Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to serde
Short answerThe closest alternatives to serde on crates.io data are valuable (934K real downloads a day), rkyv (513K real downloads a day), rkyv_derive (513K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is base64, and 7 shipped a release in the last year. serde itself gets 4,327,945 a day with 133,588 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs serde | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| valuable Pulled in | 933,894 | 0.22x | 73 | 21mo | category Encoding, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| rkyv Established | 513,452 | 0.12x | 797 | 3mo | category Encoding, category No dynamic allocation, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | side by side |
| rkyv_derive Pulled in | 513,370 | 0.12x | 8 | 3mo | category Encoding, category No dynamic allocation, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| bytecheck Pulled in | 477,366 | 0.11x | 83 | 3mo | category Encoding, category No dynamic allocation, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| bytecheck_derive Pulled in | 477,347 | 0.11x | 1 | 3mo | category Encoding, category No dynamic allocation, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| value-bag Pulled in | 230,327 | 0.05x | 7 | 53d | category Encoding, category No standard library, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| base64 Foundational | 4,638,981 | 1.07x | 19,537 | 3mo | category Encoding, keyword "no_std" | compare |
| toml_datetime Pulled in | 3,215,444 | 0.74x | 29 | 16d | category Encoding, keyword "no_std" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with serde; 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 serde: 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 serde, 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: Few direct dependents and losing ground. 933,894 real downloads a day.valuableRust crate. Object-safe value inspection, used to pass un-typed structured data across trait-object boundaries. Real use: 934K downloads a day on quiet days; 73 crates...Read it next →Also worth your time