Rust serialization benchmark

The goal of these benchmarks is to provide thorough and complete benchmarks for various rust serialization frameworks.

These benchmarks are a work in progress

These benchmarks are still being developed and pull requests to improve benchmarks are welcome.

Interactive site

Calculate the number of messages per second that can be sent/received with various rust serialization frameworks and compression libraries. Documentation

Format

All tests benchmark the following properties (time or size):

• Serialize: serialize data into a buffer
• Deserialize: deserializes a buffer into a normal rust object
• Borrow: deserializes a buffer into a rust object that borrows string data from the input, with lifetime
• Size: the size of the buffer when serialized
• Zlib: the size of the buffer after zlib compression
• Zstd: the size of the buffer after zstd compression
• Zstd Time: the time taken to compress the serialized buffer with zstd

Zero-copy deserialization libraries have an additional set of benchmarks:

• Access: accesses a buffer as structured data
• Read: runs through a buffer and reads fields out of it
• Update: updates a buffer as structured data

Some benchmark results may be italicized and followed by an asterisk. Mouse over these for more details on what situation was benchmarked. Other footnotes are located at the bottom.

Last updated: 2025-03-09 04:24:16

Runtime info

rustc version

rustc 1.87.0-nightly (efea9896f 2025-03-08)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: efea9896f506baa08f40444e07774e827646d57a
commit-date: 2025-03-08
host: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
release: 1.87.0-nightly
LLVM version: 20.1.0

CPU info

Architecture:                         x86_64
CPU op-mode(s):                       32-bit, 64-bit
Address sizes:                        48 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
Byte Order:                           Little Endian
CPU(s):                               4
On-line CPU(s) list:                  0-3
Vendor ID:                            AuthenticAMD
Model name:                           AMD EPYC 7763 64-Core Processor
CPU family:                           25
Model:                                1
Thread(s) per core:                   2
Core(s) per socket:                   2
Socket(s):                            1
Stepping:                             1
BogoMIPS:                             4890.85
Flags:                                fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext fxsr_opt pdpe1gb rdtscp lm constant_tsc rep_good nopl tsc_reliable nonstop_tsc cpuid extd_apicid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq ssse3 fma cx16 pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 movbe popcnt aes xsave avx f16c rdrand hypervisor lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm cr8_legacy abm sse4a misalignsse 3dnowprefetch osvw topoext vmmcall fsgsbase bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid rdseed adx smap clflushopt clwb sha_ni xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves user_shstk clzero xsaveerptr rdpru arat npt nrip_save tsc_scale vmcb_clean flushbyasid decodeassists pausefilter pfthreshold v_vmsave_vmload umip vaes vpclmulqdq rdpid fsrm
Virtualization:                       AMD-V
Hypervisor vendor:                    Microsoft
Virtualization type:                  full
L1d cache:                            64 KiB (2 instances)
L1i cache:                            64 KiB (2 instances)
L2 cache:                             1 MiB (2 instances)
L3 cache:                             32 MiB (1 instance)
NUMA node(s):                         1
NUMA node0 CPU(s):                    0-3
Vulnerability Gather data sampling:   Not affected
Vulnerability Itlb multihit:          Not affected
Vulnerability L1tf:                   Not affected
Vulnerability Mds:                    Not affected
Vulnerability Meltdown:               Not affected
Vulnerability Mmio stale data:        Not affected
Vulnerability Reg file data sampling: Not affected
Vulnerability Retbleed:               Not affected
Vulnerability Spec rstack overflow:   Vulnerable: Safe RET, no microcode
Vulnerability Spec store bypass:      Vulnerable
Vulnerability Spectre v1:             Mitigation; usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Vulnerability Spectre v2:             Mitigation; Retpolines; STIBP disabled; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS Not affected; BHI Not affected
Vulnerability Srbds:                  Not affected
Vulnerability Tsx async abort:        Not affected

log

This data set is composed of HTTP request logs that are small and contain many strings.

