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Crates / Compare / bincode vs postcard

Rust crates · head to head · data Oct 24, 2026

bincode vs postcard

Short answerBy steady daily use, bincode runs at 828,247 downloads on a quiet day against 353,300 for postcard (2.3x), and 5,913 crates depend on bincode against 1,569. Pick bincode if only for existing data: bincode's final 3.0.0 release is a compile error and its README says development has ceased. Pick postcard if new compact binary formats, including no_std and embedded targets, with a documented, stable wire format.

Bottom line: bincode is unmaintained; postcard (or rkyv, or the bincode-compatible wincode) is where its README points.

828Kbincode quiet-day downloads/day
353Kpostcard quiet-day downloads/day
5,913crates depend on bincode
1,569crates depend on postcard

Side by side

bincodepostcard
Quiet-day baseline (downloads/day)828,247353,300
Downloads in the window72,973,68333,018,890
Share within 2 days of a release0%0%
Baseline trend (first 30 vs last 30 days)+32%+54%
Reverse dependencies5,9131,569
All-time downloads354M80M
Releases in the window00
Latest version3.0.01.1.3
Latest releaseDec 16, 2025Jul 24, 2025
MSRV (latest)1.85.0not set
LicenseMITMIT OR Apache-2.0
First publishedNov 20, 2014Apr 3, 2019

bincode: daily downloads

1M2026-07-27: 733,6152026-07-28: 806,1852026-07-29: 800,9072026-07-30: 778,9792026-07-31: 733,8452026-08-01: 485,4882026-08-02: 451,7612026-08-03: 744,0852026-08-04: 811,3552026-08-05: 819,0522026-08-06: 686,9892026-08-07: 778,1772026-08-08: 444,5682026-08-09: 442,3342026-08-10: 742,2212026-08-11: 784,2972026-08-12: 783,1882026-08-13: 825,0692026-08-14: 767,3412026-08-15: 490,0302026-08-16: 510,0672026-08-17: 761,8012026-08-18: 840,0262026-08-19: 798,3932026-08-20: 885,2282026-08-21: 832,0372026-08-22: 535,3872026-08-23: 527,3322026-08-24: 828,2472026-08-25: 873,5502026-08-26: 866,3502026-08-27: 893,5082026-08-28: 887,1232026-08-29: 512,1692026-08-30: 468,0412026-08-31: 790,4762026-09-01: 928,2742026-09-02: 976,2842026-09-03: 939,3732026-09-04: 862,9452026-09-05: 597,1492026-09-06: 530,0962026-09-07: 728,2092026-09-08: 885,3212026-09-09: 927,2872026-09-10: 927,2292026-09-11: 817,5052026-09-12: 505,6642026-09-13: 457,1622026-09-14: 880,6102026-09-15: 1,051,0892026-09-16: 941,4892026-09-17: 992,3522026-09-18: 894,7562026-09-19: 545,3612026-09-20: 541,8052026-09-21: 856,2102026-09-22: 951,2482026-09-23: 973,9372026-09-24: 981,7222026-09-25: 886,9542026-09-26: 550,4092026-09-27: 575,3392026-09-28: 1,013,6452026-09-29: 1,040,8582026-09-30: 1,037,0322026-10-01: 1,021,2572026-10-02: 972,6302026-10-03: 624,4222026-10-04: 620,6842026-10-05: 964,6662026-10-06: 1,063,1012026-10-07: 1,098,7322026-10-08: 1,093,5332026-10-09: 1,041,1352026-10-10: 671,9792026-10-11: 639,2842026-10-12: 961,7742026-10-13: 1,113,1762026-10-14: 1,165,4892026-10-15: 1,095,3902026-10-16: 1,016,8612026-10-17: 617,0912026-10-18: 598,4712026-10-19: 1,083,2272026-10-20: 1,168,3302026-10-21: 1,268,1792026-10-22: 1,330,7742026-10-23: 1,226,963Jul 27Aug 1Sep 1Oct 1

postcard: daily downloads

2K4K6K2026-07-27: 285,9092026-07-28: 312,9602026-07-29: 313,3282026-07-30: 301,2202026-07-31: 288,6682026-08-01: 206,9422026-08-02: 190,6422026-08-03: 300,9442026-08-04: 314,2912026-08-05: 328,7162026-08-06: 267,2002026-08-07: 313,7622026-08-08: 188,6882026-08-09: 186,0852026-08-10: 325,5682026-08-11: 339,7092026-08-12: 327,6842026-08-13: 330,9632026-08-14: 326,5532026-08-15: 213,9952026-08-16: 198,0382026-08-17: 301,4462026-08-18: 326,2872026-08-19: 310,8922026-08-20: 350,5022026-08-21: 323,1192026-08-22: 208,3322026-08-23: 205,4732026-08-24: 346,9322026-08-25: 357,4882026-08-26: 357,3842026-08-27: 356,0702026-08-28: 352,1502026-08-29: 218,9132026-08-30: 186,5162026-08-31: 319,6312026-09-01: 375,1892026-09-02: 399,9182026-09-03: 390,9432026-09-04: 353,3002026-09-05: 253,9192026-09-06: 229,0322026-09-07: 338,3662026-09-08: 394,2622026-09-09: 411,3282026-09-10: 403,8292026-09-11: 360,3102026-09-12: 232,1042026-09-13: 221,8922026-09-14: 396,5032026-09-15: 416,9382026-09-16: 394,3582026-09-17: 419,3142026-09-18: 381,5322026-09-19: 242,8292026-09-20: 253,0402026-09-21: 373,5102026-09-22: 397,3362026-09-23: 436,5862026-09-24: 436,8182026-09-25: 408,0432026-09-26: 260,6232026-09-27: 271,1972026-09-28: 431,0482026-09-29: 444,0992026-09-30: 436,9832026-10-01: 466,8542026-10-02: 472,5132026-10-03: 303,6742026-10-04: 304,4842026-10-05: 489,8842026-10-06: 537,1952026-10-07: 573,9492026-10-08: 581,0562026-10-09: 533,7252026-10-10: 393,1052026-10-11: 379,0202026-10-12: 511,7922026-10-13: 577,8742026-10-14: 651,9372026-10-15: 621,9972026-10-16: 563,0092026-10-17: 381,2472026-10-18: 365,7622026-10-19: 623,1272026-10-20: 639,6742026-10-21: 660,1662026-10-22: 635,1372026-10-23: 603,560Jul 27Aug 1Sep 1Oct 1

release windowquiet dayquiet-day median

Which to pick

  • bincode if only for existing data: bincode's final 3.0.0 release is a compile error and its README says development has ceased.
  • postcard if new compact binary formats, including no_std and embedded targets, with a documented, stable wire format.

Downloads are not quality. The quiet-day baseline is our steadiest public number for real use (release-day spikes from mirrors and CI removed), and reverse dependencies count maintainers who chose the crate. How we compute it.

Each crate in detail

  • bincode: A binary serialization / deserialization strategy for transforming structs into bytes and vice versa!
  • postcard: A no_std + serde compatible message library for Rust

Other comparisons

Sources

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