Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to flume
Short answerThe closest alternatives to flume on crates.io data are concurrent-queue (1M real downloads a day), crossbeam-channel (1.6M real downloads a day), async-channel (882K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is parking_lot_core, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. flume itself gets 768,860 a day with 970 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs flume | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| concurrent-queue Pulled in | 1,034,863 | 1.35x | 93 | 2.5y | category Concurrency, keyword "channel", keyword "mpmc" | compare |
| crossbeam-channel Widely used | 1,564,625 | 2.03x | 2,767 | 49d | category Concurrency, category Data structures, keyword "channel", keyword "mpmc" | side by side |
| async-channel Widely used | 881,815 | 1.15x | 1,037 | 16mo | category Concurrency, keyword "mpmc", keyword "mpsc" | side by side |
| crossbeam-utils Established | 2,696,777 | 3.51x | 605 | 49d | category Concurrency, category Data structures, keyword "thread" | compare |
| crossbeam-queue Established | 1,117,157 | 1.45x | 499 | 49d | category Concurrency, category Data structures, keyword "mpmc" | compare |
| parking_lot_core Pulled in | 2,995,937 | 3.90x | 47 | 3d | category Concurrency, keyword "thread" | compare |
| parking_lot Widely used | 2,961,161 | 3.85x | 8,755 | 3d | category Concurrency, keyword "thread" | compare |
| rayon Foundational | 1,615,491 | 2.10x | 11,972 | 6mo | category Concurrency, keyword "thread" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with flume; 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 flume: 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 flume, 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: Few direct dependents and quiet for years. 1,034,863 real downloads a day.concurrent-queueRust crate. Concurrent multi-producer multi-consumer queue. Real use: 1M downloads a day on quiet days; 93 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time