Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to ctr
Short answerThe closest alternatives to ctr on crates.io data are cbc (522K real downloads a day), chacha20 (1.7M real downloads a day), salsa20 (299K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is digest, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. ctr itself gets 757,345 a day with 344 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs ctr | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cbc Established | 521,773 | 0.69x | 676 | 5mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "block-mode", keyword "ciphers" | side by side |
| chacha20 Established | 1,737,072 | 2.29x | 260 | 58d | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto", keyword "stream-cipher" | compare |
| salsa20 Pulled in | 299,073 | 0.39x | 66 | 7mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto", keyword "stream-cipher" | compare |
| digest Widely used | 3,862,411 | 5.10x | 1,197 | 6mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| crypto-common Pulled in | 3,766,260 | 4.97x | 85 | 5mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| ppv-lite86 Pulled in | 2,441,634 | 3.22x | 6 | 20mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| subtle Widely used | 2,159,165 | 2.85x | 2,362 | 2.3y | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| hmac Widely used | 2,124,794 | 2.81x | 4,359 | 7mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with ctr; read its description before you swap.
- More dependents means more answered questions and a smaller chance it disappears.
- Check the last release against how fast you need fixes. For ctr: is it still maintained?
Rules
Alternatives = tracked crates (top 1000 by downloads) that share a specific crates.io category (2 points each) or keyword (3 points each) with ctr, most similar first; its own parts (same name prefix) and crates it depends on or that depend on it are left out, because those are companions, not substitutes. Real downloads = quiet-day median, crates.io data Oct 24, 2026. Built when we find 3 or more.
Up next
The closest alternative: Established and steady. 521,773 real downloads a day.cbcRust crate. Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) block cipher mode of operation. Real use: 522K downloads a day on quiet days; 676 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time