Raw data

For operations, time per iteration; for size, bytes. Lower is better.

Serialize / deserialize speed and size

Crate	Serialize	Deserialize	Borrow	Size	Zlib	Zstd	Zstd Time
bilrost 0.1012.3	475.11 µs* 432.51 µs*	2.6336 ms	915.50 µs	804955	328941	284849	4.1958 ms
bincode 2.0.0	315.49 µs	2.2391 ms	679.85 µs	741295	303944	256422	3.6475 ms
bincode 1.3.3	546.20 µs	2.0683 ms	606.03 µs	1045784	373127	311553	4.4566 ms
bitcode 0.6.5	138.81 µs	1.4485 ms	60.162 µs	703710	288826	227322	2.5525 ms
borsh 1.5.5	547.74 µs	2.1951 ms	†	885780	362204	286248	4.2150 ms
capnp 0.20.6	495.65 µs	†	†	1443216	513986	426532	6.2371 ms
cbor4ii 1.0.0	654.58 µs	5.1754 ms	3.3341 ms	1407835	403440	323561	5.0940 ms
ciborium 0.2.2	4.1312 ms	11.977 ms	†	1407835	403440	323561	5.0136 ms
databuf 0.5.0	258.66 µs	1.9987 ms	665.68 µs	765778	311715	263914	3.8476 ms
dlhn 0.1.7	730.01 µs	2.5256 ms	†	724953	301446	253056	3.4434 ms
flatbuffers 25.2.10	1.0297 ms	†	†	1276368	468539	388381	4.8421 ms
minicbor 0.26.1	488.11 µs	2.9976 ms	1.3457 ms	817830	332671	284034	4.1532 ms
nachricht-serde 0.4.0	5.3038 ms	4.2985 ms	2.7488 ms	818669	332556	284797	4.0350 ms
nanoserde 0.1.37	257.05 µs	2.0637 ms	†	1045784	373127	311553	4.1603 ms
parity-scale-codec 3.7.4	661.43 µs	2.4183 ms	†	765778	311743	263822	3.5065 ms
postcard 1.1.1	426.18 µs	2.2558 ms	819.28 µs	724953	302399	252968	3.2747 ms
pot 3.0.1	2.3899 ms	6.9199 ms	5.4104 ms	971922	372513	303636	4.3959 ms
prost 0.13.5	936.42 µs* 2.4790 ms*	3.3301 ms	†	884628	363130	314959	4.4483 ms
protobuf 3.7.1	1.1788 ms* 2.9977 ms*	3.7286 ms	†	884628	363130	314959	4.4270 ms
rkyv 0.8.10	248.03 µs	1.5456 ms* 1.9478 ms*	†	1011488	393526	325965	4.6430 ms
rmp-serde 1.3.0	1.3618 ms	3.0580 ms	1.4100 ms	784997	325384	277608	3.8072 ms
ron 0.8.1	12.154 ms	15.664 ms	13.977 ms	1607459	449158	349324	5.5579 ms
savefile 0.18.5	191.05 µs	2.2252 ms	†	1045800	373139	311562	4.2063 ms
serde-brief 0.1.1	1.6245 ms	5.1397 ms	3.1100 ms	1584946	413733	339964	4.8956 ms
serde_bare 0.5.0	712.10 µs	2.0522 ms	†	765778	311715	263914	3.4966 ms
serde_cbor 0.11.2	2.0901 ms	4.9326 ms	3.5093 ms	1407835	403440	323561	4.7941 ms
serde_json 1.0.140	3.6927 ms	6.1232 ms	†	1827461	470560	360727	5.5718 ms
simd-json 0.14.3	2.0674 ms	4.7367 ms	†	1827461	470560	360727	5.5353 ms
speedy 0.8.7	199.86 µs	1.7355 ms	383.41 µs	885780	362204	286248	3.9197 ms

Zero-copy deserialization speed

Crate	Access	Read	Update
capnp 0.20.6	73.320 ns*	176.29 µs*	‡
flatbuffers 25.2.10	2.4873 ns* 2.0905 ms*	49.548 µs* 2.1126 ms*	‡
rkyv 0.8.10	1.2434 ns* 391.89 µs*	10.471 µs* 403.05 µs*	7.5484 µs*

Comparison

Relative to best. Higher is better.

