Crates / Compare / der vs base64ct
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
der vs base64ct
Short answerBy steady daily use, der is bigger: 1,514,408 real downloads a day against 1,305,115 for base64ct (1.2x). 378 crates depend on der and 439 on base64ct. der last shipped 49 days ago, base64ct 9 months ago.
der
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
378 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
Pure Rust embedded-friendly implementation of the Distinguished Encoding Rules (DER) for Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1) as described in ITU X.690 with full support for heapless `no_std`/`no_alloc` targets
base64ct
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
439 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Pure Rust implementation of Base64 (RFC 4648) which avoids any usages of data-dependent branches/LUTs and thereby provides portable "best effort" constant-time operation and embedded-friendly no_std support
derbase64ct · 100% = that crate's normal quiet day, so a spike to 300% is triple its usual traffic
How they relate
- Often used together: 1 tracked crate depend on both (spki). They are not always either/or.
Every number, side by side
| Same window, same method | der | base64ct |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 1,514,408 | 1,305,115 |
| Crates that depend on it | 378 | 439 |
| Last release | 0.8.2, 49 days ago | 1.8.3, 9 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | +4% | +2% |
| Release-window share | 1.5% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 139,394,897 | 120,834,847 |
| All-time downloads | 528,015,809 | 459,584,264 |
| Versions published | 65 | 31 |
| License | Apache-2.0 OR MIT | Apache-2.0 OR MIT |
| MSRV | 1.85 | 1.85 |
| First published | Dec 17, 2020 | Jan 21, 2021 |
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 (base64ct, 439 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: der 49 days ago, base64ct 9 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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