CrystalDiskMark vs fio

CrystalDiskMark9.0Visit Ffio8.8Visit

Higher score CrystalDiskMark #1 in Disk Benchmark Software 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 5 features Get CrystalDiskMark

vs

F fio #2 in Disk Benchmark Software 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit fio

• CrystalDiskMark fits best

  Easy Windows SSD and disk testing

• fio fits best

  Broad, rigorous cross-platform benchmarking

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Side by side

Feature	CrystalDiskMark 9.0/10 Visit ↗	Ffio 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.8
Ranking	#1 in Disk Benchmark Software	#2 in Disk Benchmark Software
Best for	Easy Windows SSD and disk testing	Broad, rigorous cross-platform benchmarking
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop	Self-hosted
Platforms	Windows	Linux, Windows, macOS
Built for	Solo, Small business	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features CrystalDiskMark 0/5 · fio 5/5
Random I/O tests	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Sequential tests	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
IOPS measurement	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Latency measurement	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Command-line interface	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Specs
Supported platforms	Not checked yet	Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, OSX, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Windows, FreeBSD, DragonFly
Our review
Pros	Tests sequential, random, read, write, and mixed performance. Shows MB/s, GB/s, IOPS, and average latency results. Exports results as text or PNG, JPEG, and BMP images.	Covers sequential, random, mixed, IOPS, bandwidth, and latency workloads Runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and several Unix-like systems Exports normal, terse, JSON, and JSON+ result formats
Cons	Windows-only software. The Microsoft Store edition costs $9.99 one-time. Its many settings may be more than casual users need.	Command-line and job-file workflows require technical familiarity Results and workload behavior depend on configuration choices Focused on engineering measurement rather than guided visual analysis
Our verdict	CrystalDiskMark is an open-source Windows storage benchmark for measuring sequential, random, read, write, and mixed disk performance. It suits users comparing SSDs, checking drive behavior, or documenting storage results. You choose the… Read the review →	fio is an open-source I/O tester for measuring storage and filesystem performance. It is intended for engineers and administrators who need configurable benchmarks across Linux, Windows, macOS, and several Unix-like operating systems.… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• CrystalDiskMark — where it wins

  • Tests sequential, random, read, write, and mixed performance.
  • Shows MB/s, GB/s, IOPS, and average latency results.
  • Exports results as text or PNG, JPEG, and BMP images.

  Where it doesn't

  • Windows-only software.
  • The Microsoft Store edition costs $9.99 one-time.
  • Its many settings may be more than casual users need.

• fio — where it wins

  • Covers sequential, random, mixed, IOPS, bandwidth, and latency workloads
  • Runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, and several Unix-like systems
  • Exports normal, terse, JSON, and JSON+ result formats

  Where it doesn't

  • Command-line and job-file workflows require technical familiarity
  • Results and workload behavior depend on configuration choices
  • Focused on engineering measurement rather than guided visual analysis

• CrystalDiskMark9.0/10 · Free plan

  A configurable Windows disk benchmark with detailed speed, IOPS, and latency results.

  Get CrystalDiskMarkFull verdict →
• Ffio8.8/10 · Free plan

  A free, open-source benchmark for detailed storage and filesystem performance analysis.

  Visit fioFull verdict →