Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to axum
Short answerThe closest alternatives to axum on crates.io data are h2 (2.3M real downloads a day), idna (2.6M real downloads a day), ureq (840K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is idna, and 4 shipped a release in the last year. axum itself gets 1,587,646 a day with 9,968 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs axum | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| h2 Established | 2,290,495 | 1.44x | 296 | 18d | category Asynchronous, category Network programming, keyword "http" | compare |
| idna Established | 2,577,546 | 1.62x | 246 | 14mo | keyword "http", keyword "web" | compare |
| ureq Widely used | 840,482 | 0.53x | 4,472 | 3d | keyword "http", keyword "web" | compare |
| ureq-proto Pulled in | 579,261 | 0.36x | 3 | 7d | keyword "http", keyword "web" | compare |
| httparse Established | 2,183,298 | 1.38x | 609 | 20mo | category Network programming, keyword "http" | compare |
| tungstenite Established | 1,131,863 | 0.71x | 710 | 3mo | category Network programming, keyword "web" | compare |
| wiremock Widely used | 309,864 | 0.20x | 3,363 | 14mo | category Asynchronous, keyword "http" | compare |
| http-range-header Pulled in | 289,915 | 0.18x | 19 | 23mo | category Network programming, keyword "http" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with axum; 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 axum: 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 axum, 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: Established and steady. 2,290,495 real downloads a day.h2Rust crate. An HTTP/2 client and server. Real use: 2.3M downloads a day on quiet days; 296 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time