Best FiveM HUD Scripts That Won't Kill FPS

Your HUD is running every single frame. That’s not a figure of speech — it’s literally rendering on every tick, which means a poorly built HUD can quietly eat 2-5ms of your client’s frame budget before anyone even notices. On a server with 80+ players and 200 resources running, that’s the difference between a smooth 60fps experience and players complaining about stuttering every time they get in a car.

I’ve swapped HUDs on live servers more times than I’d like to admit, and the performance gap between options is wild. Some HUDs idle at 0.00ms in resmon. Others sit at 0.15ms doing absolutely nothing. That might sound small, but multiply it by every connected client and factor in the spikes during vehicle entry, combat, and status updates — it adds up fast.

Here’s an honest breakdown of the HUD scripts worth considering in 2026, ranked primarily by how much of your players’ performance they actually consume.

Why Your HUD Choice Matters More Than You Think

Most server owners obsess over their framework choice or their inventory system, then slap on whatever HUD came with the template and forget about it. That’s a mistake.

Your HUD is one of the only scripts that runs continuously on every connected client. It never sleeps. It’s always polling health, armor, hunger, thirst, stamina, vehicle speed, fuel level, and whatever else you’ve configured. Every single one of those checks calls a native function, and if the script is checking them every frame instead of on a sensible interval, you’re burning CPU for no reason.

A well-built HUD updates status bars every 200-500ms instead of every frame. It uses CSS transforms instead of layout-triggering properties for animations. It debounces vehicle entry/exit events instead of hammering the DOM. These aren’t fancy optimizations — they’re basic engineering that separates a 0.01ms HUD from a 0.20ms one.

If you want to understand how to measure this yourself, the resmon guide covers exactly how to read those numbers and what they mean.

qb-hud — The Free Default (And Why You’ll Probably Replace It)

Framework: QBCore Cost: Free and open source GitHub: qbcore-framework/qb-hud Resmon: ~0.05-0.10ms idle

If you set up a QBCore server through a txAdmin recipe, this is what you got. qb-hud shows health, armor, hunger, thirst, stress, oxygen, and a speedometer when you’re in a vehicle. It works. It’s free. It’s also the script most people replace first.

What it does well:

It’s functional. The status indicators cover everything a basic RP server needs, and the codebase is open source so you can dig in and modify it. If you’re learning Lua and want to understand how HUDs work under the hood, reading through qb-hud’s source is decent practice.

Where it falls short:

The UI looks dated. It uses a circular indicator design that was fine in 2022 but feels stale now. Players who join from other servers notice immediately.

Performance-wise, it’s not terrible, but it’s not optimized either. The update intervals are more aggressive than they need to be, and the NUI layer doesn’t do much to minimize redraws. You’ll see it sitting at 0.05-0.10ms on resmon, which is fine for small servers but adds up when you’re trying to squeeze performance out of a 100+ player setup.

The bigger issue is bugs. The GitHub issues page tells the story — HUD disappearing outside vehicles, status indicators vanishing on foot, hunger and thirst not displaying after certain events. These have been known issues for a while, and since qb-hud doesn’t get frequent updates, you’re left patching things yourself.

Best for: Brand new QBCore servers that need something while they figure out what they actually want. Replace it once you have the budget or find a free alternative you like better.

ps-hud (Project Sloth) — The Popular Free Upgrade

Framework: QBCore, Qbox Cost: Free and open source GitHub: Project-Sloth/ps-hud Resmon: ~0.02-0.05ms idle

Project Sloth’s HUD is what most QBCore server owners switch to when they outgrow qb-hud. It’s built with Svelte (compiled to JavaScript), which immediately gives it a performance edge over older NUI approaches.

What it does well:

The settings menu is the headline feature. Players can customize their HUD layout — move elements around, change icon shapes and sizes, toggle individual indicators on or off, and adjust opacity. That level of player customization is rare in free scripts, and it genuinely matters for player retention. People like making their screen look the way they want.

Performance is noticeably better than qb-hud. The Svelte compilation means the NUI layer is leaner, and the update logic is more event-driven rather than constantly polling. You’ll see it hover around 0.02-0.05ms on resmon during normal gameplay.

The code is fully open source with no obfuscation, which means your developer can actually read it, modify it, and fix things when they break. That’s a bigger deal than it sounds — nothing is more frustrating than hitting a bug in a script you can’t touch.

Where it falls short:

It’s QBCore/Qbox only. If you’re running ESX, this isn’t an option without significant rewriting.

The customization, while great for players, can create support tickets. “My HUD disappeared” often means a player dragged an element off-screen or toggled something they shouldn’t have. You’ll want a config option to set server defaults and maybe limit what players can change.

Documentation is community-maintained, which means it’s sometimes out of date or missing edge cases. Budget time for troubleshooting during setup.

Best for: QBCore and Qbox servers that want a modern, customizable free HUD with better performance than qb-hud. Probably the best free option available right now for those frameworks.

vHud — The Standalone Lightweight Champion

Framework: Standalone (optional ESX, QBCore, vRP support) Cost: Free and open source GitHub: vipexv/vHud Resmon: 0.00ms idle (client)

This is the one that makes performance-obsessed server owners happy. vHud reports 0.00ms on client resmon when idle, which is about as good as it gets. It achieves this by being standalone first and framework-aware second — it only hooks into ESX, QBCore, or vRP features if you explicitly enable them.

What it does well:

The performance is the story here. Zero measurable client-side impact when nothing is changing on screen. That’s what happens when you design a HUD around event-driven updates instead of constant polling.