Serialize / deserialize speed and size

Crate	Serialize	Deserialize	Borrow	Size	Zlib	Zstd	Zstd Time
bilrost 0.1012.3	29.22%* 32.09%*	55.00%	6.57%	87.42%	87.80%	79.80%	60.83%
bincode 2.0.0	44.00%	64.69%	8.85%	94.93%	95.03%	88.65%	69.98%
bincode 1.3.3	25.41%	70.03%	9.93%	67.29%	77.41%	72.96%	57.27%
bitcode 0.6.5	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
borsh 1.5.5	25.34%	65.99%	†	79.45%	79.74%	79.41%	60.56%
capnp 0.20.6	28.01%	†	†	48.76%	56.19%	53.30%	40.92%
cbor4ii 1.0.0	21.21%	27.99%	1.80%	49.99%	71.59%	70.26%	50.11%
ciborium 0.2.2	3.36%	12.09%	†	49.99%	71.59%	70.26%	50.91%
databuf 0.5.0	53.67%	72.47%	9.04%	91.89%	92.66%	86.13%	66.34%
dlhn 0.1.7	19.01%	57.35%	†	97.07%	95.81%	89.83%	74.13%
flatbuffers 25.2.10	13.48%	†	†	55.13%	61.64%	58.53%	52.71%
minicbor 0.26.1	28.44%	48.32%	4.47%	86.05%	86.82%	80.03%	61.46%
nachricht-serde 0.4.0	2.62%	33.70%	2.19%	85.96%	86.85%	79.82%	63.26%
nanoserde 0.1.37	54.00%	70.19%	†	67.29%	77.41%	72.96%	61.35%
parity-scale-codec 3.7.4	20.99%	59.90%	†	91.89%	92.65%	86.16%	72.79%
postcard 1.1.1	32.57%	64.21%	7.34%	97.07%	95.51%	89.86%	77.95%
pot 3.0.1	5.81%	20.93%	1.11%	72.40%	77.53%	74.87%	58.07%
prost 0.13.5	14.82%* 5.60%*	43.50%	†	79.55%	79.54%	72.18%	57.38%
protobuf 3.7.1	11.78%* 4.63%*	38.85%	†	79.55%	79.54%	72.18%	57.66%
rkyv 0.8.10	55.97%	93.72%* 74.37%*	†	69.57%	73.39%	69.74%	54.98%
rmp-serde 1.3.0	10.19%	47.37%	4.27%	89.64%	88.76%	81.89%	67.04%
ron 0.8.1	1.14%	9.25%	0.43%	43.78%	64.30%	65.07%	45.93%
savefile 0.18.5	72.66%	65.10%	†	67.29%	77.40%	72.96%	60.68%
serde-brief 0.1.1	8.54%	28.18%	1.93%	44.40%	69.81%	66.87%	52.14%
serde_bare 0.5.0	19.49%	70.58%	†	91.89%	92.66%	86.13%	73.00%
serde_cbor 0.11.2	6.64%	29.37%	1.71%	49.99%	71.59%	70.26%	53.24%
serde_json 1.0.140	3.76%	23.66%	†	38.51%	61.38%	63.02%	45.81%
simd-json 0.14.3	6.71%	30.58%	†	38.51%	61.38%	63.02%	46.11%
speedy 0.8.7	69.45%	83.46%	15.69%	79.45%	79.74%	79.41%	65.12%

Zero-copy deserialization speed

Crate	Access	Read	Update
capnp 0.20.6	1.70%*	5.94%*	‡
flatbuffers 25.2.10	49.99%* 0.00%*	21.13%* 0.50%*	‡
rkyv 0.8.10	100.00%* 0.00%*	100.00%* 2.60%*	100.00%*

mesh

This data set is a single mesh. The mesh contains an array of triangles, each of which has three vertices and a normal vector.

