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	124ns	135ns	78ns	128ns	41ns	240ns	1921ns	65ns	222ns	231ns
Update 4 entities with 7 Systems	212ns	345ns	126ns	179ns	115ns	460ns	3347ns	122ns	410ns	392ns
Update 8 entities with 7 Systems	334ns	632ns	181ns	255ns	165ns	521ns	3452ns	179ns	455ns	454ns
Update 16 entities with 7 Systems	332ns	835ns	177ns	181ns	220ns	474ns	3187ns	190ns	356ns	349ns
Update 32 entities with 7 Systems	559ns	1618ns	268ns	235ns	370ns	545ns	3231ns	326ns	425ns	416ns
Update 64 entities with 7 Systems	1028ns	3067ns	471ns	346ns	712ns	674ns	3399ns	563ns	568ns	571ns

	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	3us	4us	4us	2us	4us	4us	2us	2us
Update ~1K entities with 7 Systems	31us	87us	18us	21us	16us	7us	10us	17us	10us	9us
Update ~4K entities with 7 Systems	140us	355us	93us	89us	70us	28us	32us	80us	45us	46us
Update ~16K entities with 7 Systems	576us	1439us	407us	352us	297us	122us	116us	310us	215us	216us

	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	10ms	24ms	8ms	6ms	6ms	3ms	4ms	5ms	7ms	7ms
Update ~1M entities with 7 Systems	41ms	95ms	35ms	26ms	27ms	16ms	20ms	23ms	31ms	31ms
Update ~2M entities with 7 Systems	84ms	183ms	86ms	52ms	54ms	32ms	38ms	49ms	62ms	65ms

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: 6.9.9)
• CPU: 3.13GHz @ 12Cores
• RAM: 47GB
• Compiler: gcc (GCC) 14.1.1

---

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	1457ns	2868ns	10034ns	2456ns	401342ns	1334ns	4512ns
Create 4 entities with two Components	1776ns	3182ns	10260ns	2819ns	405156ns	1419ns	4894ns
Create 8 entities with two Components	2144ns	3467ns	10459ns	3148ns	407955ns	1501ns	5399ns
Create 16 entities with two Components	2820ns	3801ns	10748ns	3722ns	408108ns	1650ns	6339ns
Create 32 entities with two Components	4036ns	4476ns	11280ns	4817ns	414509ns	1954ns	8284ns
Create 64 entities with two Components	6410ns	5742ns	12245ns	6935ns	422601ns	2563ns	12306ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Create 256 entities with two Components	20us	13us	16us	19us	486us	6us	35us
Create ~1K entities with two Components	74us	41us	33us	68us	740us	20us	124us
Create ~4K entities with two Components	292us	155us	100us	264us	1813us	90us	481us
Create ~16K entities with two Components	1163us	625us	357us	1047us	5902us	355us	1929us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Create ~65K entities with two Components	4ms	2ms	1ms	4ms	21ms	1ms	7ms
Create 262K entities with two Components	18ms	10ms	8ms	17ms	89ms	6ms	35ms
Create ~1M entities with two Components	91ms	66ms	55ms	88ms	371ms	44ms	147ms
Create ~2M entities with two Components	180ms	128ms	103ms	172ms	721ms	74ms	303ms

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	1123ns	1053ns	1174ns	349451ns	1318ns	2940ns
Destroy 4 entities with two components	1266ns	1123ns	1492ns	350054ns	1355ns	3212ns
Destroy 8 entities with two components	1455ns	1312ns	1902ns	351086ns	1374ns	3642ns
Destroy 16 entities with two components	1783ns	1609ns	2621ns	351077ns	1420ns	4603ns
Destroy 32 entities with two components	2476ns	2425ns	4029ns	351619ns	1553ns	6430ns
Destroy 64 entities with two components	3937ns	3701ns	6836ns	353878ns	1728ns	10340ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Destroy 256 entities with two components	12us	11us	23us	362us	2us	30us
Destroy ~1K entities with two components	48us	43us	89us	400us	7us	113us
Destroy ~4K entities with two components	198us	159us	353us	553us	29us	463us
Destroy ~16K entities with two components	811us	633us	1408us	1162us	111us	1862us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Destroy ~65K entities with two components	3ms	2ms	5ms	3ms	0ms	7ms
Destroy 262K entities with two components	13ms	10ms	23ms	16ms	1ms	33ms
Destroy ~1M entities with two components	63ms	44ms	98ms	59ms	10ms	186ms
Destroy ~2M entities with two components	125ms	86ms	189ms	114ms	18ms	409ms

