Crates / tokio-tungstenite / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to tokio-tungstenite
Short answerThe closest alternatives to tokio-tungstenite on crates.io data are tower (2.3M real downloads a day), tower-http (2M real downloads a day), axum-core (1.6M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is socket2, and 7 shipped a release in the last year. tokio-tungstenite itself gets 1,029,416 a day with 3,629 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs tokio-tungstenite | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tower Widely used | 2,342,590 | 2.28x | 5,816 | 9mo | category Asynchronous, category Network programming, keyword "io" | side by side |
| tower-http Widely used | 2,044,149 | 1.99x | 3,782 | 54d | category Asynchronous, category Network programming, keyword "io" | compare |
| axum-core Established | 1,571,431 | 1.53x | 191 | 10mo | category Asynchronous, category Network programming, keyword "web" | compare |
| actix-rt Established | 151,547 | 0.15x | 467 | 41d | category Asynchronous, category Network programming, keyword "io" | compare |
| async-std Widely used | 138,341 | 0.13x | 1,903 | 14mo | category Asynchronous, category Concurrency | compare |
| socket2 Widely used | 4,034,112 | 3.92x | 1,539 | 3mo | category Network programming, keyword "io" | compare |
| bytes Foundational | 3,424,140 | 3.33x | 17,656 | 4mo | category Network programming, keyword "io" | compare |
| mio Established | 3,332,252 | 3.24x | 624 | 21d | category Asynchronous, keyword "io" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with tokio-tungstenite; 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 tokio-tungstenite: 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 tokio-tungstenite, 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. 2,342,590 real downloads a day.towerRust crate. Tower is a library of modular and reusable components for building robust clients and servers. Real use: 2.3M downloads a day on quiet days; 5,816 crates...Read it next →Also worth your time