Best keyboard layouts for English speakers (May 2017)

15 May 2017

See the results for best keyboard layouts for April 2017.

For up-to-date results, 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
1Seelpy 1 ErgolinearErgo112.584.4108.9152.2
2X6.4H ErgolinearErgo115.394.2113.4145
3X6 ErgolinearErgo117.4102.1113.6139.4
4Vu Keys Ergolinear 1Ergo119.297.3113.9150.9
5QGMLWY Ergolinear 1Ergo123.6104118.3151.9
6SorenK Ergolinear 1Ergo123.7106.1116.4149.7
7BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr3ANSI124.2104.6118.3152.7
8Maltron ErgolinearErgo124.6100.2129157.3
9MTGap TS Ergolinear 2Ergo124.8107.8122.1149
10RSTHD ErgoLinear 2Ergo125.199.8124.8160.2
11Colmak TS Ergolinear 2Ergo125.8104.3119.5157
12Ian X4 ANSI128.4103.5114.6166
13Arensito ErgolinearErgo128.8114.7119150.6
14Nawfal ErgolinearErgo129.7113.4121.4154.3
15Dvorak ErgolinearErgo131.3115.6128.4153.7
16BEAKL5 ErgoLinearErgo131.6113.9126.4157.2
17schizoKBD-shifted ANSI133105.4120.8174.1
18Plum ErgolinearErgo138122.8131.9160.5
19Arensito ANSI138.1121.2127.1163.9
20Arensito Kinesis Ergo138.5115.2132.3172.3
21BEAKL Opted 1Ergo146.5105.6131.5206.6
22Ergodox MTGAP TSErgo153.4108.7141.4218.1
23-+T+- HT02a Ergo154.494.5137.2241.4
24Ian M2 tweakANSI156.2105.5139.3230.3
25Ergodox Colemak TSErgo156.8106.7141.1229.8
26MK-Type V2.Staggerfix ANSI158.1109138.4230.8
27Ian R2 pANSI159.4105.9136.3238.9
28Maltron 90 ErgodoxErgo167102.8180.9252.8
29Kinesis Svorak-r Ergo167.4119.1156.2237
30AOEYK ANSI172.6116.2179.5249.2
31Kinesis Colemak Ergo174.3110.8183.4260.4
32Right Pinky's FriendANSI182.3123.4198.7260.3
33Ergodox Norman Ergo187125.6190.8271.4
34Ian S2 ANSI189.8115.7203.8289.4
35Vu Keys ANSI191.2111.4199.8299.9
36Dvorak StandardANSI191.5128.6211.1274.2
37Aus der Neo-Welt ANSI191.9119.7186.6293.3
38Halmak 2.2ANSI192120.2202.6289
39SorenK ANSI192.3120.1199.2291
40MTGAP ANSI192.5120.7206.3288.9
41Klausler ANSI193.9117.4207.4297
42QGMLWY ANSI195.1118.3202.6300
43Colemak ANSI195.5118.6200.9300.9
44Burroughs BowerANSI195.5121.9200.8296.5
45Balance Twelve ANSI195.7116.5188.8307
46QFMLWY ANSI195.8120.5203298.6
57Acemak 1 ANSI195.9119.4201.5300.9
48Capewell-Dvorak ANSI196.4123.8212293.7
49HIEAMTSRN ANSI196.5118.5204.4302.9
50TypeHacK Layout ANSI196.6123.7203.2296.3
51Seruxie ANSI196.9122.5202.8298.9
52Tarmak 4 (ETRO)ANSI198.7123.9203.5301.5
53BLOU ANSI199.3125.5209.4299.4
54Workman ANSI200125.9206.1301.4
55Asset ANSI200.3126.3205.1301.9
56Neo 2 (v1)ANSI200.8127.2210300.8
57Capewell ANSI201127.5205.4301.9
58Minimak 12-keyANSI202.8130.1207.6302.5
59Norman ANSI202.8130207.9302.7
60Kinesis Qwerty Ergo204159.9207.2264.3
61Tallus ANSI206.2121.7185.3328.1
62BvoFRak EN V0.5ANSI223.1114.7185.3382
63QWERTY ANSI224.9167.1224.6305
64Dvorak ProgrammerANSI229128.8196.6375.4
65Colemak ProgrammerANSI239.4119.2202.6414.4
65TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX)ANSI243.7197.3238.7309.2
66Workman ProgrammersANSI244.2126.3210.1415.3
67QWERTY ProgrammerANSI266.2167.9230.2410.5

