Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to borsh
Short answerThe closest alternatives to borsh on crates.io data are bincode (828K real downloads a day), base64 (4.6M real downloads a day), serde (4.3M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is base64, and 8 shipped a release in the last year. borsh itself gets 674,146 a day with 1,483 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs borsh | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bincode Widely used | 828,247 | 1.23x | 5,913 | 10mo | category Encoding, category Network programming | side by side |
| base64 Foundational | 4,638,981 | 6.88x | 19,537 | 3mo | category Encoding | compare |
| serde Foundational | 4,327,945 | 6.42x | 133,588 | 3mo | category Encoding | compare |
| serde_json Foundational | 4,294,696 | 6.37x | 113,141 | 13d | category Encoding | compare |
| socket2 Widely used | 4,034,112 | 5.98x | 1,539 | 3mo | category Network programming | compare |
| serde_core Established | 3,794,333 | 5.63x | 229 | 3mo | category Encoding | compare |
| rustix Widely used | 3,390,892 | 5.03x | 1,684 | 38d | category Network programming | compare |
| zerocopy Established | 3,245,504 | 4.81x | 878 | 11d | category Encoding | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with borsh; 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 borsh: 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 borsh, 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. 828,247 real downloads a day.bincodeRust crate. A binary serialization / deserialization strategy for transforming structs into bytes and vice versa!. Real use: 828K downloads a day on quiet days; 5,913...Read it next →Also worth your time