Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to md5
Short answerThe closest alternatives to md5 on crates.io data are md-5 (1.3M real downloads a day), digest (3.9M real downloads a day), sha2 (3.5M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is digest, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. md5 itself gets 483,598 a day with 1,213 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs md5 | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| md-5 Widely used | 1,344,840 | 2.78x | 1,435 | 7mo | category Cryptography, keyword "digest", keyword "hash" | side by side |
| digest Widely used | 3,862,411 | 7.99x | 1,197 | 6mo | category Cryptography, keyword "digest", keyword "hash" | compare |
| sha2 Foundational | 3,510,276 | 7.26x | 22,608 | 12d | category Cryptography, keyword "digest", keyword "hash" | compare |
| sha1 Widely used | 2,004,209 | 4.14x | 2,496 | 3mo | category Cryptography, keyword "digest", keyword "hash" | compare |
| adler2 Pulled in | 1,994,630 | 4.12x | 18 | 17mo | category Algorithms, keyword "checksum", keyword "hash" | compare |
| sha3 Widely used | 573,618 | 1.19x | 1,767 | 5mo | category Cryptography, keyword "digest", keyword "hash" | compare |
| blake2 Established | 502,276 | 1.04x | 839 | 59d | category Cryptography, keyword "digest", keyword "hash" | compare |
| sha-1 Established | 196,391 | 0.41x | 313 | 3.9y | category Cryptography, keyword "digest", keyword "hash" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with md5; 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 md5: 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 md5, 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: Widely used and steady. 1,344,840 real downloads a day.md-5Rust crate. MD5 hash function. Real use: 1.3M downloads a day on quiet days; 1,435 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time