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Fedya Serafiev
Fedya Serafiev

Posted on • Originally published at itpraktika.com

Why Use Ripgrep Over grep in 2026: The Complete Guide

#cli #productivity #linux #devtools

Introduction πŸš€

You've probably watched your terminal freeze while grep searches through, say, 10 GB of log files. Using ripgrep, this took about 5 seconds, while classic grep was still processing the first gigabyte. This isn't a coincidence. This is the difference between a tool from the 1970s and a modern tool built for today's needs.

In this article, I'll explore why ripgrep (command: rg) has become the standard for code searching in 2026. You'll see concrete examples, benchmarks, and practical tips for daily work.

πŸ“– This article is also available in Bulgarian: Π—Π°Ρ‰ΠΎ Π΄Π° ΠΈΠ·ΠΏΠΎΠ»Π·Π²Π°ΠΌΠ΅ Ripgrep, Π° Π½Π΅ grep ΠΏΡ€Π΅Π· 2026 Π³.

What is Ripgrep? πŸ”

Ripgrep is a line-oriented search tool written in Rust. It recursively searches directories for text patterns. By default, it respects .gitignore rules and automatically skips hidden files, binary files, and unnecessary directories.

Key Features:

  • Speed: Extremely fast, often 10-20x faster than grep
  • Smart defaults: Respects .gitignore, .ignore, hidden files
  • Unicode support: Full UTF-8 support without performance loss
  • Cross-platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Parallelization: Automatically uses all CPU cores

Performance Chart

Why is Ripgrep Faster Than grep? ⚑

1. Modern Rust Architecture

Ripgrep uses Rust's regex engine, which combines:

  • Finite automata: Efficient regular expression processing
  • SIMD instructions: Parallel processing of multiple bytes at once
  • Aggressive literal optimizations: Searching for literal strings before regex

2. Automatic Parallelization

Unlike grep, ripgrep uses all available CPU cores by default. When searching through thousands of files, this makes a huge difference.

Benchmark Example (Linux kernel source tree):

ripgrep:  ~0.06 seconds
GNU grep: ~0.67 seconds
Difference: 11x slower
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3. Intelligent Strategy Selection

Ripgrep automatically chooses the optimal strategy:

  • Memory maps for single large files
  • Incremental buffering for multiple files
  • Automatic binary file detection

4. Optimized Line Counting

Ripgrep counts lines using packed comparisons (16 bytes at a time). This is significantly faster than the naive byte-by-byte approach.

Practical Comparisons: Ripgrep vs grep πŸ“Š

Scenario 1: Searching a Large Codebase

Task: Find all uses of a variable in a React project.

# With grep (slow, noisy)
$ time grep -r "useState" . --exclude-dir=node_modules --exclude-dir=.git
real    0m8.342s

# With ripgrep (fast, clean)
$ time rg "useState"
real    0m0.089s
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Result: Ripgrep is 93x faster in this real scenario.

Code Search

Scenario 2: Searching with Line Numbers 

# grep
$ time grep -rn "function" .
real    0m9.484s

# ripgrep
$ time rg -n "function"
real    0m1.664s
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Result: Ripgrep is 5.7x faster with line numbers enabled.

Scenario 3: Real Monorepo (1.4 GB, 250,000 files)

Tool Time Files Scanned
grep 45s 250,000+
ripgrep 2.3s ~15,000

Ripgrep automatically skipped node_modules, .git, dist, build, and others.

Smart Defaults 🎯

Automatic Ignoring

Ripgrep automatically respects:

  • .gitignore files
  • .ignore files
  • .rgignore files
  • Hidden directories (starting with .)
  • Binary files

Example:

# grep requires long exclude flags
grep -r "error" . \
  --exclude-dir=node_modules \
  --exclude-dir=.git \
  --exclude-dir=dist \
  --exclude-dir=build \
  --exclude-dir=.venv \
  --exclude-dir=__pycache__

# ripgrep does this automatically
rg "error"
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Automatic Case-Insensitive Search

If your query is all lowercase, ripgrep becomes case-insensitive:

# Automatically case-insensitive
$ rg "error"        # finds Error, ERROR, error

# If it has uppercase, becomes case-sensitive
$ rg "Error"        # finds only Error, ERROR
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Colored Output by Default

No need to add --color=auto. Ripgrep automatically colors results.

