Best keyboard layouts for English speakers (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:

• Overall
• English
• Programming
• Other technical/misc 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	Seelpy 1 Ergolinear	Ergo	112.5	84.4	108.9	152.2
2	X6.4H Ergolinear	Ergo	115.3	94.2	113.4	145
3	X6 Ergolinear	Ergo	117.4	102.1	113.6	139.4
4	Vu Keys Ergolinear 1	Ergo	119.2	97.3	113.9	150.9
5	QGMLWY Ergolinear 1	Ergo	123.6	104	118.3	151.9
6	SorenK Ergolinear 1	Ergo	123.7	106.1	116.4	149.7
7	BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr3	ANSI	124.2	104.6	118.3	152.7
8	Maltron Ergolinear	Ergo	124.6	100.2	129	157.3
9	MTGap TS Ergolinear 2	Ergo	124.8	107.8	122.1	149
10	RSTHD ErgoLinear 2	Ergo	125.1	99.8	124.8	160.2
11	Colmak TS Ergolinear 2	Ergo	125.8	104.3	119.5	157
12	Ian X4	ANSI	128.4	103.5	114.6	166
13	Arensito Ergolinear	Ergo	128.8	114.7	119	150.6
14	Nawfal Ergolinear	Ergo	129.7	113.4	121.4	154.3
15	Dvorak Ergolinear	Ergo	131.3	115.6	128.4	153.7
16	BEAKL5 ErgoLinear	Ergo	131.6	113.9	126.4	157.2
17	schizoKBD-shifted	ANSI	133	105.4	120.8	174.1
18	Plum Ergolinear	Ergo	138	122.8	131.9	160.5
19	Arensito	ANSI	138.1	121.2	127.1	163.9
20	Arensito Kinesis	Ergo	138.5	115.2	132.3	172.3
21	BEAKL Opted 1	Ergo	146.5	105.6	131.5	206.6
22	Ergodox MTGAP TS	Ergo	153.4	108.7	141.4	218.1
23	-+T+- HT02a	Ergo	154.4	94.5	137.2	241.4
24	Ian M2 tweak	ANSI	156.2	105.5	139.3	230.3
25	Ergodox Colemak TS	Ergo	156.8	106.7	141.1	229.8
26	MK-Type V2.Staggerfix	ANSI	158.1	109	138.4	230.8
27	Ian R2 p	ANSI	159.4	105.9	136.3	238.9
28	Maltron 90 Ergodox	Ergo	167	102.8	180.9	252.8
29	Kinesis Svorak-r	Ergo	167.4	119.1	156.2	237
30	AOEYK	ANSI	172.6	116.2	179.5	249.2
31	Kinesis Colemak	Ergo	174.3	110.8	183.4	260.4
32	Right Pinky's Friend	ANSI	182.3	123.4	198.7	260.3
33	Ergodox Norman	Ergo	187	125.6	190.8	271.4
34	Ian S2	ANSI	189.8	115.7	203.8	289.4
35	Vu Keys	ANSI	191.2	111.4	199.8	299.9
36	Dvorak Standard	ANSI	191.5	128.6	211.1	274.2
37	Aus der Neo-Welt	ANSI	191.9	119.7	186.6	293.3
38	Halmak 2.2	ANSI	192	120.2	202.6	289
39	SorenK	ANSI	192.3	120.1	199.2	291
40	MTGAP	ANSI	192.5	120.7	206.3	288.9
41	Klausler	ANSI	193.9	117.4	207.4	297
42	QGMLWY	ANSI	195.1	118.3	202.6	300
43	Colemak	ANSI	195.5	118.6	200.9	300.9
44	Burroughs Bower	ANSI	195.5	121.9	200.8	296.5
45	Balance Twelve	ANSI	195.7	116.5	188.8	307
46	QFMLWY	ANSI	195.8	120.5	203	298.6
57	Acemak 1	ANSI	195.9	119.4	201.5	300.9
48	Capewell-Dvorak	ANSI	196.4	123.8	212	293.7
49	HIEAMTSRN	ANSI	196.5	118.5	204.4	302.9
50	TypeHacK Layout	ANSI	196.6	123.7	203.2	296.3
51	Seruxie	ANSI	196.9	122.5	202.8	298.9
52	Tarmak 4 (ETRO)	ANSI	198.7	123.9	203.5	301.5
53	BLOU	ANSI	199.3	125.5	209.4	299.4
54	Workman	ANSI	200	125.9	206.1	301.4
55	Asset	ANSI	200.3	126.3	205.1	301.9
56	Neo 2 (v1)	ANSI	200.8	127.2	210	300.8
57	Capewell	ANSI	201	127.5	205.4	301.9
58	Minimak 12-key	ANSI	202.8	130.1	207.6	302.5
59	Norman	ANSI	202.8	130	207.9	302.7
60	Kinesis Qwerty	Ergo	204	159.9	207.2	264.3
61	Tallus	ANSI	206.2	121.7	185.3	328.1
62	BvoFRak EN V0.5	ANSI	223.1	114.7	185.3	382
63	QWERTY	ANSI	224.9	167.1	224.6	305
64	Dvorak Programmer	ANSI	229	128.8	196.6	375.4
65	Colemak Programmer	ANSI	239.4	119.2	202.6	414.4
65	TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX)	ANSI	243.7	197.3	238.7	309.2
66	Workman Programmers	ANSI	244.2	126.3	210.1	415.3
67	QWERTY Programmer	ANSI	266.2	167.9	230.2	410.5