It offers multiple HUD modes so players can choose different layouts, plus a settings page for further customization. The standalone architecture means it works on literally any server regardless of framework — vMenu servers, custom frameworks, whatever. Framework-specific features like hunger and thirst are opt-in modules.

For servers that run lean and care about every tenth of a millisecond in resmon, vHud is hard to argue against.

Where it falls short:

The feature set is thinner than premium options. You’re getting a solid, performant HUD, but you’re not getting 25 component styles or deep vehicle HUD integration. If your players expect a flashy, feature-rich experience, vHud might feel too minimal.

Community support is smaller than Project Sloth or JG Scripts. If you hit an issue, you’re more likely to be reading source code than finding a forum thread with the answer.

Being standalone means the framework integration requires manual configuration. It’s not plug-and-play the way ps-hud is for QBCore — you need to tell it which framework you’re using and configure the connections yourself.

Best for: Performance-first servers, standalone/vMenu setups, or any server owner who wants the absolute lightest HUD possible and doesn’t mind a simpler feature set.

JG HUD — The Premium All-Rounder

Framework: QBCore, Qbox, ESX, vMenu, custom frameworks Cost: Paid (check JG Scripts for current pricing) Escrow: Yes (Asset Escrow) Resmon: ~0.01ms idle, 0.02-0.03ms while driving

JG Scripts has built a reputation for polished, well-optimized premium scripts, and their HUD is no exception. It’s the option you look at when you want something that works across every framework, looks professional, and doesn’t make your resmon cry.

What it does well:

The framework support is the broadest of anything on this list. QBCore, Qbox, ESX, vMenu, standalone, custom frameworks — it handles all of them. If you’re running a server that might switch frameworks down the line, or if you run multiple servers on different frameworks, having one HUD that works everywhere is genuinely valuable.

Performance is excellent for a feature-rich HUD. The 0.01ms idle number comes from the Svelte-based architecture and smart update intervals. While driving, it bumps up to 0.02-0.03ms to handle speedometer and vehicle health updates, which is still well within the “never worry about it” range.

The customization options are extensive — over 25 component styles, layout control, server default profiles, and per-player settings. Server owners can set a default look that matches their server’s branding, while players can still tweak things to their preference.

The vehicle HUD deserves specific mention. It integrates speed, fuel, seatbelt status, and engine health into a clean display that activates contextually. Most free HUDs treat the vehicle HUD as an afterthought. JG made it a first-class feature.

Where it falls short:

It costs money. For a HUD. Some server owners struggle with that when free options exist. The counterargument is that the time you save not debugging, not configuring framework bridges, and not dealing with player complaints about ugly UI is worth the price. But that’s a judgment call based on your budget.

Asset Escrow means no source code access. If you need to modify core behavior beyond what the config and settings expose, you’re stuck. For most server owners this doesn’t matter, but developers who want total control will find this frustrating.

Best for: Mid-to-large servers that want a polished, feature-complete HUD with excellent performance across any framework. The best option if your budget allows it and you want something that just works out of the box.

Other Options Worth a Quick Look

CC HUD is a free redesign of the qb-hud/ps-hud concept with 9 unique design presets and a vehicle health indicator. It’s a solid middle ground if you want more visual variety than ps-hud without paying for JG HUD. Available on the Cfx.re forums.

VMS HUD supports both ESX and QBCore with heavy customization options. It sits in the mid-range for both features and performance. Worth checking if you want ESX support without going premium.

Pure HUD from Fivem UZ Scripts is another free QB/ESX option that focuses on clean aesthetics over feature bloat. Good if you want something minimal and visually modern.

You can also find lightweight HUD options in our free scripts collection — always worth checking before you buy.

How to Actually Test HUD Performance

Don’t just take anyone’s word for it — including mine. Here’s how to test a HUD properly before committing to it on your live server:

-- Step 1: Open your FiveM client console (F8)
-- Step 2: Type this to enable the resource monitor
resmon 1

-- Step 3: Find your HUD resource in the list
-- Step 4: Note the ms value in these scenarios:
--   - Standing still, on foot (idle baseline)
--   - Walking/running (movement updates)
--   - Sitting in a vehicle, parked (vehicle HUD activation)
--   - Driving at speed (speedometer + all vehicle indicators active)
--   - During combat (health/armor changes)

The idle number matters most because that’s what every player pays 100% of the time they’re connected. Anything under 0.05ms idle is good. Under 0.02ms is excellent. If a HUD sits above 0.10ms while idle, something is wrong with its update loop.

Also test with your other scripts running. A HUD that performs great in isolation might conflict with your phone script, notification system, or other NUI resources. Scripts with their own UI layers — like our LMX iFruit Pods Pro or any phone/inventory system — share rendering time with your HUD. NUI layers compete for rendering time, and stacking multiple poorly optimized NUI scripts is how you end up with stuttering that no single resource seems to cause.

The Recommendation

If you’re on QBCore or Qbox and don’t want to spend money, ps-hud is the move. It’s performant, customizable, and actively maintained by a community that actually uses it.

If you want the absolute lightest option and don’t care about bells and whistles, vHud at 0.00ms idle is as good as it gets.

If you have budget and want something polished that works on any framework with zero headaches, JG HUD is the premium pick. The multi-framework support alone justifies the cost if you’re running anything other than vanilla QBCore.

And if you’re still running the default qb-hud that came with your server template — it’s time. Swapping to any of the above options is one of the easiest performance wins you’ll get, and your players will notice the UI improvement immediately.

Whatever you choose, measure it yourself with resmon before and after. The numbers don’t lie, even when marketing pages do. For more on reading those numbers and optimizing your whole server, check the resmon performance guide.

Got questions about which HUD fits your setup? Drop by the YBN Limax Scripts Discord — happy to help you figure it out.