Crates / Compare / zstd vs async-compression
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
zstd vs async-compression
Short answerBy steady daily use, zstd is bigger: 1,083,388 real downloads a day against 707,872 for async-compression (1.5x). 2,614 crates depend on zstd and 387 on async-compression. zstd last shipped 8 days ago, async-compression 7 days ago.
zstd
Widely usedWidely used and steady.
2,614 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
Binding for the zstd compression library.
async-compression
EstablishedEstablished and gaining.
387 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
Adaptors between compression crates and Rust's modern asynchronous IO types.
zstdasync-compression · 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 | zstd | async-compression |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 1,083,388 | 707,872 |
| Crates that depend on it | 2,614 | 387 |
| Last release | 0.14.3, 8 days ago | 0.4.51, 7 days ago |
| Trend vs the field | +6% | +11% |
| Release-window share | 7.9% | 20.4% |
| Downloads in the window | 102,684,385 | 65,612,014 |
| All-time downloads | 440,610,017 | 250,800,243 |
| Versions published | 80 | 78 |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| MSRV | 1.64 | 1.83 |
| First published | Feb 22, 2016 | May 14, 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 (zstd, 2,614 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: zstd 8 days ago, async-compression 7 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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