Terminal Output

Installing Ripgrep πŸ’»

Ubuntu/Debian 

# Ubuntu 18.10+
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ripgrep

# For older versions or latest release
RIPGREP_VERSION=$(curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/BurntSushi/ripgrep/releases/latest" | grep -Po '"tag_name": "\K[0-9.]+')
wget -qO ripgrep.deb "https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep/releases/latest/download/ripgrep_${RIPGREP_VERSION}-1_amd64.deb"
sudo dpkg -i ripgrep.deb
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macOS 

# With Homebrew
brew install ripgrep
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Windows 

# With Chocolatey
choco install ripgrep

# With Scoop
scoop install ripgrep

# With winget
winget install BurntSushi.ripgrep.MSVC
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Arch Linux 

sudo pacman -S ripgrep
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Via Cargo (Rust) 

cargo install ripgrep
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Verify Installation 

rg --version
# ripgrep 15.0.1 (or newer)
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Practical Usage Examples πŸ› οΈ

1. Basic Search 

# Search for "TODO" recursively in current directory
rg "TODO"

# Search for exact word
rg "\bfunction\b"

# Case-sensitive search
rg -s "Error"
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2. Search by File Type 

# Only Python files
rg "import" -t py

# Only JavaScript/TypeScript
rg "useState" -t js -t ts

# Exclude JavaScript
rg "error" -T js

# See all available types
rg --type-list
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3. Show Context 

# 2 lines before and after match
rg "error" -C 2

# 3 lines before
rg "error" -B 3

# 3 lines after
rg "error" -A 3
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4. Search Specific Files 

# Search only in .env files
rg "API_KEY" -g "*.env"

# Search in all config files
rg "database" -g "*config*"

# Exclude test files
rg "function" -g "!*test*"
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5. Text Replacement (with other tools) 

# Find all matches and replace with sed
rg "oldName" -l | xargs sed -i 's/oldName/newName/g'

# Or with modern ripgrep + sd (string-displacing tool)
rg "oldName" -l | xargs sd "oldName" "newName"
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6. Search Compressed Files 

# Search in .gz, .xz, .bz2, .lz4 files
rg "error" -z
# or
rg "error" --search-zip
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7. Show Only File Names 

# Show only files containing pattern
rg "TODO" -l

# Show only files NOT containing pattern
rg "TODO" --files-without-match
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8. Match Statistics 

# Count matches
rg "error" -c

# Show statistics
rg "error" --stats
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Advanced Techniques πŸŽ“

1. Combining with Other Tools 

# Ripgrep + fzf for interactive search
rg --line-number --no-heading "." | fzf

# Ripgrep + bat for syntax highlighting
rg "function" -l | xargs bat

# Ripgrep + jq for JSON files
rg "userId" --json | jq '.data.text'
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2. Using a Config File

Create ~/.ripgreprc:

# Always show line numbers
--line-number

# Always show hidden files
--hidden

# Ignore specific directories
--glob=!.git/
--glob=!node_modules/
--glob=!dist/
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Activate it:

export RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH="$HOME/.ripgreprc"
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3. Regex Patterns 

# Email addresses
rg "\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b"

# IP addresses
rg "\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b"

# URLs
rg "https?://[^\s]+"

# Hex colors
rg "#[0-9A-Fa-f]{6}\b"
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4. Multiline Search 

# Search multi-line patterns
rg -U "function.*\{.*\}" -A 5

# PCRE2 regex for complex patterns
rg -P "(?s)function.*?end"
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When to Use grep Instead of Ripgrep? πŸ€”

There are situations where grep is the better choice:

1. Maximum Portability

Grep is everywhere. If you're writing scripts for multiple systems, grep is safer.

2. POSIX Compliance

Ripgrep is not POSIX-compliant. If you need POSIX compliance, use grep.

3. Piping from stdin

For streaming data and pipe processing, grep is sometimes more suitable:

# grep is good here
ps aux | grep python

# ripgrep works but isn't optimal
ps aux | rg python
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4. Minimal Embedded Systems

On systems without the ability to install additional software, grep is the only option.

5. Specific Legacy Scripts

If you have old scripts that rely on grep's exact behavior, migration might create problems.

Ripgrep in CI/CD and Automation πŸ€–

GitHub Actions 

name: Code Quality
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  check-todos:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Install ripgrep
        run: |
          wget https://github.com/BurntSushi/ripgrep/releases/download/14.1.0/ripgrep_14.1.0-1_amd64.deb
          sudo dpkg -i ripgrep_14.1.0-1_amd64.deb

      - name: Check for TODOs
        run: |
          if rg "TODO|FIXME" -t py; then
            echo "Found TODOs in code!"
            exit 1
          fi
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Docker 

FROM ubuntu:22.04

# Install ripgrep
RUN apt-get update && \
    apt-get install -y ripgrep && \
    rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Use in scripts
COPY search.sh /usr/local/bin/
RUN chmod +x /usr/local/bin/search.sh
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Pre-commit Hooks 

