: 3.13GHz @ 12Cores
• RAM: 47GB
• Compiler: gcc (GCC) 14.2.1

---

Create entities

Graph shows cost per entity, tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Create 1 entities with two Components	1368ns	2881ns	10449ns	2327ns	439949ns	1331ns	4683ns
Create 4 entities with two Components	1816ns	3155ns	10119ns	2692ns	444861ns	1315ns	4901ns
Create 8 entities with two Components	2245ns	3461ns	10313ns	3086ns	444572ns	1426ns	5522ns
Create 16 entities with two Components	2995ns	3812ns	10869ns	3654ns	443523ns	1555ns	6458ns
Create 32 entities with two Components	4233ns	4419ns	11265ns	4838ns	448326ns	1875ns	8323ns
Create 64 entities with two Components	6848ns	5706ns	12227ns	7042ns	467177ns	2499ns	12369ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Create 256 entities with two Components	21us	13us	16us	20us	535us	6us	36us
Create ~1K entities with two Components	81us	42us	34us	73us	846us	21us	125us
Create ~4K entities with two Components	318us	161us	101us	283us	1958us	92us	481us
Create ~16K entities with two Components	1319us	623us	363us	1109us	6365us	366us	1924us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Create ~65K entities with two Components	4ms	2ms	1ms	4ms	22ms	1ms	8ms
Create 262K entities with two Components	20ms	10ms	8ms	18ms	109ms	6ms	36ms
Create ~1M entities with two Components	97ms	68ms	52ms	90ms	409ms	48ms	151ms
Create ~2M entities with two Components	191ms	133ms	109ms	175ms	741ms	77ms	325ms

Destroy entities

Graph shows cost per entity, tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Destroy 1 entities with two components	1008ns	904ns	1056ns	364035ns	1208ns	3074ns
Destroy 4 entities with two components	1236ns	1028ns	1419ns	363733ns	1241ns	3355ns
Destroy 8 entities with two components	1366ns	1196ns	1975ns	381173ns	1267ns	3751ns
Destroy 16 entities with two components	1660ns	1502ns	2793ns	371021ns	1320ns	4752ns
Destroy 32 entities with two components	2394ns	2139ns	4419ns	377250ns	1438ns	6833ns
Destroy 64 entities with two components	3815ns	3372ns	7731ns	376331ns	1644ns	10905ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Destroy 256 entities with two components	12us	11us	28us	383us	2us	32us
Destroy ~1K entities with two components	48us	40us	105us	415us	8us	121us
Destroy ~4K entities with two components	201us	157us	434us	590us	32us	487us
Destroy ~16K entities with two components	812us	627us	1743us	1243us	122us	2038us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Destroy ~65K entities with two components	3ms	2ms	6ms	3ms	0ms	7ms
Destroy 262K entities with two components	14ms	10ms	27ms	17ms	2ms	35ms
Destroy ~1M entities with two components	63ms	43ms	115ms	60ms	11ms	178ms
Destroy ~2M entities with two components	124ms	86ms	227ms	118ms	19ms	398ms

Get one component from entity

Graph shows cost per entity, tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack one component in 1 entities	3ns	3ns	1ns	13ns	13ns	1ns	2ns
Unpack one component in 4 entities	14ns	12ns	7ns	47ns	57ns	5ns	10ns
Unpack one component in 8 entities	28ns	25ns	13ns	84ns	112ns	11ns	20ns
Unpack one component in 16 entities	57ns	51ns	28ns	174ns	212ns	27ns	40ns
Unpack one component in 32 entities	115ns	107ns	59ns	376ns	415ns	49ns	84ns
Unpack one component in 64 entities	231ns	204ns	118ns	655ns	856ns	90ns	164ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack one component in 256 entities	0us	0us	0us	2us	3us	0us	0us
Unpack one component in ~1K entities	3us	3us	1us	10us	12us	1us	2us
Unpack one component in ~4K entities	14us	12us	7us	44us	51us	5us	10us
Unpack one component in ~16K entities	59us	51us	28us	203us	210us	21us	42us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack one component in ~65K entities	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms
Unpack one component in 262K entities	1ms	0ms	0ms	2ms	3ms	0ms	0ms
Unpack one component in ~1M entities	4ms	3ms	2ms	11ms	13ms	1ms	3ms
Unpack one component in ~2M entities	9ms	7ms	4ms	23ms	26ms	2ms	8ms

