Best keyboard layouts for English (April 2017)

30 April 2017

See the results for current best keyboard layouts.

The following table lists the best scoring layouts as of today, as determined by Den's scoring on Patrick's Keyboard Layout Analyzer (KLA). This is a representative sample curated from all the layouts that we test.

The well known layouts are included, as well as the best of the rest, and some from the bottom end as well. Given that known good layouts score well, and known bad ones score badly, the testing methodology looks sane. Congrats to Den and Patrick for their work.

There are four scores for each layout:

The tests are as detailed on the keyboard tests page. You can find and play with these and more layouts on our fork of Den's fork of Patrick's KLA. Select the layout from the dropdown on the bottom right on that page.

Note: lower scores are better, we are measuring effort and lower effort is better.

There are pics of all the layouts below the table. The table is sortable, searchable and expandable.

RankLayoutStyleAllEnglishProgOtherTech
1X6.4H ErgolinearErgo116.291.1113.4148
2X6 ErgolinearErgo11798113.7141.5
3BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr 3ANSI123.7100.5118.3156.8
4MTGap TS ErgoLinear 2Ergo124.8104.2122.1151.2
5Maltron ErgolinearErgo126.398.4129160.3
6RSTHD ErgoLinear 2Ergo126.497.2124.8162.9
7Colemak TS ErgoLinear 2Ergo126.7101.3119.5160.1
8Arensito ErgolinearErgo127.7110.8119151.1
9Nawfal ErgolinearErgo129.5109.4121.4156.6
10Dvorak ErgolinearErgo130.6111128.4155.5
11BEAKL5 ErgoLinearErgo131.4109.1126.4160.4
12schizoKBD-shifted ANSI133.9101.4120.8181.8
13Plum ErgolinearErgo137.1118.4131.9161.8
14Arensito ANSI137.4117.2127.1167.7
15Arensito Kinesis Ergo139.7111.3132.3177.1
16Ergodox MTGAP ThumbshiftErgo159.2105.1141.4231.2
17Ian M3 ANSI159.8101.6140.5244.2
18-+T+- HT02a Ergo162.591.8137.2257.2
19Ergodox Colemak ThumbshiftErgo163.4104.1141.1243.3
20Ian R2 pANSI163.8101.8136.3255.9
21Kinesis Advantage Svorak-r Ergo172.2114.8156.2247.8
22Maltron 90 ErgodoxErgo175.5101.3180.9265.9
23AOEYK ANSI177.8112.2179.5265.7
24Kinesis Advantage Colemak Ergo182.5108.5183.4274.1
25Right Pinky's FriendANSI187.2119.2198.7275.4
26Ergodox Norman Ergo194.9122.3190.8286
27Ergodox QWERTY ThumbshiftErgo197.8152.2172.6261.4
28Dvorak Simplified (ie Standard)ANSI198.9124.2211.1295.8
29Aus der Neo-Welt ANSI199.3116.2186.6315.1
30Ian S2 ANSI199.4112203.8315.9
31Halmak 1ANSI199.9116.2202.9311.8
32dangvu ANSI200.3109.1199.2323.5
33Vu Keys ANSI200.3109199.8323.6
34MTGAP ANSI200.8117.2206.3311.9
35SorenK ANSI200.9117.1199.2314.4
36Balance Twelve ANSI202.9112.9188.8328.6
37QGMLWY ANSI203.7115.4202.6323
38Burroughs Bower (typewriter)ANSI203.8118.8200.8319.3
39Colemak ANSI204.2115.9200.9324.1
40Klausler ANSI204.3114.5207.4324.5
41Seruxie ANSI205.7119.2202.8323.1
42HIEAMTSRN ANSI205.9114.5204.4329.5
43DreymaR ANSI206.4122.1208.3319.4
44Kinesis Advantage Qwerty Ergo207.5154.4207.2273.4
45Workman ANSI207.6121.5206.1324.1
46BLOU ANSI208.1121.5209.4324.4
47Capewell ANSI210.4123.8205.4328.7
48Yak ANSI210.5126.3206.4325.1
49Minimak 12-keyANSI210.5126.7207.6324.5
50EAton ANSI210.6116204.2340
51Norman ANSI210.8126.7207.9325.1
52Ergodox QWERTY Ergo213.3157.4207.1284.3
53QWERTY ANSI229.8161.3224.6323.7
54XPeRT ANSI233.1159.3226.7334.5
55BvoFRak EN V0.5ANSI234.7111.7185.3415.4
56Dvorak ProgrammerANSI238.3124.5196.6404.4
57TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX)ANSI247.1191238.7325.2
58Colemak ProgrammerANSI251.9116.6202.6449.3
59Workman ProgrammersANSI255.7122.1210.1449.8
60QWERTY ProgrammerANSI274.3162.3230.2438.6

