Crates / digest / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to digest
Short answerThe closest alternatives to digest on crates.io data are tiny-keccak (680K real downloads a day), md5 (484K real downloads a day), ppv-lite86 (2.4M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is ppv-lite86, and 4 shipped a release in the last year. digest itself gets 3,862,411 a day with 1,197 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs digest | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tiny-keccak Established | 680,461 | 0.18x | 457 | 6.6y | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto", keyword "hash" | side by side |
| md5 Widely used | 483,598 | 0.13x | 1,213 | 4mo | category Cryptography, keyword "digest", keyword "hash" | compare |
| ppv-lite86 Pulled in | 2,441,634 | 0.63x | 6 | 20mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| subtle Widely used | 2,159,165 | 0.56x | 2,362 | 2.3y | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| ring Widely used | 2,112,308 | 0.55x | 1,837 | 19mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| siphasher Established | 1,957,258 | 0.51x | 274 | 29d | category Cryptography, keyword "hash" | compare |
| chacha20 Established | 1,737,072 | 0.45x | 260 | 58d | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| der Established | 1,514,408 | 0.39x | 378 | 49d | 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 digest; 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 digest: 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 digest, 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 quiet for years. 680,461 real downloads a day.tiny-keccakRust crate. An implementation of Keccak derived functions. Real use: 680K downloads a day on quiet days; 457 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time