The alternatives to QWERTY that people actually use are Dvorak, Colemak (and its variants), Workman, Norman, and newer community designs such as Canary and Sturdy. They all try to put the most-used letters under your strongest fingers and cut finger travel. None of them is a guaranteed speed upgrade, but several can make typing feel calmer. Below we compare them, look at what the research really shows, and lay out how to switch without losing a month of productivity.
TL;DR
- Dvorak, Colemak, Workman, Norman, Canary and Sturdy all cut finger travel, often by more than 40% compared with QWERTY, according to one layout comparison.
- Speed gains are small or unproven: a 1975 analysis found Dvorak would be no faster than QWERTY. Comfort is the better reason to switch.
- Colemak is the gentlest move (most shortcuts stay put). Dvorak is the classic. Workman and Norman suit people who dislike reaching for the middle columns.
- Plan on a couple of months of daily practice before you are back to your old speed.
- The keyboard's physical shape, a straight-column grid for example, matters as much as the letter arrangement.
Table of Contents
- The main alternatives at a glance
- Dvorak: the original alternative
- Colemak and its variants
- Workman and Norman
- Newer designs: Canary, Sturdy and others
- Is Dvorak faster than QWERTY?
- What the evidence says about comfort and ergonomics
- How to choose: writing, work or gaming
- How to switch without wrecking your week
- Learn Matrix-Dvorak on a keyboard built for it
- FAQ
- Sources
The main alternatives at a glance
A layout is just the map of which letter sits on which key. Changing the map costs nothing on any modern computer, and that is why a whole community of layout designers exists. The table below covers the ones you will meet most often.
| Layout | Year / origin | Main idea | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dvorak | 1930s, the original alternative | Vowels on the left home row, common consonants on the right, so hands alternate | Writers and coders who want a proven, widely supported layout |
| Colemak | Designed for English touch typing | Keeps many QWERTY keys in place, moves the most-used letters to the home row | People who want a modest learning curve |
| Colemak-DH | Colemak variant | Adjusts the middle-column letters to reduce awkward reaches | Colemak fans who find the centre columns uncomfortable |
| Workman | Proposed by OJ Bucao | Treats the inner index columns as costly, keeps frequent letters off them | Typists who dislike sideways stretching |
| Norman | By David Norman, 2012 | Similar thinking to Workman, centre column de-prioritized | Same group as Workman |
| Canary | 2022, AKL community | Favours "rolls" across fingers, near-zero same-finger bigrams | Enthusiasts willing to adopt a specific hand position |
| Sturdy | 2022 | Smooth rolls, almost no awkward redirects | Enthusiasts after the lowest finger strain |
Regional variants such as AZERTY (common in French-speaking countries) and QWERTZ are a different thing. They are rearranged QWERTY for local languages, not new designs aimed at reducing finger movement, so they do not belong on a list of ergonomic alternatives.
Dvorak: the original alternative
Dvorak puts all five vowels and the most common consonants on the home row, which encourages hands to alternate. According to Wikipedia, Dvorak uses about 63% of the finger motion that QWERTY requires. The same page notes that some users with repetitive strain injuries report relief after switching, but that no scientific study has verified this.
That honesty is worth holding on to. Dvorak is a well-supported, well-documented layout with a long history, and many typists find it pleasant. TypeFast.io even points out that part of its appeal is aesthetic: it is the layout of people who care about layouts. If that sounds like you, it is a perfectly good reason.
If you write code, the punctuation positions matter more. We cover that in our guides to the programmer Dvorak layout and whether Dvorak is worth it for programming.
Colemak and its variants
Colemak is designed for efficient, ergonomic touch typing in English. Its site describes it as the third most popular layout for English after QWERTY and Dvorak. It ships with Windows, Mac and Linux, and it is in the public domain.
The selling point is continuity. Only two keys move between hands, and common shortcuts such as Ctrl+Z, X, C and V stay where they were. The Colemak site also claims that fingers move 2.2 times more on QWERTY, and that QWERTY has 16 times more same-hand row jumping.
In a comparison of 23,331 words of English, Colemak showed 43% less travel than QWERTY, 72% of typing on the home row and 2.9% same-finger pairs. Colemak-DH scored 44% less travel, 75% home row and 1.4% same-finger pairs. That is why the DH variant is popular with people who find the middle columns awkward.