X6.4H ErgoLinear (116.2)

X6.4H Ergolinear

X6 ErgoLinear (117)

X6 Ergolinear

BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr 3 (123.7)

BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr 3

MTGap TS ErgoLinear 2 (124.8)

MTGap TS ErgoLinear 2

Maltron ErgoLinear (126.3)

Maltron ErgoLinear

RSTHD ErgoLinear 2 (126.4)

RSTHD ErgoLinear 2

Colemak Thumbshift ErgoLinear 2 (126.7)

Colemak Thumbshift ErgoLinear 2

Arensito ErgoLinear (127.7)

Arensito ErgoLinear

Nawfal ErgoLinear (129.5)

Nawfal ErgoLinear

Dvorak ErgoLinear (130.6)

Dvorak ErgoLinear

BEAKL5 ErgoLinear (131.4)

BEAKL5 ErgoLinear

schizoKBD-shifted (133.9)

schizoKBD-shifted

Plum Ergolinear (137.1)

Plum Ergolinear

Arensito (137.4)

Arensito

Arensito Kinesis (139.7)

Arensito Kinesisy

MTGap TS Ergodox (159.2)

MTGap TS Ergodox

Ian M3 (159.8)

Ian M3

-+T+-HT02a (162.5)

-+T+-HT02a

Colemak Thumbshift Ergodox (163.4)

Colemak TS Ergodox

Ian R2p (163.8)

Ian R2p

Kinesis Advantage Svorak-r (172.2)

Kinesis Advantage Svorak-r

Maltron 90 Ergodox (175.5)

Maltron 90 Ergodox

AOEYK (177.8)

AOEYK

Kinesis Advantage Colemak (182.5)

Kinesis Advantage Colemak

Right Pinky's Friend (187.2)

Right Pinky's Friend

Ergodox Norman (194.9)

Ergodox Norman

Ergodox QWERTY Thumbshift (197.8)

Ergodox QWERTY Thumbshift

Dvorak Simplified (ie Standard) (198.9)

Dvorak Simplified (ie Standard)

Aus der Neo-Welt (199.3)

Aus der Neo-Welt

Ian S2 (199.4)

Ian S2

Halmak 1 (199.9)

Halmak 1

dangvu (200.3)

dangvu

Vu Keys (200.3)

Vu Keys

MTGAP (200.8)

MTGAP

SorenK (200.9)

SorenK

Balance Twelve (202.9)

Balance Twelve

QGMLWY (203.7)

QGMLWY

Burroughs Bower (203.8)

Burroughs Bower

Colemak (204.2)

Colemak

Klausler (204.3)

Klausler

Seruxie (205.7)

Seruxie

HIEAMTSRN (205.9)

HIEAMTSRN

DreymaR (206.4)

DreymaR

Kinesis Advantage Qwerty (207.5)

Kinesis Advantage Qwerty

Workman (207.6)

Workman

BLOU (208.1)

BLOU

Capewell (210.4)

Capewell

Yak (210.5)

Yak

Minimak 12-key (210.5)

Minimak 12-key

EAton (210.6)

EAton

Norman (210.8)

Norman

Ergodox QWERTY (213.3)

Ergodox QWERTY

QWERTY (229.8)

QWERTY

XPeRT (233.1)

XPeRT

BvoFRak EN V0.5 (234.7)

BvoFRak EN V0.5

Dvorak Programmer (238.3)

Dvorak Programmer

TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX) (247.1)

TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX)

Colemak Programmer (251.9)

Colemak Programmer

Workman Programmers (255.7)

Workman Programmers

QWERTY Programmer (274.3)

QWERTY Programmer