Crates / Compare / lz4_flex vs snap
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
lz4_flex vs snap
Short answerBy steady daily use, lz4_flex is bigger: 475,029 real downloads a day against 318,500 for snap (1.5x). 717 crates depend on lz4_flex and 318 on snap. lz4_flex last shipped 3 months ago, snap 3 months ago.
lz4_flex
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
717 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Fastest LZ4 implementation in Rust, no unsafe by default.
snap
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
318 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
A pure Rust implementation of the Snappy compression algorithm. Includes streaming compression and decompression.
lz4_flexsnap · 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 | lz4_flex | snap |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 475,029 | 318,500 |
| Crates that depend on it | 717 | 318 |
| Last release | 0.14.0, 3 months ago | 1.1.2, 3 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | +1% | -2% |
| Release-window share | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 43,020,116 | 27,917,559 |
| All-time downloads | 158,639,227 | 129,964,235 |
| Versions published | 43 | 18 |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| MSRV | 1.81 | not set |
| First published | Oct 18, 2020 | Aug 2, 2016 |
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 (lz4_flex, 717 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: lz4_flex 3 months ago, snap 3 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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