Crates / Compare / async-channel vs flume
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
async-channel vs flume
Short answerBy steady daily use, async-channel is bigger: 881,815 real downloads a day against 768,860 for flume (1.1x). 1,037 crates depend on async-channel and 970 on flume. async-channel last shipped 16 months ago, flume 11 months ago.
async-channel
Widely usedWidely used and steady.
1,037 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Async multi-producer multi-consumer channel
flume
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
970 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
A blazingly fast multi-producer channel
async-channelflume · 100% = that crate's normal quiet day, so a spike to 300% is triple its usual traffic
Every number, side by side
| Same window, same method | async-channel | flume |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 881,815 | 768,860 |
| Crates that depend on it | 1,037 | 970 |
| Last release | 2.5.0, 16 months ago | 0.12.0, 11 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | -5% | +3% |
| Release-window share | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 77,886,978 | 69,906,804 |
| All-time downloads | 372,822,916 | 267,058,879 |
| Versions published | 26 | 39 |
| License | Apache-2.0 OR MIT | Apache-2.0/MIT |
| MSRV | 1.60 | not set |
| First published | May 6, 2019 | Jul 31, 2019 |
Which to pick
- Downloads tell you what is common, not what fits. Each crate's own description above says what it is for; when the jobs differ, pick by the job.
- When both fit, prefer the one more crates depend on (async-channel, 1,037 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: async-channel 16 months ago, flume 11 months ago.
Also in this space
Method
Real downloads = the median day with no release that day or the day before, from the crates.io API (Jul 27, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026). Raw crates.io counts include CI and bots and run high (why); the method is from our 90-day study.
Up next
Another comparison: Same method, same window. Widely used and losing ground vs established and steady.crossbeam vs flumeRead it next →Also worth your time