Fast Search Tools Comparison: ripgrep and Its Alternatives

The article introduces the fast search tool ripgrep (rg) and compares it with other content‑search utilities such as grep, The Platinum Searcher (pt), UniversalCodeGrep (ucg), ack, sift, The Silver Searcher (ag), and git‑grep.

Directory Search Benchmark

Tool

Command

Time (seconds)

grep grep -FR ext4 . 37.972

ucg ucg -Q --nosmart-case ext4 1.196

pt pt ext4 0.994

ack ack -Q ext4 8.523

sift sift -SQ ext4 1.886

git grep git grep -F ext4 1.911

ag ag -sQ ext4 1.011

rg rg -sF ext4 0.955

File Search Benchmark (Chinese text search)

Tool

Command

Time (seconds)

grep grep '賈母' 24264-0.txt 1.084

ucg ucg '賈母' 24264-0.txt 1.926

pt pt '賈母' 24264-0.txt 0.235

ack ack '賈母' 24264-0.txt 0.845

sift sift '賈母' 24264-0.txt 0.228

git grep git grep --no-index '賈母' 24264-0.txt 1.644

ag ag '賈母' 24264-0.txt 1.585

rg rg '賈母' 24264-0.txt 0.251

Comparison Conclusion

Both pt (The Platinum Searcher) and rg (ripgrep) are the fastest tools; rg offers a rich feature set and overall best performance, while tools like ack or ag provide additional features at slightly slower speeds.

Feature Highlights of ripgrep

Very fast search speed

Rich and practical search capabilities

Supports search‑and‑replace

Can search files with various Chinese encodings using --encoding Configuration via .ripgreprc JSON output support

Can search compressed files (gz, bz2, …)

Result sorting

Honors .gitignore by default (disable with --no-ignore)

Does not search hidden files unless --hidden is used

Skips non‑text files unless --text is specified

Does not follow symlinks unless --follow is enabled

Common ripgrep Commands

Simple search: rg name Makefile Regex search: rg 'name\w+' Makefile Search a directory: rg 'name\w+' Search only specific extensions: rg 'name\w+' -g '*.c' Exclude specific extensions: rg 'name\w+' -g '!*.c' Search only C files: rg 'name\w+' -g '*.{c,h}' or rg 'name\w+' -t c Exclude C files: rg 'name\w+' -T c List supported file types: rg --type-list Add a custom type: rg 'name\w+' --type-add 'web:*.{html,css,js}' -t web Search and replace: rg 'name(\w+)' -r NAME$1 Limit line length to 50 characters: rg 'name\w+' -M 50 Integration with Editors

Vim – use the vim‑ripgrep plugin

Emacs – options include ripgrep.el, counsel‑rg (via ivy), helm‑rg, deadgrep, and color‑rg VSCode – use the vscode‑ripgrep extension

These integrations allow developers to invoke ripgrep directly from their favorite editors, providing fast, on‑the‑fly searching of source code and other text files.