Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to rmp
Short answerThe closest alternatives to rmp on crates.io data are base64 (4.6M real downloads a day), serde (4.3M real downloads a day), serde_json (4.3M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is base64, and 8 shipped a release in the last year. rmp itself gets 368,855 a day with 208 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs rmp | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| base64 Foundational | 4,638,981 | 12.58x | 19,537 | 3mo | category Encoding | compare |
| serde Foundational | 4,327,945 | 11.73x | 133,588 | 3mo | category Encoding | compare |
| serde_json Foundational | 4,294,696 | 11.64x | 113,141 | 13d | category Encoding | compare |
| serde_core Established | 3,794,333 | 10.29x | 229 | 3mo | category Encoding | compare |
| zerocopy Established | 3,245,504 | 8.80x | 878 | 11d | category Encoding | compare |
| toml_datetime Pulled in | 3,215,444 | 8.72x | 29 | 16d | category Encoding | compare |
| toml Foundational | 2,960,881 | 8.03x | 20,777 | 15d | category Encoding | compare |
| toml_edit Widely used | 2,715,071 | 7.36x | 1,989 | 15d | category Encoding | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with rmp; 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 rmp: 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 rmp, 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: Foundational and gaining. 4,638,981 real downloads a day.base64Rust crate. encodes and decodes base64 as bytes or utf8. Real use: 4.6M downloads a day on quiet days; 19,537 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time