Crates / Compare / bindgen vs cbindgen
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
bindgen vs cbindgen
Short answerBy steady daily use, bindgen is bigger: 1,018,499 real downloads a day against 215,284 for cbindgen (4.7x). 3,072 crates depend on bindgen and 454 on cbindgen. bindgen last shipped 46 days ago, cbindgen 5 months ago.
bindgen
Widely usedWidely used and steady.
3,072 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
Automatically generates Rust FFI bindings to C and C++ libraries.
cbindgen
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
454 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
A tool for generating C bindings to Rust code.
bindgencbindgen · 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 | bindgen | cbindgen |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 1,018,499 | 215,284 |
| Crates that depend on it | 3,072 | 454 |
| Last release | 0.73.2, 46 days ago | 0.29.4, 5 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | -2% | +2% |
| Release-window share | 3.8% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 91,040,174 | 18,316,611 |
| All-time downloads | 433,444,943 | 111,907,720 |
| Versions published | 129 | 106 |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MPL-2.0 |
| MSRV | 1.71.0 | 1.74 |
| First published | Nov 21, 2014 | Apr 12, 2017 |
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 (bindgen, 3,072 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: bindgen 46 days ago, cbindgen 5 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.
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