Crates / Compare / tower-http vs actix-rt
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
tower-http vs actix-rt
Short answerBy steady daily use, tower-http is bigger: 2,044,149 real downloads a day against 151,547 for actix-rt (13.5x). 3,782 crates depend on tower-http and 467 on actix-rt. tower-http last shipped 54 days ago, actix-rt 41 days ago.
tower-http
Widely usedWidely used and steady.
3,782 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
Tower middleware and utilities for HTTP clients and servers
actix-rt
EstablishedEstablished and losing ground.
467 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
Tokio-based single-threaded async runtime for the Actix ecosystem
tower-httpactix-rt · 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 | tower-http | actix-rt |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 2,044,149 | 151,547 |
| Crates that depend on it | 3,782 | 467 |
| Last release | 0.7.1, 54 days ago | 2.15.0, 41 days ago |
| Trend vs the field | +5% | -12% |
| Release-window share | 2.3% | 5.5% |
| Downloads in the window | 188,540,423 | 12,817,122 |
| All-time downloads | 551,157,759 | 89,217,017 |
| Versions published | 39 | 36 |
| License | MIT | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| MSRV | 1.65 | 1.88 |
| First published | Mar 10, 2017 | Dec 11, 2018 |
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 (tower-http, 3,782 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: tower-http 54 days ago, actix-rt 41 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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