Crates / Compare / winapi vs windows
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
winapi vs windows
Short answerBy steady daily use, winapi is bigger: 1,251,224 real downloads a day against 1,051,788 for windows (1.2x). 1,603 crates depend on winapi and 2,133 on windows. winapi last shipped 6.3 years ago, windows 13 months ago.
winapi
Widely usedWidely used and quiet for years.
1,603 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Raw FFI bindings for all of Windows API.
windows
Widely usedWidely used and steady.
2,133 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Rust for Windows
winapiwindows · 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 | winapi | windows |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 1,251,224 | 1,051,788 |
| Crates that depend on it | 1,603 | 2,133 |
| Last release | 0.3.9, 6.3 years ago | 0.62.2, 13 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | -3% | +9% |
| Release-window share | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 109,886,111 | 97,776,578 |
| All-time downloads | 544,529,697 | 375,699,874 |
| Versions published | 51 | 81 |
| License | MIT/Apache-2.0 | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| MSRV | not set | 1.82 |
| First published | Nov 29, 2014 | Jan 15, 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 (windows, 2,133 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: winapi 6.3 years ago, windows 13 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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