Seelpy 1 Ergolinear (112.5)

Seelpy 1 Ergolinear

X6.4H ErgoLinear (115.3)

X6.4H Ergolinear

X6 ErgoLinear (117.4)

X6 Ergolinear

Vu Keys Ergolinear 1 (119.2)

Vu Keys Ergolinear 1

QGMLWY Ergolinear 1 (123.6)

QGMLWY Ergolinear 1

SorenK Ergolinear 1 (123.7)

SorenK Ergolinear 1

BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr 3 (124.2)

BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr 3

Maltron ErgoLinear (124.6)

Maltron ErgoLinear

MTGap TS ErgoLinear 2 (124.8)

MTGap TS ErgoLinear 2

RSTHD ErgoLinear 2 (125.1)

RSTHD ErgoLinear 2

Colemak Thumbshift ErgoLinear 2 (125.8)

Colemak Thumbshift ErgoLinear 2

Ian X4 (128.4)

Ian X4

Arensito ErgoLinear (128.8)

Arensito ErgoLinear

Nawfal ErgoLinear (129.7)

Nawfal ErgoLinear

Dvorak ErgoLinear (131.3)

Dvorak ErgoLinear

BEAKL5 ErgoLinear (131.6)

BEAKL5 ErgoLinear

schizoKBD-shifted (133)

schizoKBD-shifted

Plum Ergolinear (138)

Plum Ergolinear

Arensito (138.1)

Arensito

Arensito Kinesis (138.5)

Arensito Kinesisy

BEAKL Opted 1 (146.5)

BEAKL Opted 1

MTGap TS Ergodox (153.4)

MTGap TS Ergodox

-+T+-HT02a (154.4)

-+T+-HT02a

Ian M2 Tweak (156.2)

Ian M2 Tweak

Colemak Thumbshift Ergodox (156.8)

Colemak TS Ergodox

MK-Type V2.Staggerfix (158.1)

MK-Type V2.Staggerfix

Ian R2p (159.4)

Ian R2p

Maltron 90 Ergodox (167)

Maltron 90 Ergodox

Kinesis Advantage Svorak-r (167.4)

Kinesis Advantage Svorak-r

AOEYK (172.6)

AOEYK

Kinesis Advantage Colemak (174.3)

Kinesis Advantage Colemak

Right Pinky's Friend (182.3)

Right Pinky's Friend

Ergodox Norman (187)

Ergodox Norman

Ian S2 (189.8)

Ian S2

Vu Keys (191.2)

Vu Keys

Dvorak Simplified (ie Standard) (191.5)

Dvorak Simplified (ie Standard)

Aus der Neo-Welt (191.9)

Aus der Neo-Welt

Halmak 2.2 (192)

Halmak 2.2

SorenK (192.3)

SorenK

MTGAP (192.5)

MTGAP

Klausler (193.9)

Klausler

QGMLWY (195.1)

QGMLWY

Colemak (195.5))

Colemak

Burroughs Bower (195.5)

Burroughs Bower

Balance Twelve (195.7)

Balance Twelve

QFMLWY (195.8)

QFMLWY

Acemak 1 (195.9)

Acemak 1

Capewell-Dvorak (196.4)

Capewell-Dvorak

HIEAMTSRN (196.5)

HIEAMTSRN

TypeHack (196.6)

TypeHack

Seruxie (196.9)

Seruxie

Tarmak 4 (198.7)

Tarmak 4

BLOU (199.3)

BLOU

Workman (200)

Workman

Asset (200.3)

Asset

Neo 2 (v1) (200.8)

Neo 2

Capewell (201)

Capewell

Minimak 12-key (202.8)

Minimak 12-key

Norman (202.8)

Norman

Kinesis Advantage Qwerty (204)

Kinesis Advantage Qwerty

Tallus (206.2)

Tallus

BvoFRak EN V0.5 (223.1)

BvoFRak EN V0.5

QWERTY (224.9)

QWERTY

Dvorak Programmer (229)

Dvorak Programmer

Colemak Programmer (239.4)

Colemak Programmer

TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX) (243.7)

TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX)

Workman Programmers (244.2)

Workman Programmers

QWERTY Programmer (266.2)

QWERTY Programmer