Note:

• Get one non-const component
  1. PositionComponent

Get two components from entity

Graph shows cost per entity, tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack two components in 1 entities	7ns	6ns	3ns	23ns	28ns	2ns	4ns
Unpack two components in 4 entities	28ns	25ns	14ns	98ns	110ns	11ns	16ns
Unpack two components in 8 entities	57ns	55ns	28ns	190ns	210ns	21ns	37ns
Unpack two components in 16 entities	115ns	104ns	56ns	364ns	409ns	48ns	72ns
Unpack two components in 32 entities	231ns	212ns	118ns	730ns	803ns	89ns	135ns
Unpack two components in 64 entities	462ns	468ns	236ns	1554ns	1599ns	171ns	267ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack two components in 256 entities	1us	1us	0us	5us	6us	0us	1us
Unpack two components in ~1K entities	7us	6us	3us	22us	25us	2us	4us
Unpack two components in ~4K entities	29us	26us	14us	88us	103us	10us	16us
Unpack two components in ~16K entities	118us	105us	56us	368us	458us	42us	68us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack two components in ~65K entities	0ms	0ms	0ms	1ms	1ms	0ms	0ms
Unpack two components in 262K entities	2ms	1ms	0ms	6ms	6ms	0ms	1ms
Unpack two components in ~1M entities	9ms	7ms	3ms	24ms	26ms	2ms	5ms
Unpack two components in ~2M entities	18ms	14ms	7ms	50ms	53ms	5ms	10ms

Note:

• Get non-const- and const-component
  1. PositionComponent
  2. const VelocityComponent

Get three components from entity

Graph shows cost per entity, tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack three components in 1 entities	7ns	12ns	6ns	23ns	59ns	3ns	9ns
Unpack three components in 2 entities	14ns	24ns	12ns	44ns	125ns	7ns	17ns
Unpack three components in 8 entities	57ns	100ns	48ns	193ns	449ns	35ns	75ns
Unpack three components in 16 entities	115ns	196ns	97ns	384ns	888ns	69ns	142ns
Unpack three components in 32 entities	231ns	431ns	195ns	767ns	1781ns	121ns	276ns
Unpack three components in 64 entities	470ns	795ns	396ns	1504ns	3588ns	237ns	546ns
Unpack three components in 128 entities	927ns	1557ns	841ns	2826ns	7121ns	468ns	1084ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack three components in 512 entities	3us	6us	3us	11us	30us	1us	4us
Unpack three components in ~2K entities	14us	25us	12us	44us	112us	7us	17us
Unpack three components in ~8K entities	59us	100us	50us	180us	449us	29us	72us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack three components in ~32K entities	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	1ms	0ms	0ms
Unpack three components in 131K entities	1ms	1ms	0ms	2ms	7ms	0ms	1ms
Unpack three components in 524K entities	4ms	6ms	3ms	12ms	28ms	1ms	5ms
Unpack three components in ~1M entities	9ms	14ms	7ms	25ms	57ms	3ms	11ms

Note:

• Not every entity has three components, some has only two
• Get two non-const- and const-component(s)
  1. PositionComponent
  2. const VelocityComponent
  3. DataComponent (optional)

Remove and add component

Graph shows cost per entity, tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Remove and Add a Component in 1 entities	15ns	24ns	11ns	246ns	8ns	130ns
Remove and Add a Component in 4 entities	59ns	109ns	43ns	957ns	42ns	535ns
Remove and Add a Component in 8 entities	125ns	204ns	93ns	1901ns	69ns	1057ns
Remove and Add a Component in 16 entities	244ns	396ns	181ns	3751ns	132ns	2108ns
Remove and Add a Component in 32 entities	500ns	785ns	353ns	7450ns	256ns	4192ns
Remove and Add a Component in 64 entities	951ns	1560ns	703ns	14853ns	505ns	8379ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Remove and Add a Component in 256 entities	3us	6us	2us	59us	2us	33us
Remove and Add a Component in ~1K entities	15us	25us	11us	236us	8us	134us
Remove and Add a Component in ~4K entities	60us	104us	48us	1004us	32us	536us
Remove and Add a Component in ~16K entities	249us	408us	185us	3890us	129us	2144us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Remove and Add a Component in ~65K entities	0ms	1ms	0ms	15ms	0ms	8ms
Remove and Add a Component in 262K entities	4ms	6ms	3ms	62ms	2ms	34ms
Remove and Add a Component in ~1M entities	16ms	26ms	12ms	250ms	8ms	137ms
Remove and Add a Component in ~2M entities	32ms	53ms	23ms	527ms	16ms	277ms

