ripgrep Review (2026): Pricing, Features & Honest Verdict

TLDR

ripgrep is the fastest code search tool available, combining the speed of Rust with smart defaults like .gitignore awareness and Unicode support. Best for: developers searching codebases of any size. Price: Free (open source). Rating: 8.2/10

What is ripgrep?

ripgrep (rg) is a line-oriented search tool that recursively searches the current directory for a regex pattern. Created by Andrew Gallant, it’s designed as a replacement for grep, ack, ag (The Silver Searcher), and similar tools. What sets ripgrep apart is its combination of raw speed, sensible defaults, and broad feature set.

The tool has become so influential that VS Code uses ripgrep as its underlying search engine for “Find in Files.” When you search across a project in VS Code, ripgrep is doing the heavy lifting. That same power is available directly from your terminal, and it’s substantially faster than any alternative for large codebases.

Key Features

Unmatched Speed

ripgrep consistently benchmarks as the fastest grep-like tool available. It achieves this through Rust’s zero-cost abstractions, SIMD-accelerated regex matching, parallel directory traversal, and memory-mapped file I/O. On large codebases with millions of lines, the speed difference is not just measurable but visible.

Smart Defaults

Like fd, ripgrep respects .gitignore rules, skips hidden files, and ignores binary files by default. This means searching a project gives you relevant results immediately without manual exclusions. It also applies smart encoding detection and handles UTF-8 correctly.

File Type Filtering

Use -t to filter by language, like rg -t py "import" to search only Python files. ripgrep knows about dozens of file types and their extensions, making targeted searches concise.

Replace Mode

The -r flag enables search-and-replace across files, showing what would change. Combined with the --passthru flag, you can preview replacements before committing them. For actual file modification, pipe to other tools or use sd.

Compressed File Search

ripgrep can search inside gzip, bzip2, lzma, xz, and zstd compressed files with the -z flag. This is invaluable for searching through log archives without decompressing them first.

Pricing

ripgrep is free and open source under the Unlicense/MIT dual license. Install via brew, apt, cargo, or any major package manager.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Fastest grep-like tool available by significant margins
• Smart defaults that just work for code searching
• Powers VS Code’s search, proving reliability at scale
• Excellent Unicode and encoding support
• Can search compressed files without extraction

Cons

• Regex syntax differs slightly from PCRE (uses Rust regex engine)
• No built-in multiline search by default (requires flag)
• Output format changes can break scripts expecting grep output
• Overkill for simple single-file searches

Who Should Use ripgrep?

Every developer should have ripgrep installed. If you ever use grep to search code, ripgrep does the same thing faster with better defaults. It’s essential for anyone working on large codebases, searching log files, or doing code audits. The speed improvement on repositories with thousands of files is transformative.

Alternatives

fd

Finds files by name rather than content. Pair fd with ripgrep for a complete file discovery toolkit. fd finds where files are, ripgrep finds what’s in them.

The Silver Searcher (ag)

An earlier “fast grep” tool that was revolutionary in its time. ripgrep is consistently faster and has broader feature support, making ag largely obsolete.

sd

A modern find-and-replace tool that complements ripgrep. Use ripgrep to find matches, then sd to perform the actual replacements across files.

FAQ

How much faster is ripgrep than grep?

Typically 5-20x faster on large directory searches. The exact speedup depends on the workload, but ripgrep is consistently the fastest option in benchmarks.

Can ripgrep replace grep in scripts?

Mostly yes, but the output format differs slightly. Use --no-heading --no-line-number for grep-compatible output. Some regex features also differ.

Why does VS Code use ripgrep?

VS Code chose ripgrep for its speed, correctness, and cross-platform support. It handles the “Find in Files” feature for all workspace searches.