TL;DR
A developer argues Oh My Zsh (OMZ) adds unnecessary shell startup overhead and recommends a lean Zsh configuration with Starship and fzf to regain speed. After removing OMZ and a few plugins, interactive shell startup dropped in the author's tests from 0.38s to 0.07s.
What happened
A blog post recommends moving away from Oh My Zsh for many users because the framework's shell-script‑based codebase can add measurable startup latency. The author measured interactive Zsh startup using /usr/bin/time and found the default OMZ setup (with some plugins) took about 0.38 seconds to start an interactive shell; after replacing OMZ with a minimal Zsh configuration, Starship prompt, and fzf-based history search, the same test produced about 0.07 seconds. The post explains common OMZ behaviors that contribute to delay, including plugin initialization and occasional automatic update checks that can add seconds when opening a new tab. Practical alternatives supplied include a short .zshrc with history and compinit settings, Starship as a single‑binary prompt with many modules disabled, and using fzf bound to Ctrl+R for interactive history search. The author also suggests enabling vi mode for faster command editing.
Why it matters
- Repeated small delays add up for heavy terminal users; the author says they open and close up to hundreds of tabs daily.
- Shell startup time can affect perceived responsiveness when creating new terminal tabs or panes.
- Many OMZ features can be replaced by lighter, single‑binary tools (e.g., Starship) or manual configuration.
- Automatic update checks and many plugin initializations can introduce unpredictable pauses during startup.
Key facts
- Author measured interactive shell startup with: /usr/bin/time -f "%e seconds" zsh -i -c exit
- Observed startup with default OMZ plus a few plugins: ~0.38 seconds
- Observed startup after switching to minimal Zsh config, Starship and fzf: ~0.07 seconds
- Minimal Zsh config recommended includes HISTSIZE, SAVEHIST, EXTENDED_HISTORY, autocd, and autoload compinit; compinit
- Starship is used as a single binary prompt; example config shows many cloud/service modules disabled to reduce noise
- Suggestion to use fzf's Zsh integration (source <(fzf –zsh)) for interactive Ctrl+R history search instead of autosuggestions
- OMZ is implemented in shell scripts; interpreting those scripts on each new shell tab contributes to slower startup
- OMZ sometimes checks for updates when starting a shell, which can take up to a few seconds according to the author
What to watch next
- Measure your own shell startup time before and after changes using the same timing command to see real impact
- Check which plugins in your OMZ setup are adding latency (commenters named zsh-autocomplete and heavy git prompts as common culprits)
- Monitor whether OMZ introduces update checks during shell startup and whether you can disable them
- Evaluate replacing theme/plugins with a single‑binary prompt like Starship and selective, manually loaded plugins
Quick glossary
- Oh My Zsh (OMZ): A community-driven framework for managing Zsh configuration, themes and plugins, implemented largely in shell scripts.
- Zsh: A Unix shell and command interpreter that offers scripting features, programmable completion and customization options.
- Starship: A cross-shell prompt implemented as a single binary that provides configurable status segments for git, languages and tools.
- fzf: A general-purpose command-line fuzzy finder often used to provide interactive searching of history, files or other lists.
- Shell startup time: The elapsed time for an interactive shell session to initialize and present a prompt after being launched.
Reader FAQ
Do I have to stop using Oh My Zsh?
Not necessarily for everyone; the author argues most users don't need it and can get faster startup with a minimal setup.
How much speed difference can I expect?
In the author's test, startup time fell from about 0.38s to 0.07s after removing OMZ and using a minimal config.
How can I replace common OMZ features?
The post suggests a small .zshrc for history and completions, Starship for prompt features, and fzf for history search.
Does OMZ check for updates during startup?
The author reports that OMZ sometimes performs update checks that can add a few seconds to startup.
You probably don't need Oh My Zsh Last updated on January 09, 2026, in other Oh My Zsh is still getting recommended a lot. The main problem with Oh My…
Sources
- You probably don't need Oh My Zsh
- Back to the Basics: Zsh without Oh My Zsh – Bozhidar Batsov
- Speeding up my ZSH shell
- Speeding Up Zsh – Josh's Blog
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