Crates / Compare / quick-xml vs html5ever
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
quick-xml vs html5ever
Short answerBy steady daily use, quick-xml is bigger: 1,525,182 real downloads a day against 506,290 for html5ever (3.0x). 2,687 crates depend on quick-xml and 380 on html5ever. quick-xml last shipped 2 months ago, html5ever 40 days ago.
quick-xml
Widely usedWidely used and steady.
2,687 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
High performance xml reader and writer
html5ever
EstablishedEstablished and gaining.
380 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
High-performance browser-grade HTML5 parser
quick-xmlhtml5ever · 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 | quick-xml | html5ever |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 1,525,182 | 506,290 |
| Crates that depend on it | 2,687 | 380 |
| Last release | 0.42.0, 2 months ago | 0.40.1, 40 days ago |
| Trend vs the field | +8% | +21% |
| Release-window share | 1.3% | 4.3% |
| Downloads in the window | 147,633,822 | 48,055,553 |
| All-time downloads | 492,840,009 | 131,909,541 |
| Versions published | 104 | 77 |
| License | MIT | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| MSRV | 1.86 | 1.85 |
| First published | Feb 1, 2016 | Jun 15, 2015 |
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 (quick-xml, 2,687 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: quick-xml 2 months ago, html5ever 40 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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