Crates / Compare / secp256k1 vs k256
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
secp256k1 vs k256
Short answerBy steady daily use, secp256k1 is bigger: 279,378 real downloads a day against 245,278 for k256 (1.1x). 632 crates depend on secp256k1 and 806 on k256. secp256k1 last shipped 56 days ago, k256 4 months ago.
secp256k1
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
632 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
Rust wrapper library for Pieter Wuille's `libsecp256k1`. Implements ECDSA and BIP 340 signatures for the SECG elliptic curve group secp256k1 and related utilities.
k256
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
806 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
secp256k1 elliptic curve library written in pure Rust with support for ECDSA signing/verification/public-key recovery, Taproot Schnorr signatures (BIP340), Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH), and general-purpose secp256k1 elliptic curve group operations which can be used to implement arbitrary protocols
secp256k1k256 · 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 | secp256k1 | k256 |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 279,378 | 245,278 |
| Crates that depend on it | 632 | 806 |
| Last release | 0.33.1, 56 days ago | 0.14.0, 4 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | -4% | +5% |
| Release-window share | 2.1% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 23,966,529 | 21,903,734 |
| All-time downloads | 91,370,499 | 90,136,414 |
| Versions published | 100 | 87 |
| License | CC0-1.0 | Apache-2.0 OR MIT |
| MSRV | 1.63.0 | 1.85 |
| First published | May 4, 2015 | Dec 5, 2019 |
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 (k256, 806 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: secp256k1 56 days ago, k256 4 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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