Crates / lz4_flex / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to lz4_flex
Short answerThe closest alternatives to lz4_flex on crates.io data are snap (318K real downloads a day), async-compression (708K real downloads a day), zstd-safe (1.1M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is zstd-safe, and 8 shipped a release in the last year. lz4_flex itself gets 475,029 a day with 717 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs lz4_flex | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| snap Established | 318,500 | 0.67x | 318 | 3mo | keyword "compress", keyword "compression" | side by side |
| async-compression Established | 707,872 | 1.49x | 387 | 7d | keyword "compression", keyword "decompression" | side by side |
| zstd-safe Pulled in | 1,111,608 | 2.34x | 55 | 8d | keyword "compression" | compare |
| zstd Widely used | 1,083,388 | 2.28x | 2,614 | 8d | keyword "compression" | compare |
| zstd-sys Pulled in | 1,052,310 | 2.22x | 57 | 8d | keyword "compression" | compare |
| zip Widely used | 977,272 | 2.06x | 4,151 | 7d | keyword "compression" | compare |
| brotli Established | 841,265 | 1.77x | 613 | 52d | keyword "decompression" | compare |
| brotli-decompressor Pulled in | 832,021 | 1.75x | 74 | 3d | keyword "decompression" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with lz4_flex; 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 lz4_flex: 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 lz4_flex, 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. 318,500 real downloads a day.snapRust crate. A pure Rust implementation of the Snappy compression algorithm. Includes streaming compression and decompression. Real use: 318K downloads a day on quiet...Read it next →Also worth your time