python-build-standalone measured fastest CPython: 10% faster than Homebrew, 18% than official Docker

charliermarsh · x · 2026-09-11

Astral's measurements show python-build-standalone is now the fastest CPython distribution across major platforms — 10% faster than Homebrew's CPython and 18% faster than the official python:3.14 Docker image.

The gains come from the build pipeline: modern Clang (enabling the tail-calling interpreter), PGO + LTO, BOLT, and statically linking libpython into the executable. The goal: installing CPython via uv should give you the fastest build available.

Related event: Astral Benchmarks python-build-standalone as Fastest CPython Distribution(4 posts)→

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