Seelpy 1 Ergolinear (112.5)

X6.4H ErgoLinear (115.3)

X6 ErgoLinear (117.4)

Vu Keys Ergolinear 1 (119.2)

QGMLWY Ergolinear 1 (123.6)

SorenK Ergolinear 1 (123.7)

BEAKL 4 Mod Ian AltGr 3 (124.2)

Maltron ErgoLinear (124.6)

MTGap TS ErgoLinear 2 (124.8)

RSTHD ErgoLinear 2 (125.1)

Colemak Thumbshift ErgoLinear 2 (125.8)

Ian X4 (128.4)

Arensito ErgoLinear (128.8)

Nawfal ErgoLinear (129.7)

Dvorak ErgoLinear (131.3)

BEAKL5 ErgoLinear (131.6)

schizoKBD-shifted (133)

Plum Ergolinear (138)

Arensito (138.1)

Arensito Kinesis (138.5)

BEAKL Opted 1 (146.5)

MTGap TS Ergodox (153.4)

-+T+-HT02a (154.4)

Ian M2 Tweak (156.2)

Colemak Thumbshift Ergodox (156.8)

MK-Type V2.Staggerfix (158.1)

Ian R2p (159.4)

Maltron 90 Ergodox (167)

Kinesis Advantage Svorak-r (167.4)

AOEYK (172.6)

Kinesis Advantage Colemak (174.3)

Right Pinky's Friend (182.3)

Ergodox Norman (187)

Ian S2 (189.8)

Vu Keys (191.2)

Dvorak Simplified (ie Standard) (191.5)

Aus der Neo-Welt (191.9)

Halmak 2.2 (192)

SorenK (192.3)

MTGAP (192.5)

Klausler (193.9)

QGMLWY (195.1)

Colemak (195.5))

Burroughs Bower (195.5)

Balance Twelve (195.7)

QFMLWY (195.8)

Acemak 1 (195.9)

Capewell-Dvorak (196.4)

HIEAMTSRN (196.5)

TypeHack (196.6)

Seruxie (196.9)

Tarmak 4 (198.7)

BLOU (199.3)

Workman (200)

Asset (200.3)

Neo 2 (v1) (200.8)

Capewell (201)

Minimak 12-key (202.8)

Norman (202.8)

Kinesis Advantage Qwerty (204)

Tallus (206.2)

BvoFRak EN V0.5 (223.1)

QWERTY (224.9)

Dvorak Programmer (229)

Colemak Programmer (239.4)

TNWMLC (Worst CarpalX) (243.7)

Workman Programmers (244.2)

QWERTY Programmer (266.2)