Crates / cbindgen / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to cbindgen
Short answerThe closest alternatives to cbindgen on crates.io data are bindgen (1M real downloads a day), libc (5M real downloads a day), linux-raw-sys (3.3M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is libc, and 7 shipped a release in the last year. cbindgen itself gets 215,284 a day with 454 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs cbindgen | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bindgen Widely used | 1,018,499 | 4.73x | 3,072 | 46d | category External FFI bindings, category FFI, keyword "bindings", keyword "code-generation" | side by side |
| libc Foundational | 4,964,021 | 23.06x | 17,338 | 8d | category External FFI bindings, keyword "bindings", keyword "ffi" | compare |
| linux-raw-sys Pulled in | 3,305,436 | 15.35x | 39 | 10mo | category External FFI bindings, keyword "ffi" | compare |
| winapi Widely used | 1,251,224 | 5.81x | 1,603 | 6.3y | category External FFI bindings, keyword "ffi" | compare |
| libsqlite3-sys Established | 986,538 | 4.58x | 229 | 3mo | category External FFI bindings, keyword "ffi" | compare |
| security-framework-sys Pulled in | 934,775 | 4.34x | 50 | 8mo | category External FFI bindings, keyword "ffi" | compare |
| pyo3-build-config Established | 835,359 | 3.88x | 156 | 10d | category FFI, keyword "ffi" | compare |
| pyo3 Widely used | 817,609 | 3.80x | 2,315 | 10d | category FFI, keyword "ffi" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with cbindgen; 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 cbindgen: 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 cbindgen, 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. 1,018,499 real downloads a day.bindgenRust crate. Automatically generates Rust FFI bindings to C and C++ libraries. Real use: 1M downloads a day on quiet days; 3,072 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time