Raw data

For operations, time per iteration; for size, bytes. Lower is better.

Serialize / deserialize speed and size

Crate	Serialize	Deserialize	Size	Zlib	Zstd	Zstd Time
bilrost 0.1012.3	6.7345 ms* 8.8481 ms*	7.8496 ms	8625005	6443961	6231572	74.105 ms
bincode 2.0.0	2.8879 ms	1.0266 ms	6000005	5378497	5346882	8.8509 ms
bincode 1.3.3	5.1591 ms	4.4768 ms	6000008	5378500	5346908	8.8827 ms
bitcode 0.6.5	1.5692 ms	810.79 µs	6000006	5182295	4921841	14.180 ms
borsh 1.5.5	6.2311 ms	4.2193 ms	6000004	5378496	5346866	8.9066 ms
capnp 0.20.6	6.6791 ms	†	14000088	7130367	6046182	82.387 ms
cbor4ii 1.0.0	10.002 ms	48.803 ms	13125016	7524114	6757437	90.728 ms
ciborium 0.2.2	73.004 ms	119.20 ms	13122324	7524660	6759128	91.183 ms
databuf 0.5.0	2.4155 ms	5.3477 ms	6000003	5378495	5346897	8.9130 ms
dlhn 0.1.7	6.3797 ms	8.1428 ms	6000003	5378495	5346897	8.9436 ms
flatbuffers 25.2.10	874.50 µs	†	6000024	5378434	5346878	9.0242 ms
minicbor 0.26.1	5.1934 ms	12.155 ms	8125006	6494907	6390894	71.415 ms
nachricht-serde 0.4.0	117.51 ms	26.304 ms	8125037	6493484	6386940	71.772 ms
nanoserde 0.1.37	1.2492 ms	1.1084 ms	6000008	5378500	5346908	8.6579 ms
parity-scale-codec 3.7.4	5.0696 ms	4.9713 ms	6000004	5378496	5346866	8.6280 ms
postcard 1.1.1	480.78 µs	1.1664 ms	6000003	5378495	5346897	8.7844 ms
pot 3.0.1	39.251 ms	76.264 ms	10122342	6814618	6852252	82.966 ms
prost 0.13.5	7.7971 ms* 8.5349 ms*	12.458 ms	8750000	6665735	6421877	72.549 ms
protobuf 3.7.1	15.335 ms* 31.759 ms*	30.214 ms	8750000	6665735	6421877	80.486 ms
rkyv 0.8.10	153.59 µs	163.73 µs* 150.43 µs*	6000008	5378500	5346872	9.0109 ms
rmp-serde 1.3.0	15.705 ms	16.055 ms	8125006	6494876	6391037	70.229 ms
ron 0.8.1	168.56 ms	241.74 ms	22192885	8970395	8137334	153.54 ms
savefile 0.18.5	152.57 µs	160.86 µs	6000024	5378519	5346896	8.6993 ms
serde-brief 0.1.1	22.908 ms	38.974 ms	15750015	8024540	6813667	94.845 ms
serde_bare 0.5.0	4.9171 ms	4.8522 ms	6000003	5378495	5346897	8.8373 ms
serde_cbor 0.11.2	35.873 ms	46.724 ms	13122324	7524660	6759128	91.112 ms
serde_json 1.0.140	86.189 ms	89.044 ms	26192883	9566084	8584671	162.19 ms
simd-json 0.14.3	51.528 ms	76.187 ms	26192883	9566084	8584671	156.41 ms
speedy 0.8.7	148.87 µs	186.75 µs	6000004	5378496	5346866	8.5236 ms

Zero-copy deserialization speed

Crate	Access	Read	Update
capnp 0.20.6	104.69 ns*	2.2738 ms*	‡
flatbuffers 25.2.10	2.4874 ns* 46.894 ns*	52.341 µs* 77.753 µs*	‡
rkyv 0.8.10	1.2432 ns* 4.9851 ns*	48.653 µs* 38.886 µs*	77.025 µs*

Comparison

Relative to best. Higher is better.

