diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8a219191a1..13c500cfca 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,3 +3,5 @@
 
 # Backup files generated by rustfmt
 **/*.rs.bk
+
+*.flamegraph.svg
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a4f6b78e21..da14d11d5e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -23,6 +23,19 @@ version = "1.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "aae1277d39aeec15cb388266ecc24b11c80469deae6067e17a1a7aa9e5c1f234"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ahash"
+version = "0.8.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e89da841a80418a9b391ebaea17f5c112ffaaa96f621d2c285b5174da76b9011"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "getrandom",
+ "once_cell",
+ "version_check",
+ "zerocopy",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "aho-corasick"
 version = "1.1.3"
@@ -102,6 +115,12 @@ version = "1.0.83"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "25bdb32cbbdce2b519a9cd7df3a678443100e265d5e25ca763b7572a5104f5f3"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "arrayvec"
+version = "0.7.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "96d30a06541fbafbc7f82ed10c06164cfbd2c401138f6addd8404629c4b16711"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "async-compression"
 version = "0.4.10"
@@ -206,6 +225,12 @@ version = "3.16.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "79296716171880943b8470b5f8d03aa55eb2e645a4874bdbb28adb49162e012c"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bytemuck"
+version = "1.16.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b236fc92302c97ed75b38da1f4917b5cdda4984745740f153a5d3059e48d725e"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bytes"
 version = "1.6.0"
@@ -223,7 +248,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "futures",
  "hex",
  "libc",
- "memmap2",
+ "memmap2 0.5.10",
  "miette",
  "reflink-copy",
  "serde",
@@ -409,6 +434,15 @@ version = "0.8.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "06ea2b9bc92be3c2baa9334a323ebca2d6f074ff852cd1d7b11064035cd3868f"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cpp_demangle"
+version = "0.4.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7e8227005286ec39567949b33df9896bcadfa6051bccca2488129f108ca23119"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cpufeatures"
 version = "0.2.12"
@@ -462,6 +496,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "typenum",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "debugid"
+version = "0.8.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bef552e6f588e446098f6ba40d89ac146c8c7b64aade83c051ee00bb5d2bc18d"
+dependencies = [
+ "uuid",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "deranged"
 version = "0.3.11"
@@ -616,6 +659,18 @@ version = "2.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9fc0510504f03c51ada170672ac806f1f105a88aa97a5281117e1ddc3368e51a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "findshlibs"
+version = "0.10.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "40b9e59cd0f7e0806cca4be089683ecb6434e602038df21fe6bf6711b2f07f64"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "lazy_static",
+ "libc",
+ "winapi",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "flate2"
 version = "1.0.30"
@@ -771,7 +826,9 @@ dependencies = [
  "indicatif",
  "lazy_static",
  "log",
+ "pprof",
  "pretty_assertions",
+ "rand",
  "regex",
  "secrecy",
  "shellexpand",
@@ -1252,6 +1309,24 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-width",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "inferno"
+version = "0.11.20"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7c77a3ae7d4761b9c64d2c030f70746ceb8cfba32dce0325a56792e0a4816c31"
+dependencies = [
+ "ahash",
+ "indexmap",
+ "is-terminal",
+ "itoa",
+ "log",
+ "num-format",
+ "once_cell",
+ "quick-xml",
+ "rgb",
+ "str_stack",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "instant"
 version = "0.1.12"
@@ -1421,6 +1496,16 @@ version = "0.4.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "b4ce301924b7887e9d637144fdade93f9dfff9b60981d4ac161db09720d39aa5"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "lock_api"
+version = "0.4.12"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "07af8b9cdd281b7915f413fa73f29ebd5d55d0d3f0155584dade1ff18cea1b17"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg",
+ "scopeguard",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "log"
 version = "0.4.21"
@@ -1442,6 +1527,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "memmap2"
+version = "0.9.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fe751422e4a8caa417e13c3ea66452215d7d63e19e604f4980461212f3ae1322"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "miette"
 version = "5.10.0"
@@ -1508,6 +1602,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "semver",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "nix"
+version = "0.26.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "598beaf3cc6fdd9a5dfb1630c2800c7acd31df7aaf0f565796fba2b53ca1af1b"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 1.3.2",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "nom"
 version = "7.1.3"
@@ -1524,6 +1629,16 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "51d515d32fb182ee37cda2ccdcb92950d6a3c2893aa280e540671c2cd0f3b1d9"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "num-format"
+version = "0.4.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a652d9771a63711fd3c3deb670acfbe5c30a4072e664d7a3bf5a9e1056ac72c3"
+dependencies = [
+ "arrayvec",
+ "itoa",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "num-traits"
 version = "0.2.19"
@@ -1570,6 +1685,29 @@ version = "0.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "04744f49eae99ab78e0d5c0b603ab218f515ea8cfe5a456d7629ad883a3b6e7d"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "parking_lot"
+version = "0.12.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f1bf18183cf54e8d6059647fc3063646a1801cf30896933ec2311622cc4b9a27"
+dependencies = [
+ "lock_api",
+ "parking_lot_core",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "parking_lot_core"
