diff --git a/bench/bench_all.lua b/bench/bench_all.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f99e99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench/bench_all.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+
+print("[decode]")
+loadfile("bench_decode.lua")()
+print()
+print("[encode]")
+loadfile("bench_encode.lua")()
diff --git a/bench/bench_decode.lua b/bench/bench_decode.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66f02f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench/bench_decode.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+local bench = require "util.bench"
+
+
+local libs = {
+  "../json.lua",    -- https://github.com/rxi/json.lua
+  "dkjson.lua",     -- https://github.com/LuaDist/dkjson
+  "jfjson.lua",     -- http://regex.info/blog/lua/json
+  --"json4lua.lua",   -- https://github.com/craigmj/json4lua
+}
+
+
+-- JSON string: wikipedia example stored 1000 times in an array
+local text = "[" .. string.rep([[{
+  "firstName": "John",
+  "lastName": "Smith",
+  "isAlive": true,
+  "age": 25,
+  "address": {
+    "streetAddress": "21 2nd Street",
+    "city": "New York",
+    "state": "NY",
+    "postalCode": "10021-3100"
+  },
+  "phoneNumbers": [
+    {
+      "type": "home",
+      "number": "212 555-1234"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "office",
+      "number": "646 555-4567"
+    }
+  ],
+  "children": [],
+  "spouse": null
+}, ]], 1000):sub(1, -3) .. "]"
+
+
+-- Run benchmarks, store results
+local results = {}
+
+for i, name in ipairs(libs) do
+  local f = loadfile(name)
+  if not f then 
+    error( "failed to load '" .. name ..  "'; run './get_json_libs.sh'" )
+  end
+  local json = f()
+
+  -- Handle special cases
+  if name == "jfjson.lua" then
+    local _encode, _decode = json.encode, json.decode
+    json.encode = function(...) return _encode(json, ...) end
+    json.decode = function(...) return _decode(json, ...) end
+  end
+
+  -- Run and push results
+  local res = bench.run(name, 10, function() json.decode(text) end)
+  table.insert(results, res)
+end
+
+
+bench.print_system_info()
+bench.print_results(results)
diff --git a/bench/bench_encode.lua b/bench/bench_encode.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..119e2d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench/bench_encode.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+local bench = require "util.bench"
+
+
+local libs = {
+  "../json.lua",    -- https://github.com/rxi/json.lua
+  "dkjson.lua",     -- https://github.com/LuaDist/dkjson
+  "jfjson.lua",     -- http://regex.info/blog/lua/json
+  "json4lua.lua",   -- https://github.com/craigmj/json4lua
+}
+
+
+-- Build table which will be encoded: wikipedia example stored 1000 times
+local data = {}
+for i = 1, 1000 do
+  table.insert(data, {
+    firstName = "John",
+    lastName = "Smith",
+    isAlive = true,
+    age = 25,
+    address = {
+      streetAddress = "21 2nd Street",
+      city = "New York",
+      state = "NY",
+      postalCode = "10021-3100"
+    },
+    phoneNumbers = {
+      { type = "home", number = "212 555-1234" },
+      { type = "office", number = "646 555-4567" }
+    },
+    children = {},
+    spouse = nil
+  })
+end
+
+
+-- Run benchmarks
+local results = {}
+
+for i, name in ipairs(libs) do
+  local f = loadfile(name)
+  if not f then 
+    error( "failed to load '" .. name ..  "'; run './get_json_libs.sh'" )
+  end
+  local json = f()
+
+  -- Handle special cases
+  if name == "jfjson.lua" then
+    local _encode, _decode = json.encode, json.decode
+    json.encode = function(...) return _encode(json, ...) end
+    json.decode = function(...) return _decode(json, ...) end
+  end
+
+  -- Run and push results
+  local res = bench.run(name, 10, function() json.encode(data) end)
+  table.insert(results, res)
+end
+
+
+bench.print_system_info()
+bench.print_results(results)
diff --git a/bench/get_json_libs.sh b/bench/get_json_libs.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..ecb4525
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench/get_json_libs.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Downloads other JSON libraries for use in the benchmark scripts
+
+# Remove libraries
+rm dkjson.lua   2>/dev/null
+rm jfjson.lua   2>/dev/null
+rm json4lua.lua 2>/dev/null
+
+# Get libraries
+echo "Downloading json libs..."
+curl -sS -o dkjson.lua    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LuaDist/dkjson/master/dkjson.lua"
+curl -sS -o json4lua.lua  "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/craigmj/json4lua/master/json/json.lua"
+curl -sS -o jfjson.lua    "http://regex.info/code/JSON.lua"
+
+echo "Done"
diff --git a/bench/util/bench.lua b/bench/util/bench.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..afb6ae2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bench/util/bench.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+local bench = {}
+
+local unpack = unpack or table.unpack
+local fmt = string.format
+
+
+function bench.run(name, count, func)
+  -- Run bench
+  local res = {}
+  for i = 1, count do
+    local start_time = os.clock()
+    func()
+    table.insert(res, (os.clock() - start_time))
+  end
+  -- Calculate average
+    local avg = 0
+  for i, v in ipairs(res) do
+    avg = avg + v
+  end
+  avg = avg / #res
+  -- Build and return result table
+  return {
+    name = name,
+    avg = avg,
+    min = math.min(unpack(res)),
+    max = math.max(unpack(res)),
+    all = res,
+  }
+end
+
+
+function bench.get_cpu_name()
+  local fp = io.open("/proc/cpuinfo", "rb")
+  if not fp then
+    return "unknown"
+  end
+  local text = fp:read("*a")
+  return text:match("model name%s*:%s*(.-)\n")
+end
+
+
+function bench.print_system_info()
+  print( fmt("Lua version   : %s", jit and jit.version or _VERSION) )
+  print( fmt("CPU name      : %s", bench.get_cpu_name()) )
+end
+
+
+function bench.print_results(results)
+  -- Find best average
+  local best = math.huge
+  for i, v in ipairs(results) do
+    best = math.min(best, v.avg)
+  end
+  -- Print results
+  for i, v in ipairs(results) do
+    print( fmt("%-13s : %.03gs [x%1.3g] (min: %.03gs, max %.03gs)",
+               v.name, v.avg, v.avg / best, v.min, v.max) )
+  end
+end
+
+
+return bench