Crates / zeroize / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to zeroize
Short answerThe closest alternatives to zeroize on crates.io data are sdd (239K real downloads a day), plain (430K real downloads a day), getrandom (7.6M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is getrandom, and 7 shipped a release in the last year. zeroize itself gets 2,397,082 a day with 5,204 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs zeroize | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sdd Pulled in | 238,698 | 0.10x | 7 | 38d | category Memory management, keyword "memory" | compare |
| plain Pulled in | 429,597 | 0.18x | 40 | 8.9y | category No standard library, keyword "memory" | compare |
| getrandom Widely used | 7,623,482 | 3.18x | 5,558 | 4mo | category No standard library, category Operating systems | compare |
| libc Foundational | 4,964,021 | 2.07x | 17,338 | 8d | category No standard library, category Operating systems | compare |
| once_cell Widely used | 3,785,180 | 1.58x | 8,656 | 7mo | category Memory management | compare |
| crypto-common Pulled in | 3,766,260 | 1.57x | 85 | 5mo | category Cryptography, category No standard library | compare |
| sha2 Foundational | 3,510,276 | 1.46x | 22,608 | 12d | category Cryptography, category No standard library | compare |
| slab Established | 3,013,568 | 1.26x | 619 | 9mo | category Memory management, category No standard library | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with zeroize; 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 zeroize: 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 zeroize, 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. 238,698 real downloads a day.sddRust crate. Scalable lock-free delayed memory reclaimer. Real use: 239K downloads a day on quiet days; 7 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time