Crates / reqwest / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to reqwest
Short answerThe closest alternatives to reqwest on crates.io data are ureq (840K real downloads a day), idna (2.6M real downloads a day), httparse (2.2M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is idna, and 4 shipped a release in the last year. reqwest itself gets 2,544,741 a day with 31,677 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs reqwest | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ureq Widely used | 840,482 | 0.33x | 4,472 | 3d | category HTTP client, keyword "client", keyword "http" | side by side |
| idna Established | 2,577,546 | 1.01x | 246 | 14mo | keyword "http" | compare |
| httparse Established | 2,183,298 | 0.86x | 609 | 20mo | keyword "http" | compare |
| httpdate Established | 1,757,620 | 0.69x | 659 | 3.2y | keyword "http" | compare |
| axum-core Established | 1,571,431 | 0.62x | 191 | 10mo | keyword "http" | compare |
| ureq-proto Pulled in | 579,261 | 0.23x | 3 | 7d | keyword "http" | compare |
| headers Established | 343,059 | 0.13x | 273 | 30d | keyword "http" | compare |
| headers-core Pulled in | 341,293 | 0.13x | 12 | 2.9y | keyword "http" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with reqwest; 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 reqwest: 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 reqwest, 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. 840,482 real downloads a day.ureqRust crate. Simple, safe HTTP client. Real use: 840K downloads a day on quiet days; 4,472 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time