Note:

• Remove and add PositionComponent

Update systems (for-each entities in 2 systems)

Cost per entity	Cost of all entities

Tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Update 1 entities with 2 systems	39ns	27ns	13ns	68ns	1287ns	22ns	100ns
Update 4 entities with 2 systems	93ns	55ns	34ns	90ns	1262ns	41ns	91ns
Update 8 entities with 2 systems	166ns	99ns	59ns	94ns	1279ns	71ns	107ns
Update 16 entities with 2 systems	314ns	161ns	109ns	122ns	1309ns	147ns	133ns
Update 32 entities with 2 systems	601ns	294ns	218ns	173ns	1358ns	257ns	188ns
Update 64 entities with 2 systems	1171ns	630ns	429ns	284ns	1467ns	490ns	289ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Update 256 entities with 2 systems	5us	2us	1us	0us	2us	1us	0us
Update ~1K entities with 2 systems	18us	8us	6us	3us	4us	7us	3us
Update ~4K entities with 2 systems	82us	34us	29us	13us	14us	30us	15us
Update ~16K entities with 2 systems	315us	140us	127us	56us	56us	165us	65us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Update ~65K entities with 2 systems	1ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms
Update 262K entities with 2 systems	5ms	2ms	2ms	1ms	3ms	2ms	3ms
Update ~1M entities with 2 systems	21ms	12ms	10ms	8ms	12ms	12ms	12ms
Update ~2M entities with 2 systems	44ms	25ms	21ms	15ms	25ms	22ms	25ms

Note:

• Systems used
  1. MovementSystem
  2. DataSystem

Update systems (for-each entities (with mixed components) in 2 systems)

Cost per entity	Cost of all entities

Tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Update 1 entities with 2 systems	29ns	16ns	7ns	36ns	577ns	16ns	53ns
Update 4 entities with 2 systems	75ns	45ns	28ns	126ns	1313ns	34ns	113ns
Update 8 entities with 2 systems	137ns	87ns	51ns	151ns	1475ns	55ns	133ns
Update 16 entities with 2 systems	266ns	145ns	94ns	190ns	1389ns	95ns	147ns
Update 32 entities with 2 systems	534ns	278ns	198ns	242ns	1467ns	194ns	191ns
Update 64 entities with 2 systems	1080ns	555ns	404ns	357ns	1583ns	353ns	300ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Update 256 entities with 2 systems	4us	2us	1us	1us	2us	1us	1us
Update ~1K entities with 2 systems	18us	8us	7us	3us	4us	7us	4us
Update ~4K entities with 2 systems	82us	32us	28us	14us	15us	41us	15us
Update ~16K entities with 2 systems	301us	145us	132us	56us	56us	165us	67us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Update ~65K entities with 2 systems	1ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms
Update 262K entities with 2 systems	5ms	3ms	2ms	1ms	2ms	2ms	3ms
Update ~1M entities with 2 systems	22ms	13ms	11ms	7ms	13ms	11ms	13ms
Update ~2M entities with 2 systems	44ms	30ms	22ms	15ms	25ms	24ms	25ms

Note:

• Systems used
  1. MovementSystem
  2. DataSystem
• Not every entity has all three components, some got removed

Update systems (for-each entities in 7 systems)

Cost per entity	Cost of all entities

Tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update 1 entities with 7 systems	138ns	174ns	93ns	121ns	51ns	224ns	2775ns	70ns	279ns	275ns
Update 4 entities with 7 systems	293ns	525ns	174ns	239ns	117ns	274ns	2584ns	157ns	335ns	316ns
Update 8 entities with 7 systems	479ns	1016ns	272ns	351ns	229ns	357ns	2626ns	288ns	384ns	384ns
Update 16 entities with 7 systems	755ns	1963ns	415ns	560ns	399ns	394ns	2630ns	516ns	490ns	498ns
Update 32 entities with 7 systems	1357ns	3664ns	775ns	1050ns	750ns	540ns	2777ns	947ns	627ns	611ns
Update 64 entities with 7 systems	2620ns	7461ns	1346ns	2214ns	1431ns	860ns	3079ns	1808ns	974ns	932ns

