PHP Performance Benchmarks

This page allows you to view different processign speeds of various PHP functions, iterated for 10000 (or less in some cases). The info shows the relative speed of these functions on this server, runnin PHP version 7.4.33. The benchmarks are done live. Reload the page to get fresh numbers. This page was created by Thiemo Mättig, check his website for more awesome tools.

Please note that these are micro benchmarks. Micro benchmarks are stupid. I created this comparison to learn something about PHP and how the PHP compiler works. This can not be used to compare PHP versions or servers.

Check if a String is empty

Method Undefined Null False Empty string String '0' String '1' Long string Summary Index
if (!$var)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms297
if (empty($var))>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms100
if ($var == '')>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms327
if ('' == $var)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms365
if ($var === '')>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms244
if ('' === $var)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms244
if (strcmp($var, '') == 0)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms423
if (strcmp('', $var) == 0)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms398
if (strlen($var) == 0)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms403
if (!strlen($var))>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms420

My conclusion: In most cases, Do not use empty() because it does not trigger a warning when used with undefined variables. Note that empty('0') returns true. Use strlen() if you want to detect '0'. Try to avoid == at all because it may cause strange behaviour (e.g. '9a' == 9 returns true). Prefer === over == and !== over != if possible because it does compare the variable types in addition to the contents.

Check if an Array is empty

Method Empty array 100 elements Summary Index
count($array) === 0 //by reference>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms266
count($array) === 0 //by value>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms143
$array === []>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms134
empty($array)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms100
(bool)$array>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms107

My conclusion: Why count if you don't care about the exact number?

Compare two Strings

Method Equal First character not equal Last character not equal Summary Index
$a == $b>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms100
$a === $b>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms107
!strcmp($a, $b)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms161
strcmp($a, $b) == 0>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms160
strcmp($a, $b) === 0>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms184
strcasecmp($a, $b) === 0>0 ms>0 ms1 ms1 ms256

My conclusion: Use what fits your needs.

Check if a String contains another String

Method Not found Found at the start Found in the middle Found at the end Summary Index
strstr($haystack, $needle)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms167
strpos($haystack, $needle) !== false>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms100
strstr($haystack, $needle) !== false>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms185
stristr($haystack, $needle)2 ms2 ms2 ms2 ms9 ms3638
preg_match("/$needle/", $haystack)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms269
preg_match("/$needle/i", $haystack)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms428
preg_match("/$needle/S", $haystack)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms281
strpos( strtolower($haystack), $needle )2 ms2 ms2 ms2 ms8 ms3534
strpos( strtoupper($haystack), $needle )3 ms3 ms3 ms3 ms11 ms4610
strpos($haystack,"NEEDLE") || strpos($haystack,"needle") || strpos($haystack,"Needle")>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms340

My conclusion: It does not matter if you use strstr() or strpos(). Use the preg…() functions only if you need the power of regular expressions. Never use the ereg…() functions.

Check if a String starts with another String

Method Not found Found at the start Found in the middle Found at the end Summary Index
$haystack[0] === 'n'>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms100
strncmp($haystack, $needle, strlen($needle)) === 0>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms120
strncmp($haystack, 'needle', 6) === 0>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms107
strncasecmp($haystack, $needle, strlen($needle)) === 0>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms113
strpos($haystack, $needle) === 0>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms643
substr($haystack, 0, strlen($needle)) === $needle>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms200
strcmp(substr($haystack, 0, strlen($needle)), $needle) === 0>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms166
substr_compare($haystack, $needle, 0, strlen($needle))>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms220
substr_compare($haystack, $needle, 0)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms102
preg_match('/^' . preg_quote($needle, '/') . '/', $haystack)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms590

My conclusion: strpos() is very fast and can be used in almost all cases. strncmp() is good if you are looking for a constant length needle.

Check if a String ends with another String

Method Not found Found at the start Found in the middle Found at the end Summary Index
$haystack[strlen($haystack) - 1] === 'n'>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms100
substr($haystack, strlen($haystack) - strlen($needle)) === $needle>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms137
substr($haystack, -strlen($needle)) === $needle>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms215
substr($haystack, -1) === 'n'>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms118
strcmp(substr($haystack, -strlen($needle)), $needle) === 0>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms176
substr_compare($haystack, $needle, -strlen($needle), strlen($needle))>0 ms1 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms1731
substr_compare($haystack, $needle, -strlen($needle))>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms279
preg_match('/' . preg_quote($needle, '/') . '$/', $haystack)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms3424

My conclusion: Using substr() with a negative position is a good trick.

