Crates / Compare / socket2 vs rdkafka
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 27, 2026
socket2 vs rdkafka
Short answerBy steady daily use, socket2 is bigger: 4,034,112 real downloads a day against 93,361 for rdkafka (43.2x). 1,539 crates depend on socket2 and 315 on rdkafka. socket2 last shipped 3 months ago, rdkafka 9 months ago.
socket2
Widely usedWidely used and losing ground.
1,539 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Utilities for handling networking sockets with a maximal amount of configuration possible intended.
rdkafka
EstablishedEstablished and gaining.
315 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Rust wrapper for librdkafka
socket2rdkafka · 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 | socket2 | rdkafka |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 4,034,112 | 93,361 |
| Crates that depend on it | 1,539 | 315 |
| Last release | 0.6.5, 3 months ago | 0.39.0, 9 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | -10% | +14% |
| Release-window share | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 344,904,774 | 8,679,083 |
| All-time downloads | 1,380,355,504 | 41,593,568 |
| Versions published | 59 | 52 |
| License | MIT OR Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| MSRV | 1.70 | 1.74 |
| First published | Jun 7, 2017 | Oct 29, 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 (socket2, 1,539 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: socket2 3 months ago, rdkafka 9 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 26, 2026). Raw crates.io counts include CI and bots and run high (why); the method is from our 90-day study.
Up next
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Art: Nicholas Roerich, Nag Lake (1925). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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