Serialize / deserialize speed and size

Crate	Serialize	Deserialize	Size	Zlib	Zstd	Zstd Time
bilrost 0.1012.3	2.21%* 1.68%*	1.92%	69.57%	80.42%	78.98%	11.50%
bincode 2.0.0	5.15%	14.65%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	96.30%
bincode 1.3.3	2.89%	3.36%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	95.96%
bitcode 0.6.5	9.49%	18.55%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	60.11%
borsh 1.5.5	2.39%	3.57%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	95.70%
capnp 0.20.6	2.23%	†	42.86%	72.68%	81.40%	10.35%
cbor4ii 1.0.0	1.49%	0.31%	45.71%	68.88%	72.84%	9.39%
ciborium 0.2.2	0.20%	0.13%	45.72%	68.87%	72.82%	9.35%
databuf 0.5.0	6.16%	2.81%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	95.63%
dlhn 0.1.7	2.33%	1.85%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	95.30%
flatbuffers 25.2.10	17.02%	†	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	94.45%
minicbor 0.26.1	2.87%	1.24%	73.85%	79.79%	77.01%	11.94%
nachricht-serde 0.4.0	0.13%	0.57%	73.85%	79.81%	77.06%	11.88%
nanoserde 0.1.37	11.92%	13.57%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	98.45%
parity-scale-codec 3.7.4	2.94%	3.03%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	98.79%
postcard 1.1.1	30.96%	12.90%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	97.03%
pot 3.0.1	0.38%	0.20%	59.27%	76.05%	71.83%	10.27%
prost 0.13.5	1.91%* 1.74%*	1.21%	68.57%	77.75%	76.64%	11.75%
protobuf 3.7.1	0.97%* 0.47%*	0.50%	68.57%	77.75%	76.64%	10.59%
rkyv 0.8.10	96.93%	91.88%* 100.00%*	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	94.59%
rmp-serde 1.3.0	0.95%	0.94%	73.85%	79.79%	77.01%	12.14%
ron 0.8.1	0.09%	0.06%	27.04%	57.77%	60.48%	5.55%
savefile 0.18.5	97.57%	93.52%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	97.98%
serde-brief 0.1.1	0.65%	0.39%	38.10%	64.58%	72.23%	8.99%
serde_bare 0.5.0	3.03%	3.10%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	96.45%
serde_cbor 0.11.2	0.41%	0.32%	45.72%	68.87%	72.82%	9.36%
serde_json 1.0.140	0.17%	0.17%	22.91%	54.17%	57.33%	5.26%
simd-json 0.14.3	0.29%	0.20%	22.91%	54.17%	57.33%	5.45%
speedy 0.8.7	100.00%	80.55%	100.00%	96.35%	92.05%	100.00%

Zero-copy deserialization speed

Crate	Access	Read	Update
capnp 0.20.6	1.19%*	1.71%*	‡
flatbuffers 25.2.10	49.98%* 2.65%*	74.29%* 50.01%*	‡
rkyv 0.8.10	100.00%* 24.94%*	79.93%* 100.00%*	100.00%*

minecraft_savedata

This data set is composed of Minecraft player saves that contain highly structured data.

Raw data

For operations, time per iteration; for size, bytes. Lower is better.

