Crates / tungstenite / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to tungstenite
Short answerThe closest alternatives to tungstenite on crates.io data are socket2 (4M real downloads a day), tokio (3.1M real downloads a day), tower (2.3M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is socket2, and 8 shipped a release in the last year. tungstenite itself gets 1,131,863 a day with 710 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs tungstenite | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| socket2 Widely used | 4,034,112 | 3.56x | 1,539 | 3mo | category Network programming, keyword "io" | side by side |
| tokio Foundational | 3,098,313 | 2.74x | 78,796 | 3d | category Network programming, keyword "io" | compare |
| tower Widely used | 2,342,590 | 2.07x | 5,816 | 9mo | category Network programming, keyword "io" | compare |
| tower-http Widely used | 2,044,149 | 1.81x | 3,782 | 54d | category Network programming, keyword "io" | compare |
| axum Widely used | 1,587,646 | 1.40x | 9,968 | 6mo | category Network programming, keyword "web" | compare |
| axum-core Established | 1,571,431 | 1.39x | 191 | 10mo | category Network programming, keyword "web" | compare |
| actix-rt Established | 151,547 | 0.13x | 467 | 41d | category Network programming, keyword "io" | compare |
| mio Established | 3,332,252 | 2.94x | 624 | 21d | 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 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 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 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 losing ground. 4,034,112 real downloads a day.socket2Rust crate. Utilities for handling networking sockets with a maximal amount of configuration possible intended. Real use: 4M downloads a day on quiet days; 1,539 crates...Read it next →Also worth your time