Crates / write16 / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to write16
Short answerThe closest alternatives to write16 on crates.io data are utf16_iter (349K real downloads a day), unicode-width (2.2M real downloads a day), utf8_iter (2.1M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is icu_collections, and 4 shipped a release in the last year. write16 itself gets 352,874 a day with 6 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs write16 | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| utf16_iter Pulled in | 349,411 | 0.99x | 3 | 2.9y | category Internationalization (i18n), category Text processing, keyword "unicode", keyword "utf-16" | compare |
| unicode-width Widely used | 2,194,046 | 6.22x | 3,230 | 13mo | category Internationalization (i18n), category Text processing, keyword "unicode" | compare |
| utf8_iter Pulled in | 2,136,300 | 6.05x | 12 | 2.9y | category Internationalization (i18n), category Text processing, keyword "unicode" | compare |
| encoding_rs Widely used | 1,414,714 | 4.01x | 1,424 | 30d | category Internationalization (i18n), category Text processing, keyword "unicode" | compare |
| encode_unicode Pulled in | 548,844 | 1.56x | 19 | 4.2y | keyword "unicode", keyword "utf-16" | compare |
| icu_collections Pulled in | 2,507,923 | 7.11x | 25 | 2d | category Internationalization (i18n), keyword "unicode" | compare |
| icu_properties_data Pulled in | 2,505,718 | 7.10x | 8 | 2d | category Internationalization (i18n), keyword "unicode" | compare |
| icu_properties Established | 2,501,772 | 7.09x | 118 | 2d | category Internationalization (i18n), keyword "unicode" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with write16; 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 write16: 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 write16, 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. 349,411 real downloads a day.utf16_iterRust crate. Iterator by char over potentially-invalid UTF-16 in &[u16]. Real use: 349K downloads a day on quiet days; 3 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time