+version = "0.9.10"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1e401f977ab385c9e4e3ab30627d6f26d00e2c73eef317493c4ec6d468726cf8"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "libc",
+ "redox_syscall",
+ "smallvec",
+ "windows-targets 0.52.5",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "parse-zoneinfo"
 version = "0.3.1"
@@ -1724,6 +1862,27 @@ version = "0.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "439ee305def115ba05938db6eb1644ff94165c5ab5e9420d1c1bcedbba909391"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pprof"
+version = "0.13.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ef5c97c51bd34c7e742402e216abdeb44d415fbe6ae41d56b114723e953711cb"
+dependencies = [
+ "backtrace",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "findshlibs",
+ "inferno",
+ "libc",
+ "log",
+ "nix",
+ "once_cell",
+ "parking_lot",
+ "smallvec",
+ "symbolic-demangle",
+ "tempfile",
+ "thiserror",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ppv-lite86"
 version = "0.2.17"
@@ -1755,6 +1914,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "quick-xml"
+version = "0.26.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7f50b1c63b38611e7d4d7f68b82d3ad0cc71a2ad2e7f61fc10f1328d917c93cd"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "quinn"
 version = "0.11.2"
@@ -1841,6 +2009,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "getrandom",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "redox_syscall"
+version = "0.5.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2a908a6e00f1fdd0dfd9c0eb08ce85126f6d8bbda50017e74bc4a4b7d4a926a4"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags 2.5.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "redox_users"
 version = "0.4.5"
@@ -1992,6 +2169,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "tower-service",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rgb"
+version = "0.8.45"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ade4539f42266ded9e755c605bdddf546242b2c961b03b06a7375260788a0523"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytemuck",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ring"
 version = "0.17.8"
@@ -2180,6 +2366,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "winapi-util",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "scopeguard"
+version = "1.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "94143f37725109f92c262ed2cf5e59bce7498c01bcc1502d7b9afe439a4e9f49"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "sct"
 version = "0.7.1"
@@ -2374,6 +2566,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "xxhash-rust",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "stable_deref_trait"
+version = "1.2.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a8f112729512f8e442d81f95a8a7ddf2b7c6b8a1a6f509a95864142b30cab2d3"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "str_stack"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9091b6114800a5f2141aee1d1b9d6ca3592ac062dc5decb3764ec5895a47b4eb"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "strsim"
 version = "0.11.1"
@@ -2386,6 +2590,29 @@ version = "2.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "81cdd64d312baedb58e21336b31bc043b77e01cc99033ce76ef539f78e965ebc"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "symbolic-common"
+version = "12.10.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "16629323a4ec5268ad23a575110a724ad4544aae623451de600c747bf87b36cf"
+dependencies = [
+ "debugid",
+ "memmap2 0.9.4",
+ "stable_deref_trait",
+ "uuid",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "symbolic-demangle"
+version = "12.10.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "48c043a45f08f41187414592b3ceb53fb0687da57209cc77401767fb69d5b596"
+dependencies = [
+ "cpp_demangle",
+ "rustc-demangle",
+ "symbolic-common",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
 version = "1.0.109"
@@ -2894,6 +3121,12 @@ version = "0.2.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "711b9620af191e0cdc7468a8d14e709c3dcdb115b36f838e601583af800a370a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "uuid"
+version = "1.10.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "81dfa00651efa65069b0b6b651f4aaa31ba9e3c3ce0137aaad053604ee7e0314"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "vcpkg"
 version = "0.2.15"
@@ -3022,6 +3255,22 @@ dependencies = [
  "rustls-pki-types",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "winapi"
+version = "0.3.9"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5c839a674fcd7a98952e593242ea400abe93992746761e38641405d28b00f419"
+dependencies = [
+ "winapi-i686-pc-windows-gnu",
+ "winapi-x86_64-pc-windows-gnu",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "winapi-i686-pc-windows-gnu"
+version = "0.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ac3b87c63620426dd9b991e5ce0329eff545bccbbb34f3be09ff6fb6ab51b7b6"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "winapi-util"
 version = "0.1.8"
@@ -3031,6 +3280,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.52.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "winapi-x86_64-pc-windows-gnu"
+version = "0.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "712e227841d057c1ee1cd2fb22fa7e5a5461ae8e48fa2ca79ec42cfc1931183f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "windows"
 version = "0.56.0"
@@ -3282,6 +3537,26 @@ version = "0.5.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "09041cd90cf85f7f8b2df60c646f853b7f535ce68f85244eb6731cf89fa498ec"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "zerocopy"
+version = "0.7.35"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1b9b4fd18abc82b8136838da5d50bae7bdea537c574d8dc1a34ed098d6c166f0"
+dependencies = [
+ "zerocopy-derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zerocopy-derive"
+version = "0.7.35"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fa4f8080344d4671fb4e831a13ad1e68092748387dfc4f55e356242fae12ce3e"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.63",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zeroize"
 version = "1.7.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 9f47692a1d..bd39a2d960 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,4 +29,5 @@ strip = true
 