Workman and Norman
These two layouts came from a different question. Rather than only counting distance, they ask which keys are costly to reach. Norman's comparison page explains that Norman and Workman de-prioritize the centre column (G and H on QWERTY), while Colemak treats it as part of the home row. It also says Workman cuts use of the two middle columns by about 50% compared with Colemak, and that Norman has 44% less finger travel from the home row than QWERTY.
The reasoning, as one guide to Workman puts it, is that the inner index columns demand a sideways stretch that pulls the hand, so frequent letters are moved away from them. Workman's home row use is 68% in the same comparison above, lower than Colemak's 72%, which is a deliberate trade.
The useful insight is that layouts after Colemak disagree about what typing costs you, not about how often letters appear. Each is internally consistent under its own assumptions, so you are choosing a philosophy as much as a letter map.
Newer designs: Canary, Sturdy and others
Canary was released in 2022 by many layout creators from the Alternate Keyboard Layout community. Its guiding principle is high rolls, with over 55% of trigrams, and almost 0% same-finger bigrams. Its creators stress that it is designed for a row-stagger keyboard with the Angle Mod, and that the optimization depends on it.
Sturdy, also from 2022, scores 63% home-row usage with a 1.0% same-finger rate. In the same comparison, Halmak needed the least finger travel at 47% below QWERTY, and Gallium Rowstag had the fewest same-finger pairs at 0.9% against QWERTY's 6.5%.
The lesson from that comparison: no single layout wins every metric. Decide which metric you care about, whether that is distance, same-finger strain or hand alternation, and match the layout to it. These newer layouts have far fewer learning resources and less default operating-system support than Colemak or Dvorak, so expect to install a layout file yourself.
Is Dvorak faster than QWERTY?
Probably not by much, and possibly not at all. Here is what the record shows.
- The famous 1944 study claiming big gains is widely considered methodologically flawed; modern comparisons find single-digit-percent differences between skilled typists.
- Kinkead's 1975 analysis concluded that QWERTY was used at near-maximum speeds and Dvorak would be no faster.
- A summary of two motion-based studies cites Nickells at 6.2% faster for Dvorak and Kinkead at only 2.3%.
- A 1996 analysis by Liebowitz and Margolis, as reported there, put any advantage at roughly 5 to 10% for people who learned Dvorak from scratch.
Pascal Getreuer makes the practical point: speed comes from practice, not layout, and many extremely fast typists use QWERTY. If your only goal is raw words per minute, a layout change is the slow way to get there. If your goal is comfort and less reaching, read on.
What the evidence says about comfort and ergonomics
Shorter finger travel is real and measurable: the comparison data above shows reductions often beyond 40%. What is less settled is whether that translates to fewer injuries. One review notes that some studies suggest reduced finger travel correlates with lower strain over long sessions, but that posture, keyboard tilt and desk height usually have a bigger effect than the layout does.
That is useful advice in itself. Before blaming your layout, check the basics: forearms supported, wrists neutral, screen at eye level. Adjustable keyboard trays and neutral wrist positions are one way to improve the physical setup, and they combine well with a layout that reduces reaching.
If you have pain, numbness or tingling in your hands or wrists, see your doctor or an occupational therapist. A layout is not a treatment.
The hardware side matters too. Our guide to ergonomic versus regular keyboards explains how a straight-column grid changes the way your fingers travel, which is a different gain from rearranging letters.
How to choose: writing, work or gaming
There is no universal winner, but a few rules cover most cases.
- You want the easiest switch. Choose Colemak. TypeFast.io calls it the right starting point for most people because it is meaningfully better than QWERTY, less disruptive than Dvorak and supported by every operating system.
- You want the classic with the most documentation. Choose Dvorak, and consider a programmer variant if you write code.
- Your hands dislike reaching to the middle columns. Try Colemak-DH, Workman or Norman.
- You are an enthusiast chasing the lowest strain. Look at Canary or Sturdy, ideally on a keyboard that suits their fingering assumptions.
- You game. Many games bind keys by position, so check whether the game lets you remap. Some typists keep QWERTY for games and use another layout for everything else; this is easy on a keyboard that lets you swap layouts in firmware or software.
