Crates / zstd-safe / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to zstd-safe
Short answerThe closest alternatives to zstd-safe on crates.io data are zip (977K real downloads a day), async-compression (708K real downloads a day), leb128fmt (630K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is flate2, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. zstd-safe itself gets 1,111,608 a day with 55 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs zstd-safe | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zip Widely used | 977,272 | 0.88x | 4,151 | 7d | category Compression, keyword "compression" | compare |
| async-compression Established | 707,872 | 0.64x | 387 | 7d | category Compression, keyword "compression" | compare |
| leb128fmt Pulled in | 629,549 | 0.57x | 4 | 3.1y | category Compression, keyword "compression" | compare |
| compression-core Pulled in | 561,038 | 0.50x | 4 | 7d | category Compression, keyword "compression" | compare |
| zopfli Pulled in | 554,646 | 0.50x | 25 | 13d | category Compression, keyword "compression" | compare |
| flate2 Widely used | 2,127,583 | 1.91x | 7,758 | 57d | category API bindings, category Compression | compare |
| bzip2 Established | 435,362 | 0.39x | 580 | 12mo | category API bindings, category Compression | compare |
| lz4_flex Established | 475,029 | 0.43x | 717 | 3mo | keyword "compression" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with zstd-safe; 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 zstd-safe: 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 zstd-safe, 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. 977,272 real downloads a day.zipRust crate. Library to support the reading and writing of zip files. Real use: 977K downloads a day on quiet days; 4,151 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time