Alternatives

There is no such thing as a perfect layout, period. Every layout has its own pros and cons—Night among them. Here are some alternatives that might suit you better.

Statistics are given relative to Night. The more green, the better. The more red, the worse. All statistics are analyzed through the Monkeyracer corpus using cmini.

Italicized text represents my comments. These are, and should be consider as, opinions.

Stat-Chasers

Layouts that focus on highest efficiency.

Dusk

+0.11% SFB -0.20% SFS

Pros:

  • Higher rolls
  • Lower index usage.

    • Cons:

  • Higher weak and general redirects.
  • Lower index usage.


    • Perhaps the most well known "modern" stat-chasing layout, Dusk is by far the most comparable to Night, and was partially the inspiration for it.

    The choice between Night and Dusk essentially comes down to how much index usage is preferred. More, Night; less, Dusk.

    Racket

    -0.06% SFB +0.17% SFS

    Pros:

  • About the lowest SFBs you can get.
  • Better finger usage distribution.

    • Cons:

  • Low index-utilization.
  • Very heavy left ring finger load.


    • Among the first thumb R layouts, Racket is around the local minimum for SFBs with a reasonable design and SFS consideration.

    Pick this if you dislike index utilization, particularly on the central columns.

    Comfy-Choices

    Layouts that focus a bit extra on comfort at the cost of some efficiency.

    Bunya

    +0.09% SFB +0.06% SFS

    Pros:

  • Low corner and central column usage.

    • Cons:

  • Repeat heavy thumb S.


    • Designed by the author of Graphite and Gallium, Bunya is the fully uncompromised design of the formers realized.

    This is a fantastic pick for any Graphite or Gallium users.

    Enthium V10

    +0.15% SFB +0.95% SFS

    Pros:

  • Essentially zero corner key usage.
  • Extremely low left pinky usage.
  • Extremely low LSBs.

    • Cons:

  • High right pinky usage.
  • High weak redirect%.


    • Among the best statistics you can get for a vowel index layout.

    Solid pick if you have that requirement.

    Precursors

    Popular layouts from years past.

    APTMAK

    +0.60% SFB +1.47% SFS

    Pros:

  • Very low corner and central column usage.
  • Fantastic effort map.
  • Good amount of inrolls.

    • Cons:

  • Very repeat heavy thumb E.


    • Historically popular and created by the author of APT, APTMAK is the thumb alpha variant of APT.

    It has a fantastic finger usage distribution, and is a perfect conversion for existing APT users.

    RSTHD

    +0.48% SFB +1.82% SFS

    Pros:

  • Good effort map.
  • Good amount of inrolls.

    • Cons:

  • Very repeat heavy thumb E.


    • One of the oldest thumb alpha layouts, RSTHD features fantastic finger usage distribution.

    The choice between RSTHD and APTMAK will essentially come down to personal preference.

    Sub-30 Key

    Layouts that are designed for keyboards without a full 3x10 key layout.

    Birdie

    +0.22% SFB -0.08% SFS

    Pros:

  • Good effort map.

    • Cons:

  • Significant amount of FSBs and FSSs.
  • Extremely high usage (and repeat) pinkies.


    • Based off Kuntem, it is a fairly popular layout for its form factor.

    Due to the lack of three pinky keys, using E on the pinky enables punctuation to be fitted. It is a good conversion for existing Kuntem users.