Best keyboard layouts for English (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:

• Overall
• English
• Programming
• Other technical tests

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.

Rank	Layout	Style	All	English	Prog	OtherTech
1	X6.4H Ergolinear	Ergo	116.2	91.1	113.4	148
2	X6 Ergolinear	Ergo	117	98	113.7	141.5
3	BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr 3	ANSI	123.7	100.5	118.3	156.8
4	MTGap TS ErgoLinear 2	Ergo	124.8	104.2	122.1	151.2
5	Maltron Ergolinear	Ergo	126.3	98.4	129	160.3
6	RSTHD ErgoLinear 2	Ergo	126.4	97.2	124.8	162.9
7	Colemak TS ErgoLinear 2	Ergo	126.7	101.3	119.5	160.1
8	Arensito Ergolinear	Ergo	127.7	110.8	119	151.1
9	Nawfal Ergolinear	Ergo	129.5	109.4	121.4	156.6
10	Dvorak Ergolinear	Ergo	130.6	111	128.4	155.5
11	BEAKL5 ErgoLinear	Ergo	131.4	109.1	126.4	160.4
12	schizoKBD-shifted	ANSI	133.9	101.4	120.8	181.8
13	Plum Ergolinear	Ergo	137.1	118.4	131.9	161.8
14	Arensito	ANSI	137.4	117.2	127.1	167.7
15	Arensito Kinesis	Ergo	139.7	111.3	132.3	177.1
16	Ergodox MTGAP Thumbshift	Ergo	159.2	105.1	141.4	231.2
17	Ian M3	ANSI	159.8	101.6	140.5	244.2
18	-+T+- HT02a	Ergo	162.5	91.8	137.2	257.2
19	Ergodox Colemak Thumbshift	Ergo	163.4	104.1	141.1	243.3
20	Ian R2 p	ANSI	163.8	101.8	136.3	255.9
21	Kinesis Advantage Svorak-r	Ergo	172.2	114.8	156.2	247.8
22	Maltron 90 Ergodox	Ergo	175.5	101.3	180.9	265.9
23	AOEYK	ANSI	177.8	112.2	179.5	265.7
24	Kinesis Advantage Colemak	Ergo	182.5	108.5	183.4	274.1
25	Right Pinky's Friend	ANSI	187.2	119.2	198.7	275.4
26	Ergodox Norman	Ergo	194.9	122.3	190.8	286
27	Ergodox QWERTY Thumbshift	Ergo	197.8	152.2	172.6	261.4
28	Dvorak Simplified (ie Standard)	ANSI	198.9	124.2	211.1	295.8
29	Aus der Neo-Welt	ANSI	199.3	116.2	186.6	315.1
30	Ian S2	ANSI	199.4	112	203.8	315.9
31	Halmak 1	ANSI	199.9	116.2	202.9	311.8
32	dangvu	ANSI	200.3	109.1	199.2	323.5
33	Vu Keys	ANSI	200.3	109	199.8	323.6
34	MTGAP	ANSI	200.8	117.2	206.3	311.9
35	SorenK	ANSI	200.9	117.1	199.2	314.4
36	Balance Twelve	ANSI	202.9	112.9	188.8	328.6
37	QGMLWY	ANSI	203.7	115.4	202.6	323
38	Burroughs Bower (typewriter)	ANSI	203.8	118.8	200.8	319.3
39	Colemak	ANSI	204.2	115.9	200.9	324.1
40	Klausler	ANSI	204.3	114.5	207.4	324.5
41	Seruxie	ANSI	205.7	119.2	202.8	323.1
42	HIEAMTSRN	ANSI	205.9	114.5	204.4	329.5
43	DreymaR	ANSI	206.4	122.1	208.3	319.4
44	Kinesis Advantage Qwerty	Ergo	207.5	154.4	207.2	273.4
45	Workman	ANSI	207.6	121.5	206.1	324.1
46	BLOU	ANSI	208.1	121.5	209.4	324.4
47	Capewell	ANSI	210.4	123.8	205.4	328.7
48	Yak	ANSI	210.5	126.3	206.4	325.1
49	Minimak 12-key	ANSI	210.5	126.7	207.6	324.5
50	EAton	ANSI	210.6	116	204.2	340
51	Norman	ANSI	210.8	126.7	207.9	325.1
52	Ergodox QWERTY	Ergo	213.3	157.4	207.1	284.3
53	QWERTY	ANSI	229.8	161.3	224.6	323.7
54	XPeRT	ANSI	233.1	159.3	226.7	334.5
55	BvoFRak EN V0.5	ANSI	234.7	111.7	185.3	415.4
56	Dvorak Programmer	ANSI	238.3	124.5	196.6	404.4
57	TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX)	ANSI	247.1	191	238.7	325.2
58	Colemak Programmer	ANSI	251.9	116.6	202.6	449.3
59	Workman Programmers	ANSI	255.7	122.1	210.1	449.8
60	QWERTY Programmer	ANSI	274.3	162.3	230.2	438.6

X6.4H ErgoLinear (116.2)

X6 ErgoLinear (117)

BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr 3 (123.7)

MTGap TS ErgoLinear 2 (124.8)

Maltron ErgoLinear (126.3)

RSTHD ErgoLinear 2 (126.4)

Colemak Thumbshift ErgoLinear 2 (126.7)

Arensito ErgoLinear (127.7)

Nawfal ErgoLinear (129.5)

Dvorak ErgoLinear (130.6)

BEAKL5 ErgoLinear (131.4)

schizoKBD-shifted (133.9)

Plum Ergolinear (137.1)

Arensito (137.4)

Arensito Kinesis (139.7)

MTGap TS Ergodox (159.2)

Ian M3 (159.8)

-+T+-HT02a (162.5)

Colemak Thumbshift Ergodox (163.4)

Ian R2p (163.8)

Kinesis Advantage Svorak-r (172.2)

Maltron 90 Ergodox (175.5)

AOEYK (177.8)

Kinesis Advantage Colemak (182.5)

Right Pinky's Friend (187.2)

Ergodox Norman (194.9)

Ergodox QWERTY Thumbshift (197.8)

Dvorak Simplified (ie Standard) (198.9)

Aus der Neo-Welt (199.3)

Ian S2 (199.4)

Halmak 1 (199.9)

dangvu (200.3)

Vu Keys (200.3)

MTGAP (200.8)

SorenK (200.9)

Balance Twelve (202.9)

QGMLWY (203.7)

Burroughs Bower (203.8)

Colemak (204.2)

Klausler (204.3)

Seruxie (205.7)

HIEAMTSRN (205.9)

DreymaR (206.4)

Kinesis Advantage Qwerty (207.5)

Workman (207.6)

BLOU (208.1)

Capewell (210.4)

Yak (210.5)

Minimak 12-key (210.5)

EAton (210.6)

Norman (210.8)

Ergodox QWERTY (213.3)

QWERTY (229.8)

XPeRT (233.1)

BvoFRak EN V0.5 (234.7)

Dvorak Programmer (238.3)

TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX) (247.1)

Colemak Programmer (251.9)

Workman Programmers (255.7)

QWERTY Programmer (274.3)