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	10ns	26ns	1ns	2ns
Unpack one component in 4 entities	14ns	12ns	6ns	48ns	105ns	5ns	10ns
Unpack one component in 8 entities	28ns	25ns	13ns	88ns	205ns	11ns	22ns
Unpack one component in 16 entities	57ns	50ns	27ns	172ns	400ns	26ns	43ns
Unpack one component in 32 entities	115ns	104ns	60ns	335ns	800ns	48ns	82ns
Unpack one component in 64 entities	231ns	204ns	112ns	651ns	1596ns	89ns	163ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack one component in 256 entities	0us	0us	0us	2us	6us	0us	0us
Unpack one component in ~1K entities	3us	3us	1us	10us	25us	1us	2us
Unpack one component in ~4K entities	14us	12us	7us	41us	101us	5us	10us
Unpack one component in ~16K entities	59us	51us	28us	195us	417us	21us	42us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack one component in ~65K entities	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	1ms	0ms	0ms
Unpack one component in 262K entities	1ms	0ms	0ms	2ms	6ms	0ms	0ms
Unpack one component in ~1M entities	4ms	3ms	2ms	11ms	27ms	1ms	3ms
Unpack one component in ~2M entities	9ms	7ms	4ms	23ms	52ms	2ms	7ms

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	22ns	51ns	2ns	4ns
Unpack two components in 4 entities	28ns	25ns	13ns	112ns	204ns	11ns	16ns
Unpack two components in 8 entities	57ns	50ns	27ns	211ns	406ns	21ns	38ns
Unpack two components in 16 entities	115ns	104ns	54ns	440ns	802ns	47ns	71ns
Unpack two components in 32 entities	231ns	204ns	109ns	697ns	1617ns	88ns	138ns
Unpack two components in 64 entities	462ns	404ns	223ns	1384ns	3219ns	171ns	266ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack two components in 256 entities	1us	1us	0us	5us	12us	0us	1us
Unpack two components in ~1K entities	7us	6us	3us	22us	50us	2us	4us
Unpack two components in ~4K entities	29us	25us	14us	111us	203us	10us	17us
Unpack two components in ~16K entities	118us	103us	56us	452us	813us	42us	67us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack two components in ~65K entities	0ms	0ms	0ms	2ms	3ms	0ms	0ms
Unpack two components in 262K entities	2ms	1ms	0ms	9ms	13ms	0ms	1ms
Unpack two components in ~1M entities	9ms	6ms	3ms	39ms	51ms	2ms	5ms
Unpack two components in ~2M entities	18ms	13ms	7ms	74ms	105ms	5ms	11ms

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	22ns	104ns	3ns	9ns
Unpack three components in 2 entities	14ns	24ns	12ns	44ns	212ns	7ns	18ns
Unpack three components in 8 entities	57ns	99ns	47ns	181ns	842ns	34ns	75ns
Unpack three components in 16 entities	115ns	195ns	96ns	353ns	1644ns	63ns	144ns
Unpack three components in 32 entities	231ns	387ns	195ns	697ns	3276ns	121ns	278ns
Unpack three components in 64 entities	464ns	772ns	385ns	1399ns	6569ns	236ns	549ns
Unpack three components in 128 entities	930ns	1548ns	772ns	2792ns	13068ns	467ns	1093ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack three components in 512 entities	3us	6us	3us	11us	52us	1us	4us
Unpack three components in ~2K entities	14us	24us	12us	44us	209us	7us	17us
Unpack three components in ~8K entities	59us	100us	50us	196us	859us	29us	70us

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Unpack three components in ~32K entities	0ms	0ms	0ms	0ms	3ms	0ms	0ms
Unpack three components in 131K entities	1ms	1ms	0ms	2ms	13ms	0ms	1ms
Unpack three components in 524K entities	4ms	6ms	3ms	13ms	53ms	1ms	5ms
Unpack three components in ~1M entities	9ms	13ms	7ms	24ms	109ms	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	10ns	258ns	7ns	119ns
Remove and Add a Component in 4 entities	59ns	107ns	42ns	946ns	39ns	522ns
Remove and Add a Component in 8 entities	125ns	203ns	90ns	1892ns	69ns	1031ns
Remove and Add a Component in 16 entities	244ns	397ns	176ns	3799ns	131ns	2058ns
Remove and Add a Component in 32 entities	480ns	781ns	348ns	7573ns	257ns	4102ns
Remove and Add a Component in 64 entities	952ns	1554ns	959ns	15096ns	507ns	8220ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Remove and Add a Component in 256 entities	3us	6us	3us	60us	2us	32us
Remove and Add a Component in ~1K entities	15us	25us	12us	240us	8us	136us
Remove and Add a Component in ~4K entities	60us	102us	45us	961us	32us	544us
Remove and Add a Component in ~16K entities	244us	453us	183us	3887us	130us	2172us

	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	3ms	6ms	2ms	61ms	2ms	34ms
Remove and Add a Component in ~1M entities	15ms	26ms	11ms	245ms	8ms	141ms
Remove and Add a Component in ~2M entities	31ms	52ms	23ms	489ms	16ms	279ms

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	66ns	1292ns	20ns	84ns
Update 4 entities with 2 systems	93ns	60ns	34ns	79ns	1298ns	39ns	100ns
Update 8 entities with 2 systems	166ns	97ns	59ns	95ns	1307ns	65ns	118ns
Update 16 entities with 2 systems	315ns	159ns	109ns	123ns	1349ns	132ns	148ns
Update 32 entities with 2 systems	649ns	296ns	216ns	174ns	1382ns	241ns	199ns
Update 64 entities with 2 systems	1167ns	561ns	423ns	286ns	1511ns	459ns	308ns

