Crates / serde_derive / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to serde_derive
Short answerThe closest alternatives to serde_derive on crates.io data are zerovec-derive (2.6M real downloads a day), zerovec (2.5M real downloads a day), yoke-derive (2.4M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is zerovec-derive, and 7 shipped a release in the last year. serde_derive itself gets 4,161,400 a day with 6,497 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs serde_derive | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zerovec-derive Pulled in | 2,561,390 | 0.62x | 6 | 2d | category No standard library, keyword "derive", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| zerovec Pulled in | 2,516,803 | 0.60x | 60 | 2d | category No standard library, keyword "serde", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| yoke-derive Pulled in | 2,432,865 | 0.58x | 14 | 24d | category No standard library, keyword "derive", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| zerofrom-derive Pulled in | 2,353,727 | 0.57x | 3 | 39d | category No standard library, keyword "derive", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| valuable Pulled in | 933,894 | 0.22x | 73 | 21mo | keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| rkyv Established | 513,452 | 0.12x | 797 | 3mo | category No dynamic allocation, category No standard library, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| rkyv_derive Pulled in | 513,370 | 0.12x | 8 | 3mo | category No dynamic allocation, category No standard library, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | compare |
| bytecheck Pulled in | 477,366 | 0.11x | 83 | 3mo | category No dynamic allocation, category No standard library, keyword "no_std", keyword "serialization" | 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_derive; 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_derive: 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_derive, 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 steady. 2,561,390 real downloads a day.zerovec-deriveRust crate. Custom derive for the zerovec crate. Real use: 2.6M downloads a day on quiet days; 6 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time