Andrew Drogalis suggests picking four layouts and spending a week on each. He says experimenting typically takes a month, with roughly two more months to become proficient. That is a reasonable trial plan.
How to switch without wrecking your week
Expect a dip. The reports below are individual experiences, not guarantees.
- Getreuer's approach: memorize the layout by drawing it repeatedly, then practise on keybr.com for 30 minutes daily for 2 to 3 days, aiming for 99% accuracy. His own progress was 40 wpm after one month, 50 after two and 80 after a year.
- Colemak learners, according to one guide, typically reach 30 to 40 wpm in the first two weeks and recover their old speed in 1 to 3 months of consistent daily practice.
- Drogalis reached 20 wpm in about five days and 40 wpm after two months on Gallium.
A workable plan:
- Pick one layout and stick with it for at least a month.
- Practise 15 to 30 minutes a day in a trainer, not just in real work. Our free Dvorak typing trainer teaches one letter at a time, and our piece on a typing trainer keyboard explains how to practise on a layout that fits.
- Switch your main computer once you can type around 20 wpm, and keep the old layout available for emergencies.
- Do not look at the keys. Blank or relabelled keycaps help; hot-swappable keycaps make that painless.
- Give it two to three months before judging.
Our view: the layout and the board belong together
We build keyboards around the Matrix-Dvorak layout, and the reason is simple. Moving letters around helps, but your fingers also travel in rows that are staggered for a typewriter mechanism nobody uses any more. A straight-column grid and hand-centred letter placement attack both problems at once, so there is less reaching in every direction.
That is why the KeBe v2 and the slim KeBe Lite pair the layout with low-profile switches, a dual-spacebar design and autocorrect for stray typos during your learning dip. Our built-in typing trainer is there so that practice happens on the same board you will work on.
If you are going to invest two months in a new layout, we think you should learn it on hardware that was designed for it.
Joshua
Learn Matrix-Dvorak on a keyboard built for it
KeBe keyboards are assembled by hand in Canada. They combine the Matrix-Dvorak layout with low-profile switches, hot-swappable keys, per-key RGB lighting, an integrated USB-C hub, a screwless nylon case and a typing trainer. Our design aim is to minimize finger movement and typing fatigue. Pre-orders and a waitlist are open for upcoming models.
Browse the KeBe store to see the current models, or read about the KeBe v2 mechanical keyboard first. If you are still weighing switch types, our guides to mechanical versus membrane and low-profile keyboards cover the trade-offs.
FAQ
Which keyboard layout is best?
It depends on what you measure. Halmak shows the least finger travel and Gallium Rowstag the fewest same-finger pairs in one comparison. For most people, Colemak is the easiest good option and Dvorak is the best-known classic. Choose by the strain you want to reduce, then give it a few months.
Is Dvorak faster than QWERTY?
The evidence says not by much. Studies put any advantage in the single digits, and a 1975 analysis found none. Practice has a bigger effect on speed than layout. The better case for Dvorak is comfort and a calmer hand motion.
How long does it take to switch to Dvorak?
Plan on at least a couple of months of daily practice. Reported figures include 40 wpm after one month and 50 after two, with full speed taking longer. Short daily sessions in a trainer work better than switching cold and struggling through work.
Do ergonomic keyboard layouts prevent repetitive strain injury?
No layout is proven to prevent it. Less finger travel is measurable, but posture, tilt and desk height usually matter more. If you have hand or wrist pain, see a doctor or occupational therapist rather than relying on a layout change.
Sources
- Compare | Norman layout
- Colemak
- Apsu/Canary on GitHub
- Keyboard Layouts Compared: QWERTY, Dvorak, Colemak and More
- Workman, Norman and the Rest
- Dvorak keyboard layout
- Typing Speed, Keying Rates, and Optimal Keyboard Layouts
- Keyboard layouts compared
- QWERTY vs Dvorak: The Truth About Keyboard Layouts
- Does the Dvorak keyboard increase typing speed?
- A guide to alt keyboard layouts
- Introduction to Alternative Keyboard Layouts
- Colemak Keyboard Layout guide
- Keyboard trays and neutral wrist motion