Serialize / deserialize speed and size

Crate	Serialize	Deserialize	Borrow	Size	Zlib	Zstd	Zstd Time
bilrost 0.1012.3	921.43 µs* 839.35 µs*	3.1131 ms	1.7460 ms	489348	281173	249360	2.6361 ms
bincode 2.0.0	311.00 µs	1.8566 ms	814.53 µs	367413	221291	206242	2.0592 ms
bincode 1.3.3	598.67 µs	1.8280 ms	862.79 µs	569975	240525	231884	2.4890 ms
bitcode 0.6.5	134.91 µs	1.2563 ms	169.74 µs	327688	200947	182040	728.96 µs
borsh 1.5.5	552.81 µs	1.8135 ms	†	446595	234236	209834	2.0458 ms
capnp 0.20.6	439.03 µs	†	†	803896	335606	280744	3.4962 ms
cbor4ii 1.0.0	805.72 µs	4.8259 ms	3.5070 ms	1109831	344745	274333	3.4498 ms
ciborium 0.2.2	3.7415 ms	10.229 ms	†	1109821	344751	274345	3.3816 ms
databuf 0.5.0	317.24 µs	1.7448 ms	777.38 µs	356311	213062	198403	1.9411 ms
dlhn 0.1.7	741.05 µs	2.6172 ms	†	366496	220600	205586	2.1235 ms
flatbuffers 25.2.10	3.2230 ms	†	†	844168	345696	293916	3.4365 ms
minicbor 0.26.1	573.20 µs	3.3786 ms	1.8701 ms	428773	249857	228630	2.2730 ms
nachricht-serde 0.4.0	5.0214 ms	4.1162 ms	2.9837 ms	449745	252432	230965	2.3780 ms
nanoserde 0.1.37	272.55 µs	1.9604 ms	†	567975	239930	231872	2.4730 ms
parity-scale-codec 3.7.4	621.79 µs	2.1071 ms	†	356311	212976	198423	1.9282 ms
postcard 1.1.1	452.44 µs	2.0674 ms	830.39 µs	367489	221913	207244	2.0194 ms
pot 3.0.1	2.4099 ms	6.2172 ms	5.1049 ms	599125	299158	247675	2.7355 ms
prost 0.13.5	1.2853 ms* 3.0051 ms*	3.5207 ms	†	596811	305319	268737	2.9749 ms
protobuf 3.7.1	1.0476 ms* 3.0003 ms*	3.7304 ms	†	596811	305319	268737	3.0089 ms
rkyv 0.8.10	345.94 µs	1.5087 ms* 1.8857 ms*	†	603776	254776	219421	2.4036 ms
rmp-serde 1.3.0	1.5026 ms	3.0503 ms	1.7134 ms	424533	245214	226077	2.2786 ms
ron 0.8.1	7.2860 ms	17.954 ms	16.302 ms	1465223	434935	342907	5.5037 ms
savefile 0.18.5	212.21 µs	1.8603 ms	†	566991	239362	231478	2.4387 ms
serde-brief 0.1.1	1.4004 ms	5.3899 ms	3.8548 ms	1276014	373898	293384	3.6386 ms
serde_bare 0.5.0	760.79 µs	2.3548 ms	†	356311	213062	198403	1.9502 ms
serde_cbor 0.11.2	1.8299 ms	4.8945 ms	3.5697 ms	1109821	344751	274345	3.4508 ms
serde_json 1.0.140	3.6697 ms	6.7330 ms	†	1623191	466527	359157	5.5941 ms
simd-json 0.14.3	2.2045 ms	4.6354 ms	†	1623191	466527	359157	5.6356 ms
speedy 0.8.7	261.42 µs	1.6247 ms	568.87 µs	449595	234970	210192	2.0725 ms

Zero-copy deserialization speed

Crate	Access	Read	Update
capnp 0.20.6	73.926 ns*	411.00 ns*	‡
flatbuffers 25.2.10	2.4855 ns* 2.4479 ms*	1.3580 µs* 2.4548 ms*	‡
rkyv 0.8.10	1.2437 ns* 355.24 µs*	240.20 ns* 359.18 µs*	810.03 ns*

Comparison

Relative to best. Higher is better.