	EntityX	EnTT	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs
Update 256 entities with 2 systems	4us	2us	1us	0us	2us	1us	0us
Update ~1K entities with 2 systems	20us	8us	8us	3us	4us	7us	3us
Update ~4K entities with 2 systems	73us	34us	31us	13us	15us	29us	16us
Update ~16K entities with 2 systems	314us	143us	127us	54us	56us	115us	66us

	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	11ms	8ms	13ms	10ms	13ms
Update ~2M entities with 2 systems	44ms	25ms	23ms	16ms	25ms	22ms	27ms

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	31ns	16ns	7ns	36ns	532ns	14ns	42ns
Update 4 entities with 2 systems	75ns	44ns	28ns	123ns	1458ns	33ns	114ns
Update 8 entities with 2 systems	139ns	77ns	51ns	154ns	1472ns	53ns	148ns
Update 16 entities with 2 systems	271ns	140ns	93ns	183ns	1500ns	88ns	147ns
Update 32 entities with 2 systems	537ns	275ns	196ns	251ns	1543ns	180ns	204ns
Update 64 entities with 2 systems	1094ns	538ns	400ns	338ns	1650ns	329ns	315ns

	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	6us	3us	4us	7us	4us
Update ~4K entities with 2 systems	73us	32us	26us	14us	15us	36us	16us
Update ~16K entities with 2 systems	345us	131us	127us	55us	56us	166us	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	2ms	2ms	2ms	3ms
Update ~1M entities with 2 systems	21ms	14ms	11ms	7ms	13ms	11ms	13ms
Update ~2M entities with 2 systems	44ms	29ms	23ms	15ms	26ms	23ms	27ms

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	136ns	173ns	100ns	133ns	51ns	223ns	2930ns	64ns	290ns	280ns
Update 4 entities with 7 systems	301ns	504ns	181ns	216ns	119ns	273ns	2948ns	132ns	326ns	318ns
Update 8 entities with 7 systems	463ns	960ns	254ns	316ns	201ns	325ns	2958ns	243ns	375ns	361ns
Update 16 entities with 7 systems	727ns	1813ns	429ns	527ns	392ns	398ns	3040ns	439ns	465ns	449ns
Update 32 entities with 7 systems	1332ns	3574ns	723ns	999ns	728ns	536ns	3174ns	788ns	615ns	606ns
Update 64 entities with 7 systems	2655ns	7155ns	1388ns	2257ns	1348ns	833ns	3492ns	1482ns	956ns	943ns

	EnTT	EnTT (runtime)	EnTT (group)	EnTT (stable)	Ginseng	mustache	Flecs	pico_ecs	gaia-ecs	gaia-ecs (SoA)
Update 256 entities with 7 systems	11us	29us	6us	9us	5us	2us	5us	6us	3us	3us
Update ~1K entities with 7 systems	48us	116us	30us	38us	21us	8us	11us	22us	14us	13us
Update ~4K entities with 7 systems	200us	481us	154us	164us	93us	39us	38us	92us	72us	71us
Update ~16K entities with 7 systems	830us	1990us	606us	648us	371us	182us	173us	407us	341us	346us

	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	14ms	32ms	11ms	11ms	7ms	4ms	5ms	7ms	10ms	10ms
Update ~1M entities with 7 systems	58ms	123ms	52ms	45ms	30ms	17ms	21ms	29ms	43ms	42ms
Update ~2M entities with 7 systems	113ms	233ms	122ms	90ms	59ms	42ms	44ms	61ms	85ms	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	124ns	135ns	78ns	128ns	41ns	240ns	1921ns	65ns	222ns	231ns
Update 4 entities with 7 Systems	212ns	345ns	126ns	179ns	115ns	460ns	3347ns	122ns	410ns	392ns
Update 8 entities with 7 Systems	334ns	632ns	181ns	255ns	165ns	521ns	3452ns	179ns	455ns	454ns
Update 16 entities with 7 Systems	332ns	835ns	177ns	181ns	220ns	474ns	3187ns	190ns	356ns	349ns
Update 32 entities with 7 Systems	559ns	1618ns	268ns	235ns	370ns	545ns	3231ns	326ns	425ns	416ns
Update 64 entities with 7 Systems	1028ns	3067ns	471ns	346ns	712ns	674ns	3399ns	563ns	568ns	571ns

	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	3us	4us	4us	2us	4us	4us	2us	2us
Update ~1K entities with 7 Systems	31us	87us	18us	21us	16us	7us	10us	17us	10us	9us
Update ~4K entities with 7 Systems	140us	355us	93us	89us	70us	28us	32us	80us	45us	46us
Update ~16K entities with 7 Systems	576us	1439us	407us	352us	297us	122us	116us	310us	215us	216us

	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	10ms	24ms	8ms	6ms	6ms	3ms	4ms	5ms	7ms	7ms
Update ~1M entities with 7 Systems	41ms	95ms	35ms	26ms	27ms	16ms	20ms	23ms	31ms	31ms
Update ~2M entities with 7 Systems	84ms	183ms	86ms	52ms	54ms	32ms	38ms	49ms	62ms	65ms

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: v4.0.0

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