Crates / Compare / libc vs bindgen
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
libc vs bindgen
Short answerBy steady daily use, libc is bigger: 4,964,021 real downloads a day against 1,018,499 for bindgen (4.9x). 17,338 crates depend on libc and 3,072 on bindgen. libc last shipped 8 days ago, bindgen 46 days ago.
libc
FoundationalFoundational and steady.
17,338 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
Raw FFI bindings to platform libraries like libc.
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.
libcbindgen · 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 (openssl-sys). They are not always either/or.
Every number, side by side
| Same window, same method | libc | bindgen |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 4,964,021 | 1,018,499 |
| Crates that depend on it | 17,338 | 3,072 |
| Last release | 0.2.191, 8 days ago | 0.73.2, 46 days ago |
| Trend vs the field | -8% | -2% |
| Release-window share | 4.6% | 3.8% |
| Downloads in the window | 433,879,834 | 91,040,174 |
| All-time downloads | 1,835,678,620 | 433,444,943 |
| Versions published | 209 | 129 |
| License | MIT OR Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| MSRV | 1.65 | 1.71.0 |
| First published | Jan 15, 2015 | Nov 21, 2014 |
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 (libc, 17,338 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: libc 8 days ago, bindgen 46 days 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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