Crates / Compare / ciborium vs zbus
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
ciborium vs zbus
Short answerBy steady daily use, ciborium is bigger: 775,492 real downloads a day against 354,153 for zbus (2.2x). 902 crates depend on ciborium and 647 on zbus. ciborium last shipped 2.7 years ago, zbus 1 day ago.
ciborium
EstablishedEstablished and quiet for years.
902 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
serde implementation of CBOR using ciborium-basic
zbus
EstablishedEstablished and gaining.
647 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
API for D-Bus communication and its wire format
ciboriumzbus · 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 | ciborium | zbus |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 775,492 | 354,153 |
| Crates that depend on it | 902 | 647 |
| Last release | 0.2.2, 2.7 years ago | 6.1.0, 1 day ago |
| Trend vs the field | +7% | +20% |
| Release-window share | 0.0% | 6.2% |
| Downloads in the window | 72,969,804 | 34,317,803 |
| All-time downloads | 273,824,774 | 100,882,550 |
| Versions published | 4 | 94 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| MSRV | 1.58 | 1.89 |
| First published | Dec 3, 2020 | Jul 7, 2020 |
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 (ciborium, 902 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: ciborium 2.7 years ago, zbus 1 day 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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