Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to rsa
Short answerThe closest alternatives to rsa on crates.io data are ring (2.1M real downloads a day), pem-rfc7468 (1.1M real downloads a day), aead (825K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is crypto-common, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. rsa itself gets 717,631 a day with 1,182 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs rsa | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ring Widely used | 2,112,308 | 2.94x | 1,837 | 19mo | category Cryptography, keyword "crypto", keyword "rsa" | side by side |
| pem-rfc7468 Pulled in | 1,099,295 | 1.53x | 73 | 12mo | category Cryptography, keyword "crypto", keyword "rsa" | compare |
| aead Established | 824,924 | 1.15x | 210 | 4mo | category Cryptography, keyword "crypto", keyword "encryption" | compare |
| aws-lc-rs Established | 1,156,444 | 1.61x | 474 | 12d | keyword "crypto", keyword "security" | compare |
| crypto-common Pulled in | 3,766,260 | 5.25x | 85 | 5mo | category Cryptography, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| ppv-lite86 Pulled in | 2,441,634 | 3.40x | 6 | 20mo | category Cryptography, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| hmac Widely used | 2,124,794 | 2.96x | 4,359 | 7mo | category Cryptography, keyword "crypto" | compare |
| chacha20 Established | 1,737,072 | 2.42x | 260 | 58d | category Cryptography, 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 rsa; 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 rsa: 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 rsa, 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. 2,112,308 real downloads a day.ringRust crate. An experiment. Real use: 2.1M downloads a day on quiet days; 1,837 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time