Crates / hickory-resolver / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to hickory-resolver
Short answerThe closest alternatives to hickory-resolver on crates.io data are idna_adapter (2.4M real downloads a day), gethostname (421K real downloads a day), socket2 (4M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is socket2, and 7 shipped a release in the last year. hickory-resolver itself gets 330,212 a day with 512 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs hickory-resolver | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| idna_adapter Pulled in | 2,429,162 | 7.36x | 41 | 6mo | keyword "dns" | compare |
| gethostname Established | 420,580 | 1.27x | 311 | 12mo | keyword "dns" | compare |
| socket2 Widely used | 4,034,112 | 12.22x | 1,539 | 3mo | category Network programming | compare |
| bytes Foundational | 3,424,140 | 10.37x | 17,656 | 4mo | category Network programming | compare |
| rustix Widely used | 3,390,892 | 10.27x | 1,684 | 38d | category Network programming | compare |
| hyper Widely used | 2,783,528 | 8.43x | 5,861 | 18d | category Network programming | compare |
| tower Widely used | 2,342,590 | 7.09x | 5,816 | 9mo | category Network programming | compare |
| h2 Established | 2,290,495 | 6.94x | 296 | 18d | category Network programming | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with hickory-resolver; 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 hickory-resolver: 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 hickory-resolver, 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 steady. 2,429,162 real downloads a day.idna_adapterRust crate. Back end adapter for idna. Real use: 2.4M downloads a day on quiet days; 41 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time