It seems to me that neither boost::flat_map nor boost:flat_set with a custom comparator such as std::less<> behaves like std::set/std::map. This results in unnecessary allocation, in difference from std::map/set when used with a std::string as key for example Example: // Please note that I pretend that "dummy" is large enough to make the std::string utilize the heap. auto set = std::set >{}; auto n = set.count("dummy"); // No conversion from const char* to std::string auto flatset = boost::container::flat_set >{}; auto n = flatset.count("dummy"); // const char* is converted to a std::string before comparison, thus resulting in an unnecessary allocation. Is this a known issue intended to be resolved? Looking at the code of STL (which ever version ships with Visual Studio), find, count etc has been extended with template key types in addition to the regular key_type using an "is_transparent" trait: template size_type count(const _Other& _Keyval) const { _Keyval _Paircc _Ans = equal_range(_Keyval); return (_STD distance(_Ans.first, _Ans.second)); } Best regards /Viktor Sehr