Replace a (>1 Character) String inside another String

Method Not found Found at the start Found in the middle Found at the end Summary Index
str_replace($search, $replace, $subject)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms100
preg_replace("/$search/", $replace, $subject)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms272
preg_replace("/$search/S", $replace, $subject)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms183
strtr($subject, array($search => $replace))>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms144

My conclusion: Never use the ereg…() functions.

Replace a Character inside a String

Method Not found Found at the start Found in the middle Found at the end Summary Index
str_replace($fromChar, $toChar, $subject)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms116
strtr($subject, $fromChar, $toChar)1 ms4 ms3 ms1 ms9 ms966
strtr($subject, array($fromChar => $toChar))>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms100

My conclusion: Since PHP 7.0 strtr() can sometimes beat str_replace().

Trim Characters from the Beginning and End of a String

Method Not found Found at start Found at end Found at both sides Summary Index
trim($string, ',')>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms100
preg_replace('/^,*|,*$/', '', $string)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms4161
preg_replace('/^,*|,*$/m', '', $string)1 ms1 ms1 ms1 ms5 ms23514
preg_replace('/^,+|,+$/', '', $string)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms606
preg_replace('/^,+|,+$/m', '', $string)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms323
preg_replace('/^,+/', '', preg_replace('/,+$/', '', …))>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms640

My conclusion: Always benchmark your regular expressions! In this case, with .* you also replace nothing with nothing which takes time because there is a lot of “nothing” in every string.

Split a String into an Array

Method Empty string Single occurrence Multiple occurrences Summary Index
explode(',', $string)>0 ms>0 ms>0 ms1 ms100
preg_split('/,/', $string)>0 ms>0 ms1 ms1 ms192
preg_match_all('/[^,]+/', $string, $matches)>0 ms>0 ms1 ms2 ms318

My conclusion: Don't use split(). It got deprecated in PHP 5.3 and removed from PHP 7.0.

Loop a numerical indexed Array of Strings

Method Summary Index
for ($i = 0; $i < count($array); $i++) //by reference>0 ms335
for ($i = 0; $i < count($array); $i++) //by value>0 ms299
for ($i = 0, $count = count($array); $i < $count; $i++)>0 ms139
for ($i = count($array) - 1; $i >= 0; $i--)>0 ms305
for ($i = count($array) - 1; $i >= 0; --$i)>0 ms100
$i = count($array); while ($i--)>0 ms125

My conclusion: count() could have been horribly slow in PHP 5 and below when copy-on-write accidentally kicked in. Always precalculate it, if possible.

Get Elements from an Array

Method Summary Index
$array[0]4 ms112
$array['key']4 ms100

My conclusion: I like associative arrays.

Implode an Array

Method Summary Index
implode(' ', $array)1 ms100
"$array[0] $array[1] $array[2]"1 ms109
$array[0] . ' ' . $array[1] . ' ' . $array[2]1 ms178
sprintf('%s %s %s', $array[0], $array[1], $array[2])1 ms188
vsprintf('%s %s %s', $array)1 ms149

My conclusion: String concatenation is a cheap operation in PHP. Don't waste your time benchmarking this.

The single vs. double Quotes Myth

Method Summary Index
'contains no dollar signs'>0 ms104
"contains no dollar signs">0 ms103
'$variables $are $not $replaced'>0 ms123
"\$variables \$are \$not \$replaced">0 ms100
"$variables $are $replaced"1 ms2181
$variables . ' ' . $are . ' ' . $replaced3 ms4337
$variables . " " . $are . " " . $replaced3 ms4495

My conclusion: It does not matter if you use single or double quotes at all. The inclusion of variables has a measurable effect, but that's independent from the quotes.

© Thiemo Mättig, created in September 2008, updated in August 2017
Free sourcecode of this script is available
My current projects:

This page is for the more technical aspect of my life. Here I test new scripts and keep a relevant index of the tools I build or like. Sadly, my time is very limited, so I update this page only on rare occasions.
You can contact me for feedback, suggestions, and custom work requests at this address: max _at_ lumnar.com