Crates / Compare / nom vs winnow
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
nom vs winnow
Short answerwinnow started as a nom fork; both are active. By steady daily use, winnow is bigger: 3,579,683 real downloads a day against 2,156,544 for nom (1.7x). 2,600 crates depend on nom and 448 on winnow. nom last shipped 21 months ago, winnow 3 months ago.
nom
Widely usedWidely used and steady.
2,600 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
A byte-oriented, zero-copy, parser combinators library
winnow
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
448 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
A byte-oriented, zero-copy, parser combinators library
nomwinnow · 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 | nom | winnow |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 2,156,544 | 3,579,683 |
| Crates that depend on it | 2,600 | 448 |
| Last release | 8.0.0, 21 months ago | 1.0.4, 3 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | +10% | +1% |
| Release-window share | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 199,457,286 | 327,025,367 |
| All-time downloads | 823,282,987 | 1,062,238,983 |
| Versions published | 98 | 111 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| MSRV | 1.65.0 | 1.65.0 |
| First published | Jan 17, 2015 | Feb 22, 2023 |
Which to pick
- Pick nom if you want the long-established parser combinator library with many tutorials.
- Pick winnow if you want the fork that toml_edit uses, with a focus on ergonomics, errors and speed.
- Bottom line: winnow started as a nom fork; both are active. (checked against each project's docs, Oct 24, 2026)
- 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 (nom, 2,600 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: nom 21 months ago, winnow 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. People search for this pair: Google suggests "nom vs winnow".