WSL3 Performance is about 5-60% faster than WSL2 depending on the workload
With the release of the WSL 3.x stack, Microsoft bumped the default virtualization runtime and advanced the shipped guest kernel from the 6.6 LTS branch up to 6.18.
WSL upgrades often claim generalized performance gains, but marketing bullet points rarely translate directly to developer workloads. To see what actually changed under the hood, I ran side-by-side benchmark suites comparing WSL 2.6.3.0 (Linux kernel 6.6.87.2) against WSL 3.0.2.0 (Linux kernel 6.18.40.1).
WSL upgrades often claim generalized performance gains, but marketing bullet points rarely translate directly to developer workloads. To see what actually changed under the hood, I ran side-by-side benchmark suites comparing WSL 2.6.3.0 (Linux kernel 6.6.87.2) against WSL 3.0.2.0 (Linux kernel 6.18.40.1).
Summary
Microsoft’s WSL 3.x stack introduces significant performance improvements, with benchmarks showing speed increases of 5-60% over WSL 2, depending on the task. Detailed tests comparing the two versions reveal how these kernel updates impact real-world developer workloads.
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