Crates / brotli / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to brotli
Short answerThe closest alternatives to brotli on crates.io data are async-compression (708K real downloads a day), lz4_flex (475K real downloads a day), snap (318K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is miniz_oxide, and 8 shipped a release in the last year. brotli itself gets 841,265 a day with 613 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs brotli | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| async-compression Established | 707,872 | 0.84x | 387 | 7d | category Compression, keyword "decompression" | side by side |
| lz4_flex Established | 475,029 | 0.56x | 717 | 3mo | keyword "decompression" | compare |
| snap Established | 318,500 | 0.38x | 318 | 3mo | keyword "decompression" | compare |
| miniz_oxide Established | 2,510,979 | 2.98x | 443 | 7mo | category Compression | compare |
| flate2 Widely used | 2,127,583 | 2.53x | 7,758 | 57d | category Compression | compare |
| zstd-safe Pulled in | 1,111,608 | 1.32x | 55 | 8d | category Compression | compare |
| zstd Widely used | 1,083,388 | 1.29x | 2,614 | 8d | category Compression | compare |
| zstd-sys Pulled in | 1,052,310 | 1.25x | 57 | 8d | category Compression | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with brotli; 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 brotli: 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 brotli, 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 gaining. 707,872 real downloads a day.async-compressionRust crate. Adaptors between compression crates and Rust's modern asynchronous IO types. Real use: 708K downloads a day on quiet days; 387 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time