base64 vs data-encoding

Short answerBy steady daily use, base64 is bigger: 4,638,981 real downloads a day against 1,416,151 for data-encoding (3.3x). 19,537 crates depend on base64 and 854 on data-encoding. base64 last shipped 3 months ago, data-encoding 3 months ago.

base64

Foundational

Foundational and gaining.

19,537 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.

encodes and decodes base64 as bytes or utf8

data-encoding

Established

Established and steady.

854 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.

Efficient and customizable data-encoding functions like base64, base32, and hex

base64data-encoding · 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	base64	data-encoding
Real downloads a day	4,638,981	1,416,151
Crates that depend on it	19,537	854
Last release	0.23.1, 3 months ago	2.11.1, 3 months ago
Trend vs the field	+17%	+7%
Release-window share	1.9%	2.0%
Downloads in the window	432,544,827	129,347,667
All-time downloads	1,799,358,172	480,384,192
Versions published	45	26
License	MIT OR Apache-2.0	MIT
MSRV	1.71.0	1.48
First published	Dec 4, 2015	Dec 5, 2015

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 (base64, 19,537 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
Check the release dates against your own pace: base64 3 months ago, data-encoding 3 months ago.

Also in this space

bincodeWidely usedA binary serialization / deserialization strategy for transforming structs into bytes and vice versa!828,247 a day, 5,913 dependentsserdeFoundationalA generic serialization/deserialization framework4,327,945 a day, 133,588 dependents serde_coreEstablishedSerde traits only, with no support for derive -- use the `serde` crate instead3,794,333 a day, 229 dependents toml_datetimePulled inA TOML-compatible datetime type3,215,444 a day, 29 dependents

Compare 4 of them side by side →

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.

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