diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/Buffer.h b/Source/Core/Common/Buffer.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..216d0c5fe5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/Buffer.h
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+// Copyright 2025 Dolphin Emulator Project
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <memory>
+
+// UniqueBuffer<T> and SharedBuffer<T> are a lighter alternative to std::vector<T>.
+// The main benefit is that elements are not value-initialized like in vector.
+// That can be quite a bit of unecessary overhead when allocating a large buffer.
+
+namespace Common
+{
+
+namespace detail
+{
+template <auto MakeFunc>
+class BufferBase final
+{
+public:
+  using PtrType = decltype(MakeFunc(1));
+
+  using value_type = PtrType::element_type;
+  using size_type = std::size_t;
+
+  BufferBase() {}
+  BufferBase(PtrType ptr, size_type new_size) : m_ptr{std::move(ptr)}, m_size{new_size} {}
+  explicit BufferBase(size_type new_size) : BufferBase{MakeFunc(new_size), new_size} {}
+
+  BufferBase(const BufferBase&) = default;
+  BufferBase& operator=(const BufferBase&) = default;
+
+  BufferBase(BufferBase&& other) { swap(other); }
+  BufferBase& operator=(BufferBase&& other)
+  {
+    reset();
+    swap(other);
+    return *this;
+  }
+
+  void assign(PtrType ptr, size_type new_size) { BufferBase{std::move(ptr), new_size}.swap(*this); }
+  void reset(size_type new_size = 0) { BufferBase{new_size}.swap(*this); }
+
+  std::pair<PtrType, size_type> extract()
+  {
+    std::pair result = {std::move(m_ptr), m_size};
+    reset();
+    return result;
+  }
+
+  void swap(BufferBase& other)
+  {
+    std::swap(m_ptr, other.m_ptr);
+    std::swap(m_size, other.m_size);
+  }
+
+  size_type size() const { return m_size; }
+  bool empty() const { return m_size == 0; }
+
+  value_type* get() { return m_ptr.get(); }
+  const value_type* get() const { return m_ptr.get(); }
+
+  value_type* data() { return m_ptr.get(); }
+  const value_type* data() const { return m_ptr.get(); }
+
+  value_type* begin() { return m_ptr.get(); }
+  value_type* end() { return m_ptr.get() + m_size; }
+
+  const value_type* begin() const { return m_ptr.get(); }
+  const value_type* end() const { return m_ptr.get() + m_size; }
+
+  value_type& operator[](size_type index) { return m_ptr[index]; }
+  const value_type& operator[](size_type index) const { return m_ptr[index]; }
+
+private:
+  PtrType m_ptr;
+  size_type m_size = 0;
+};
+}  // namespace detail
+
+template <typename T>
+using UniqueBuffer = detail::BufferBase<std::make_unique_for_overwrite<T[]>>;
+
+// TODO: std::make_shared_for_overwrite requires GCC 12.1+
+// template <typename T>
+// using SharedBuffer = detail::BufferBase<std::make_shared_for_overwrite<T[]>>;
+
+}  // namespace Common
diff --git a/Source/Core/Common/CMakeLists.txt b/Source/Core/Common/CMakeLists.txt
index c368cde1d6..ac2ef8d10f 100644
--- a/Source/Core/Common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Source/Core/Common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ add_library(common
   BitSet.h
   BitUtils.h
   BlockingLoop.h
+  Buffer.h
   ChunkFile.h
   CodeBlock.h
   ColorUtil.cpp
diff --git a/Source/Core/DolphinLib.props b/Source/Core/DolphinLib.props
index 388367afd1..86942be03a 100644
--- a/Source/Core/DolphinLib.props
+++ b/Source/Core/DolphinLib.props
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
     <ClInclude Include="Common\BitSet.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\BitUtils.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\BlockingLoop.h" />
+    <ClInclude Include="Common\Buffer.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\ChunkFile.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\CodeBlock.h" />
     <ClInclude Include="Common\ColorUtil.h" />