Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to cast
Short answerThe closest alternatives to cast on crates.io data are num-conv (2.1M real downloads a day), itoa (4.3M real downloads a day), zmij (3.4M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is itoa, and 8 shipped a release in the last year. cast itself gets 788,776 a day with 108 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs cast | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| num-conv Pulled in | 2,114,479 | 2.68x | 4 | 5mo | keyword "cast", keyword "integer" | compare |
| itoa Established | 4,278,839 | 5.42x | 791 | 7mo | keyword "integer" | compare |
| zmij Pulled in | 3,408,700 | 4.32x | 96 | 3mo | keyword "float" | compare |
| zerocopy Established | 3,245,504 | 4.11x | 878 | 11d | keyword "cast" | compare |
| ryu Established | 3,105,583 | 3.94x | 390 | 8mo | keyword "float" | compare |
| deranged Pulled in | 2,065,934 | 2.62x | 25 | 11d | keyword "integer" | compare |
| crypto-bigint Established | 937,488 | 1.19x | 167 | 1d | keyword "integer" | compare |
| serde_repr Widely used | 895,570 | 1.14x | 1,237 | 3mo | keyword "integer" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with cast; 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 cast: 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 cast, 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: Few direct dependents and steady. 2,114,479 real downloads a day.num-convRust crate. `num_conv` is a crate to convert between integer types without using `as` casts. This provides better certainty when refactoring, makes the exact behavior of...Read it next →Also worth your time