Crates / bincode / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to bincode
Short answerThe closest alternatives to bincode on crates.io data are base64 (4.6M real downloads a day), byteorder (2.1M real downloads a day), byteorder-lite (600K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is base64, and 4 shipped a release in the last year. bincode itself gets 828,247 a day with 5,913 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs bincode | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| base64 Foundational | 4,638,981 | 5.60x | 19,537 | 3mo | category Encoding, keyword "decode", keyword "encode" | side by side |
| byteorder Widely used | 2,056,746 | 2.48x | 4,780 | 3.0y | category Encoding, keyword "binary" | compare |
| byteorder-lite Pulled in | 599,934 | 0.72x | 18 | 2.5y | category Encoding, keyword "binary" | compare |
| objc2-encode Pulled in | 486,010 | 0.59x | 1 | 21mo | category Encoding, keyword "encode" | compare |
| borsh Widely used | 674,146 | 0.81x | 1,483 | 59d | category Encoding, category Network programming | side by side |
| borsh-derive Pulled in | 483,224 | 0.58x | 63 | 59d | category Encoding, category Network programming | compare |
| rusticata-macros Pulled in | 502,300 | 0.61x | 13 | 19mo | keyword "serialize" | compare |
| integer-encoding Established | 247,577 | 0.30x | 135 | 12mo | keyword "serialize" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with bincode; 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 bincode: 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 bincode, 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: Foundational and gaining. 4,638,981 real downloads a day.base64Rust crate. encodes and decodes base64 as bytes or utf8. Real use: 4.6M downloads a day on quiet days; 19,537 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time