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update 256 entities with 7 systems	10us	28us	5us	9us	5us	2us	4us	6us	3us	3us
Update ~1K entities with 7 systems	52us	100us	27us	39us	23us	8us	11us	27us	14us	14us
Update ~4K entities with 7 systems	202us	493us	132us	172us	102us	37us	39us	106us	72us	73us
Update ~16K entities with 7 systems	827us	1947us	592us	651us	445us	158us	189us	469us	362us	347us

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update ~65K entities with 7 systems	3ms	7ms	2ms	2ms	1ms	0ms	0ms	1ms	1ms	1ms
Update 262K entities with 7 systems	16ms	32ms	12ms	11ms	8ms	4ms	6ms	7ms	10ms	12ms
Update ~1M entities with 7 systems	57ms	122ms	51ms	45ms	35ms	21ms	25ms	31ms	43ms	43ms
Update ~2M entities with 7 systems	112ms	237ms	127ms	89ms	70ms	42ms	52ms	65ms	84ms	85ms

Note:

• Systems used
  1. MovementSystem
  2. DataSystem
  3. MoreComplexSystem
  4. HealthSystem
  5. DamageSystem
  6. SpriteSystem
  7. RenderSystem
• * EnTT iterate components via views
• ** EnTT iterate components via runtime views
• *** EnTT iterate components via groups:
  1. DataSystem: No Group, use registry.view<DataComponent>. (Can't group a single component)
  2. MovementSystem: Partial-owning group, registry.group<PositionComponent>(entt::get<const VelocityComponent>)
  3. MoreComplexSystem: Full-owning group, registry.group<PositionComponent, VelocityComponent, DataComponent>()
• **** EnTT iterate components via view and uses a stable component (StablePositionComponent)
• ***** gaia-ecs (SoA) iterate via SoA Layout using an Position- and Velocity-SoA-component

Update systems (for-each entities (with mixed components) in 7 systems)

Cost per entity	Cost of all entities

Tables shows total cost. lower is faster.

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update 1 entities with 7 Systems	123ns	130ns	89ns	131ns	48ns	221ns	1741ns	67ns	227ns	225ns
Update 4 entities with 7 Systems	223ns	364ns	138ns	169ns	106ns	475ns	2727ns	125ns	416ns	394ns
Update 8 entities with 7 Systems	310ns	684ns	203ns	237ns	173ns	534ns	2868ns	209ns	454ns	454ns
Update 16 entities with 7 Systems	348ns	838ns	207ns	182ns	205ns	425ns	2663ns	209ns	355ns	332ns
Update 32 entities with 7 Systems	574ns	1622ns	304ns	237ns	368ns	520ns	2810ns	370ns	419ns	443ns
Update 64 entities with 7 Systems	1038ns	3052ns	501ns	353ns	728ns	661ns	2960ns	652ns	560ns	558ns

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update 256 entities with 7 Systems	7us	21us	4us	4us	4us	2us	4us	5us	2us	2us
Update ~1K entities with 7 Systems	31us	91us	18us	21us	16us	7us	10us	19us	9us	10us
Update ~4K entities with 7 Systems	138us	374us	89us	103us	68us	27us	30us	91us	45us	45us
Update ~16K entities with 7 Systems	569us	1455us	403us	365us	321us	113us	120us	366us	219us	211us

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update ~65K entities with 7 Systems	2ms	5ms	1ms	1ms	1ms	0ms	0ms	1ms	1ms	1ms
Update 262K entities with 7 Systems	12ms	24ms	8ms	6ms	6ms	3ms	3ms	6ms	7ms	7ms
Update ~1M entities with 7 Systems	40ms	102ms	35ms	26ms	27ms	16ms	19ms	25ms	31ms	32ms
Update ~2M entities with 7 Systems	85ms	184ms	87ms	51ms	55ms	33ms	42ms	53ms	62ms	69ms

Note:

• Systems used
  1. MovementSystem
  2. DataSystem
  3. MoreComplexSystem
  4. HealthSystem
  5. DamageSystem
  6. SpriteSystem
  7. RenderSystem
• Not every entity has all three components, some got removed
• * EnTT iterate components via views
• ** EnTT iterate components via runtime views
• *** EnTT iterate components via groups:
  1. DataSystem: No Group, use registry.view<DataComponent>. (Can't group a single component)
  2. MovementSystem: Partial-owning group, registry.group<PositionComponent>(entt::get<const VelocityComponent>)
  3. MoreComplexSystem: Full-owning group, registry.group<PositionComponent, VelocityComponent, DataComponent>()
• **** EnTT iterate components via view and uses a stable component (StablePositionComponent)
• ***** gaia-ecs (SoA) iterate via SoA Layout using an Position- und Velocity-SoA-component

Contributing

If you have any improvements to the ECS-examples for any of the frameworks, feel free to make a pull request or open an issue. The example(s) for each framework can be found in src/, and benchmarks are located in benchmarks/benchmarks/ for more details.