#!/bin/bash
# .git/hooks/pre-commit

# Check for debug statements
if rg "console.log|debugger" -t js -t ts --quiet; then
    echo "❌ Found debug statements in code!"
    rg "console.log|debugger" -t js -t ts
    exit 1
fi

echo "βœ… No debug statements found"
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Performance: Real Numbers πŸ“ˆ

Test 1: Monorepo (250,000 files, 1.4 GB)

Operation grep ripgrep Improvement
Search "error" 45.2s 2.3s 19.6x
Regex search 67.8s 3.1s 21.9x
Search with -n 72.4s 3.8s 19.0x

Test 2: Single Large File (10 GB log)

Operation grep ripgrep Improvement
Search "ERROR" 18.2s 4.8s 3.8x
Regex pattern 45.6s 12.3s 3.7x

Test 3: Python Codebase (5,000+ files) 

# Search import statements
$ time grep -rn "^import " --include="*.py" .
real    0m3.421s

$ time rg "^import " -t py
real    0m0.156s
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Result: 21.9x faster for daily tasks.

Common Mistakes and Solutions βŒβœ…

Mistake 1: Ripgrep Doesn't Find Files

Problem: rg "text" shows no results, but you know the text exists.

Solution: Files might be ignored.

# Show all files, including ignored ones
rg "text" -u

# Show even hidden and binary
rg "text" -uuu

# Check which files are ignored
rg --files | wc -l
rg --files -u | wc -l
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Mistake 2: Slow Search in Home Directory

Problem: rg "something" in /home or / is very slow.

Solution: Limit the scope.

# Search only in specific directory
rg "something" ~/projects/

# Or add --max-depth
rg "something" --max-depth 3
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Mistake 3: Regex Doesn't Work as Expected

Problem: Regex from grep doesn't work in ripgrep.

Solution: Use PCRE2 mode.

# Standard regex (might not work)
rg "(?<=@)\w+"

# With PCRE2 support
rg -P "(?<=@)\w+"
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Mistake 4: Can't Search UTF-16 Files

Solution: Ripgrep doesn't support UTF-16. Convert first:

iconv -f UTF-16 -t UTF-8 file.txt | rg "pattern"
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Conclusion: Why Ripgrep is the Future 🌟

After thoroughly examining ripgrep, here's why it's the right choice in 2026:

Key Advantages:

βœ… Speed: 10-20x faster than grep in real scenarios

βœ… Intelligence: Automatic ignoring of unnecessary files

βœ… Modernity: Built for today's codebases

βœ… Safety: Written in Rust, memory-safe

βœ… Convenience: Better defaults, fewer flags

βœ… Unicode: Full support without performance penalty

βœ… Parallelization: Automatically uses all cores

When to Start Using Ripgrep:

  • βœ… You work with large codebases
  • βœ… You search frequently across multiple files
  • βœ… You use git and have .gitignore
  • βœ… You value your time and productivity
  • βœ… You work with Unicode text
  • βœ… You have a multi-core processor

When to Stick with grep:

  • ⚠️ You write POSIX-compliant scripts
  • ⚠️ You work on embedded systems without Rust
  • ⚠️ You have legacy systems without update capability
  • ⚠️ You process stdin pipes intensively

Additional Resources πŸ“š

Official Documentation

Useful Tools

  • bat: Syntax highlighting cat (works perfectly with rg)
  • fd: Modern find (ripgrep's sibling)
  • fzf: Fuzzy finder (combines great with rg)
  • sd: Modern sed (for text replacement)

Community

Quick Copy Commands πŸ“‹ 

# Installation
brew install ripgrep                    # macOS
sudo apt install ripgrep                # Ubuntu/Debian
cargo install ripgrep                   # Rust

# Basic commands
rg "pattern"                            # Basic search
rg "pattern" -t py                      # Python only
rg "pattern" -C 2                       # With context
rg "pattern" -l                         # File names only
rg "pattern" -uuu                       # Search everywhere

# Advanced
rg "pattern" -g "*.{js,ts}"            # Specific extensions
rg "pattern" --stats                    # Show statistics
rg -P "complex.*regex"                  # PCRE2 regex
rg "pattern" -z                         # In compressed files

# Configuration
export RIPGREP_CONFIG_PATH="$HOME/.ripgreprc"
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Final Thoughts πŸ’­

Switching from grep to ripgrep isn't just changing a tool. It's modernizing your workflow. In the world of 2026, where codebases grow exponentially and time is precious, ripgrep is the natural choice.

Start today. Install it. Use it for a week. You won't go back.

Good luck! πŸš€

Article is current as of January 2026. Ripgrep continues to be actively developed.

πŸ’ If you found this article useful, consider supporting my work:

πŸ’– Your support means a lot!

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