Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to p256
Short answerThe closest alternatives to p256 on crates.io data are p384 (392K real downloads a day), ring (2.1M real downloads a day), ed25519 (761K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is digest, and 5 shipped a release in the last year. p256 itself gets 724,299 a day with 1,172 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs p256 | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p384 Established | 391,839 | 0.54x | 378 | 4mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto", keyword "ecc" | side by side |
| ring Widely used | 2,112,308 | 2.92x | 1,837 | 19mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto", keyword "ecc" | compare |
| ed25519 Pulled in | 760,807 | 1.05x | 78 | 6mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto", keyword "ecc" | compare |
| k256 Established | 245,278 | 0.34x | 806 | 4mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto", keyword "ecc" | compare |
| digest Widely used | 3,862,411 | 5.33x | 1,197 | 6mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| crypto-common Pulled in | 3,766,260 | 5.20x | 85 | 5mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| ppv-lite86 Pulled in | 2,441,634 | 3.37x | 6 | 20mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| subtle Widely used | 2,159,165 | 2.98x | 2,362 | 2.3y | category Cryptography, category No standard library, keyword "crypto" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with p256; 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 p256: 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 p256, 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 gaining. 391,839 real downloads a day.p384Rust crate. Pure Rust implementation of the NIST P-384 (a.k.a. secp384r1) elliptic curve as defined in SP 800-186 with support for ECDH, ECDSA signing/verification, and...Read it next →Also worth your time