Crates / block-padding / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to block-padding
Short answerThe closest alternatives to block-padding on crates.io data are digest (3.9M real downloads a day), crypto-common (3.8M real downloads a day), sha2 (3.5M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is digest, and 7 shipped a release in the last year. block-padding itself gets 613,238 a day with 55 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs block-padding | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| digest Widely used | 3,862,411 | 6.30x | 1,197 | 6mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library | compare |
| crypto-common Pulled in | 3,766,260 | 6.14x | 85 | 5mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library | compare |
| sha2 Foundational | 3,510,276 | 5.72x | 22,608 | 12d | category Cryptography, category No standard library | compare |
| rustls Widely used | 2,763,314 | 4.51x | 5,286 | 10d | category Cryptography | compare |
| rustls-webpki Established | 2,654,129 | 4.33x | 240 | 4d | category Cryptography, category No standard library | compare |
| ppv-lite86 Pulled in | 2,441,634 | 3.98x | 6 | 20mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library | compare |
| zeroize Widely used | 2,397,082 | 3.91x | 5,204 | 18d | category Cryptography, category No standard library | compare |
| tokio-rustls Widely used | 2,299,591 | 3.75x | 2,458 | 26d | category Cryptography | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with block-padding; 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 block-padding: 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 block-padding, 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