Crates / bytecount / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to bytecount
Short answerThe closest alternatives to bytecount on crates.io data are rand (5.9M real downloads a day), rand_core (5.9M real downloads a day), itertools (4.5M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is rand, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. bytecount itself gets 476,562 a day with 138 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs bytecount | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rand Foundational | 5,938,557 | 12.46x | 33,204 | 34d | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| rand_core Widely used | 5,860,713 | 12.30x | 2,597 | 52d | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| itertools Widely used | 4,545,996 | 9.54x | 8,656 | 4mo | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| rand_chacha Widely used | 4,016,327 | 8.43x | 1,903 | 9mo | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| foldhash Established | 3,043,165 | 6.39x | 333 | 14mo | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| fastrand Widely used | 2,895,139 | 6.08x | 1,809 | 3mo | category Algorithms | compare |
| num-traits Widely used | 2,894,023 | 6.07x | 7,561 | 2.5y | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| crossbeam-utils Established | 2,696,777 | 5.66x | 605 | 49d | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with bytecount; 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 bytecount: 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 bytecount, 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 steady. 5,938,557 real downloads a day.randRust crate. Random number generators and other randomness functionality. Real use: 5.9M downloads a day on quiet days; 33,204 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time