Additionally, you can write tests for the framework example and add some metadata to the plot.config.json file. Any contributions are greatly appreciated!

TODO: make more detailed "how to add framework"

Read CONTRIBUTING.md for more details.

Run Benchmarks

Using Taskfile

0. Install Taskfile
1. Run Build: task build
2. Run (All) Benchmarks: task benchmark
3. Plot Graphs: task plot:all

Or run task generate

You can now find the benchmark-results in reports/.

You need python (>=3.8.0) and some dependencies to run gen-benchmark-report (plotting), install pipx and poetry.

Then install the dependencies for the script:

cd ./scripts/gen-benchmark-report && poetry install

Or run the script directly:

task plot:all

Generate README

task generate:readme

Step-by-Step

1. Configure and build benchmarks, see Building Details:
   1. cmake -S . -B ./build
   2. cmake --build ./build
2. Run benchmark(s), with run-benchmarks.sh or each:
   • ./build/benchmark/benchmarks/entt/ecs-benchmark-entt (console output) (optional)
   • ./build/benchmark/benchmarks/entt/ecs-benchmark-entt --benchmark_format=json > ./reports/entt.json (write json report)
3. Plot Reports, after generating json reports, see plot-results.sh:
   1. pipx run --spec ./scripts/gen-benchmark-report gen-benchmark-report -i ./info.json gen-plot ./reports/entityx.json ./reports/entt.json ./reports/ginseng.json ./reports/mustache.json ./reports/openecs.json ./reports/flecs.json (generate graphs)
   2. pipx run --spec ./scripts/gen-benchmark-report gen-benchmark-report -i ./info.json gen-results-md ./reports/entityx.json ./reports/entt.json ./reports/ginseng.json ./reports/mustache.json ./reports/openecs.json ./reports/flecs.json (generate full report)

Run a single benchmark

cmake -G Ninja -S . -B build
cmake --build build --target ecs-benchmark-entt -j 4
./build/benchmark/benchmarks/entt/ecs-benchmark-entt

You can use -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug to enable Sanitizers.

Links and More

• Dependency Setup
• Building Details
• Project Template, mix of: starter_template and ModernCppStarter
  • Forked cpp_vcpkg_project
• Google benchmark
• https://github.com/SanderMertens/ecs-faq
• https://github.com/jslee02/awesome-entity-component-system

Candidates

EntityX by @alecthomas

Entity Component Systems (ECS) are a form of decomposition that completely decouples entity logic and data from the entity "objects" themselves. The Evolve your Hierarchy article provides a solid overview of EC systems and why you should use them.

Version: 1.1.2 (Apr 2023)

EnTT by @skypjack

EnTT is a header-only, tiny and easy to use library for game programming and much more written in modern C++.

Version: v3.13.2

Ginseng by @apples

Ginseng is an entity-component-system (ECS) library designed for use in games.

The main advantage over similar libraries is that the component types do not need to be listed or registered. Component types are detected dynamically.

Any function-like object can be used as a system. The function's parameters are used to determine the required components.

Version: 1.1 (Dec 2021)

mustache by @kirillochnev

A fast, modern C++ Entity Component System

Version: 0.2 (Feb 2024)

OpenEcs by @Gronis

Open Ecs is an Entity Component System that uses metaprogramming, cache coherency, and other useful tricks to maximize performance and configurability. It is written in c++11 without further dependencies.

Version: 0.1.101 (Apr 2017)

Flecs by @SanderMertens

Flecs is a fast and lightweight Entity Component System that lets you build games and simulations with millions of entities.

Version: v4.0.1

pico_ecs by @empyreanx

A collection of cross-platform single header libraries written in C. Pure and simple ECS.

Version: 2.3 (Sep 2023)

gaia-ecs by @richardbiely

Gaia-ECS is a fast and easy-to-use ECS framework.

Version: v0.8.6