CrystalDiskMark vs simple-disk-benchmark

CrystalDiskMark is Windows software for benchmarking disk and storage performance. It measures sequential and random read, write and mixed workloads, with Peak, Real World and Demo measurement modes. Users can create custom test profiles, and results can be exported as UTF-16LE text with a BOM, PNG, JPEG or BMP. The download page lists Standard, Aoi and Shizuku editions; Standard is available as an installer, ZIP or source code. Listed system support spans Windows XP through Windows 11 and Windows Server 2003 through 2025, across x86, x64 and ARM64. However, the installer and x64 version do not support XP or Server 2003. The maker warns that benchmarking may shorten SSD or USB memory life and that results cannot be compared across different major versions. Results may also vary with test file size and position, fragmentation, storage controller, CPU speed and, for some SSDs, test data pattern. The free desktop edition costs nothing. A separate Microsoft Store edition costs 9.99 USD once.

simple-disk-benchmark is a free command-line tool for measuring disk read and write performance on Linux, macOS, and Windows. It can run read tests, write tests, or both, with controls for test-file size, block size, cycle count, and random seeking. Results are shown in a bar chart and can be exported as JSON, including timing summaries and individual run timings. The benchmark creates a file of the selected size at the chosen path, deleting any existing file there. Options let users keep the file after a run, skip file creation, and choose whether the file is closed between cycles. The project describes cache-bypass methods for macOS and Linux. Install it with Cargo on all listed platforms or with Homebrew on macOS. The project says macOS and Linux are tested; Windows support is limited to unit tests, with no other testing or validation stated. It is MIT licensed, and the README suggests piping JSON output to jq or csvkit for CSV use.