Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to aes
Short answerThe closest alternatives to aes on crates.io data are digest (3.9M real downloads a day), crypto-common (3.8M real downloads a day), ppv-lite86 (2.4M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is digest, and 5 shipped a release in the last year. aes itself gets 1,143,569 a day with 1,559 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs aes | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| digest Widely used | 3,862,411 | 3.38x | 1,197 | 6mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | side by side |
| crypto-common Pulled in | 3,766,260 | 3.29x | 85 | 5mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| ppv-lite86 Pulled in | 2,441,634 | 2.14x | 6 | 20mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| subtle Widely used | 2,159,165 | 1.89x | 2,362 | 2.3y | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| hmac Widely used | 2,124,794 | 1.86x | 4,359 | 7mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| ring Widely used | 2,112,308 | 1.85x | 1,837 | 19mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| sha1 Widely used | 2,004,209 | 1.75x | 2,496 | 3mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| chacha20 Established | 1,737,072 | 1.52x | 260 | 58d | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with aes; read its description before you swap.
- More dependents means more answered questions and a smaller chance it disappears.
- Check the last release against how fast you need fixes. For aes: is it still maintained?
Rules
Alternatives = tracked crates (top 1000 by downloads) that share a specific crates.io category (2 points each) or keyword (3 points each) with aes, most similar first; its own parts (same name prefix) and crates it depends on or that depend on it are left out, because those are companions, not substitutes. Real downloads = quiet-day median, crates.io data Oct 24, 2026. Built when we find 3 or more.
Up next
The closest alternative: Widely used and steady. 3,862,411 real downloads a day.digestRust crate. Traits for cryptographic hash functions and message authentication codes. Real use: 3.9M downloads a day on quiet days; 1,197 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time