Crates / ciborium-io / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to ciborium-io
Short answerThe closest alternatives to ciborium-io on crates.io data are bytes (3.4M real downloads a day), bitvec (807K real downloads a day), portable-atomic-util (537K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is socket2, and 8 shipped a release in the last year. ciborium-io itself gets 774,868 a day with 27 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs ciborium-io | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bytes Foundational | 3,424,140 | 4.42x | 17,656 | 4mo | category Data structures, keyword "io" | compare |
| bitvec Established | 807,032 | 1.04x | 916 | 4mo | category Data structures, category Embedded development | compare |
| portable-atomic-util Pulled in | 537,004 | 0.69x | 73 | 50d | category Data structures, category Embedded development | compare |
| socket2 Widely used | 4,034,112 | 5.21x | 1,539 | 3mo | keyword "io" | compare |
| mio Established | 3,332,252 | 4.30x | 624 | 21d | keyword "io" | compare |
| tokio Foundational | 3,098,313 | 4.00x | 78,796 | 3d | keyword "io" | compare |
| writeable Pulled in | 2,575,145 | 3.32x | 61 | 2mo | keyword "write" | compare |
| tower Widely used | 2,342,590 | 3.02x | 5,816 | 9mo | keyword "io" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with ciborium-io; 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 ciborium-io: 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 ciborium-io, 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. 3,424,140 real downloads a day.bytesRust crate. Types and traits for working with bytes. Real use: 3.4M downloads a day on quiet days; 17,656 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time