 [profile.bench]
 opt-level = 3
-debug = false
+debug = true # used by the profiler
+strip = false # keep symbols for the profiler
diff --git a/git-cliff/Cargo.toml b/git-cliff/Cargo.toml
index e3ff7c929b..2c7cf25332 100644
--- a/git-cliff/Cargo.toml
+++ b/git-cliff/Cargo.toml
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ gitlab = ["remote", "git-cliff-core/gitlab"]
 gitea = ["remote", "git-cliff-core/gitea"]
 # enable Bitbucket integration
 bitbucket = ["remote", "git-cliff-core/bitbucket"]
+# performance profiler
+profiler = ["dep:pprof", "dep:rand", "profiler-flamegraph"]
+profiler-flamegraph = ["pprof/flamegraph"]
 
 [dependencies]
 glob.workspace = true
@@ -51,6 +54,8 @@ shellexpand = "3.1.0"
 update-informer = { version = "1.1.0", optional = true }
 indicatif = { version = "0.17.8", optional = true }
 env_logger = "0.10.2"
+pprof = { version = "0.13", optional = true }
+rand = { version = "0.8.4", optional = true }
 
 [dependencies.git-cliff-core]
 version = "2.4.0" # managed by release.sh
diff --git a/git-cliff/src/main.rs b/git-cliff/src/main.rs
index 2dd58ba3ab..5c1e901e4c 100644
--- a/git-cliff/src/main.rs
+++ b/git-cliff/src/main.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,27 @@ use git_cliff_core::error::Result;
 use std::env;
 use std::process;
 
+#[cfg(feature = "profiler")]
+mod profiler;
+#[cfg(feature = "profiler")]
+use profiler::{
+	finish_profiling,
+	start_profiling,
+};
+
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
+	// Initialize the profiler guard if the feature is enabled
+	let mut _profiler_guard = None;
+	#[cfg(feature = "profiler")]
+	{
+		_profiler_guard = Some(start_profiling());
+	}
+	#[cfg(not(feature = "profiler"))]
+	{
+		_profiler_guard = Some(());
+	}
+
+	// Parse the command line arguments
 	let args = Opt::parse();
 	if args.verbose == 1 {
 		env::set_var("RUST_LOG", "debug");
@@ -15,11 +35,21 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
 		env::set_var("RUST_LOG", "info");
 	}
 	logger::init()?;
-	match git_cliff::run(args) {
-		Ok(_) => process::exit(0),
+
+	// Run git-cliff
+	let exit_code = match git_cliff::run(args) {
+		Ok(_) => 0,
 		Err(e) => {
 			log::error!("{}", e);
-			process::exit(1)
+			1
 		}
+	};
+
+	// Report the profiler if the feature is enabled
+	#[cfg(feature = "profiler")]
+	{
+		finish_profiling(_profiler_guard.unwrap());
 	}
+
+	process::exit(exit_code);
 }
diff --git a/git-cliff/src/profiler.rs b/git-cliff/src/profiler.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b02e642b48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/git-cliff/src/profiler.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+pub(crate) fn start_profiling() -> pprof::ProfilerGuard<'static> {
+	return pprof::ProfilerGuardBuilder::default()
+		.frequency(1000)
+		.blocklist(&["libc", "libgcc", "pthread", "vdso"])
+		.build()
+		.unwrap();
+}
+
+pub(crate) fn finish_profiling(profiler_guard: pprof::ProfilerGuard) {
+	match profiler_guard.report().build() {
+		Ok(report) => {
+			#[cfg(feature = "profiler-flamegraph")]
+			{
+				use std::fs::File;
+				let random = rand::random::<u64>();
+
+				match File::create(format!(
+					"{}.{}.flamegraph.svg",
+					"git-cliff", random
+				)) {
+					Ok(file) => {
+						report.flamegraph(file).unwrap();
+					}
+					Err(err) => {
+						log::error!("Failed to create flamegraph file {}", err);
+					}
+				}
+			}
+
+			#[cfg(not(feature = "profiler-flamegraph"))]
+			{
+				log::info!("profiling report: {:?}", &report);
+			}
+		}
+		Err(err) => {
+			log::error!("Failed to build profiler report {}", err);
+		}
+	}
+}