Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to num
Short answerThe closest alternatives to num on crates.io data are bigdecimal (366K real downloads a day), number_prefix (280K real downloads a day), crypto-bigint (937K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is crossbeam-utils, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. num itself gets 811,973 a day with 2,024 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs num | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bigdecimal Established | 365,613 | 0.45x | 588 | 26d | category Science, keyword "bignum", keyword "numerics" | side by side |
| number_prefix Pulled in | 280,493 | 0.35x | 39 | 6.5y | category Algorithms, keyword "mathematics", keyword "numerics" | compare |
| crypto-bigint Established | 937,488 | 1.15x | 167 | 1d | category Algorithms, category Data structures, keyword "bignum" | compare |
| crossbeam-utils Established | 2,696,777 | 3.32x | 605 | 49d | category Algorithms, category Data structures | compare |
| ahash Widely used | 1,968,676 | 2.42x | 2,097 | 18mo | category Algorithms, category Data structures | compare |
| crossbeam-deque Established | 1,924,167 | 2.37x | 142 | 49d | category Algorithms, category Data structures | compare |
| crossbeam-channel Widely used | 1,564,625 | 1.93x | 2,767 | 49d | category Algorithms, category Data structures | compare |
| dashmap Widely used | 1,112,131 | 1.37x | 4,694 | 5mo | category Algorithms, category Data structures | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with num; 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 num: 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 num, 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. 365,613 real downloads a day.bigdecimalRust crate. Arbitrary precision decimal numbers. Real use: 366K downloads a day on quiet days; 588 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time