Serialize / deserialize speed and size

Crate	Serialize	Deserialize	Borrow	Size	Zlib	Zstd	Zstd Time
bilrost 0.1012.3	14.64%* 16.07%*	40.36%	9.72%	66.96%	71.47%	73.00%	27.65%
bincode 2.0.0	43.38%	67.67%	20.84%	89.19%	90.81%	88.27%	35.40%
bincode 1.3.3	22.53%	68.73%	19.67%	57.49%	83.55%	78.50%	29.29%
bitcode 0.6.5	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
borsh 1.5.5	24.40%	69.27%	†	73.37%	85.79%	86.75%	35.63%
capnp 0.20.6	30.73%	†	†	40.76%	59.88%	64.84%	20.85%
cbor4ii 1.0.0	16.74%	26.03%	4.84%	29.53%	58.29%	66.36%	21.13%
ciborium 0.2.2	3.61%	12.28%	†	29.53%	58.29%	66.35%	21.56%
databuf 0.5.0	42.53%	72.00%	21.83%	91.97%	94.31%	91.75%	37.55%
dlhn 0.1.7	18.21%	48.00%	†	89.41%	91.09%	88.55%	34.33%
flatbuffers 25.2.10	4.19%	†	†	38.82%	58.13%	61.94%	21.21%
minicbor 0.26.1	23.54%	37.18%	9.08%	76.42%	80.42%	79.62%	32.07%
nachricht-serde 0.4.0	2.69%	30.52%	5.69%	72.86%	79.60%	78.82%	30.65%
nanoserde 0.1.37	49.50%	64.08%	†	57.69%	83.75%	78.51%	29.48%
parity-scale-codec 3.7.4	21.70%	59.62%	†	91.97%	94.35%	91.74%	37.81%
postcard 1.1.1	29.82%	60.77%	20.44%	89.17%	90.55%	87.84%	36.10%
pot 3.0.1	5.60%	20.21%	3.33%	54.69%	67.17%	73.50%	26.65%
prost 0.13.5	10.50%* 4.49%*	35.68%	†	54.91%	65.82%	67.74%	24.50%
protobuf 3.7.1	12.88%* 4.50%*	33.68%	†	54.91%	65.82%	67.74%	24.23%
rkyv 0.8.10	39.00%	83.27%* 66.62%*	†	54.27%	78.87%	82.96%	30.33%
rmp-serde 1.3.0	8.98%	41.19%	9.91%	77.19%	81.95%	80.52%	31.99%
ron 0.8.1	1.85%	7.00%	1.04%	22.36%	46.20%	53.09%	13.24%
savefile 0.18.5	63.57%	67.53%	†	57.79%	83.95%	78.64%	29.89%
serde-brief 0.1.1	9.63%	23.31%	4.40%	25.68%	53.74%	62.05%	20.03%
serde_bare 0.5.0	17.73%	53.35%	†	91.97%	94.31%	91.75%	37.38%
serde_cbor 0.11.2	7.37%	25.67%	4.76%	29.53%	58.29%	66.35%	21.12%
serde_json 1.0.140	3.68%	18.66%	†	20.19%	43.07%	50.69%	13.03%
simd-json 0.14.3	6.12%	27.10%	†	20.19%	43.07%	50.69%	12.93%
speedy 0.8.7	51.61%	77.33%	29.84%	72.89%	85.52%	86.61%	35.17%

Zero-copy deserialization speed

Crate	Access	Read	Update
capnp 0.20.6	1.68%*	58.44%*	‡
flatbuffers 25.2.10	50.04%* 0.00%*	17.69%* 0.01%*	‡
rkyv 0.8.10	100.00%* 0.00%*	100.00%* 0.07%*	100.00%*

mk48

This data set is composed of mk48.io game updates that contain data with many exploitable patterns and invariants.

Raw data

For operations, time per iteration; for size, bytes. Lower is better.

Serialize / deserialize speed and size

Crate	Serialize	Deserialize	Size	Zlib	Zstd	Zstd Time
bilrost 0.1012.3	4.5808 ms* 2.5599 ms*	8.4035 ms	1704643	1294259	1245668	11.914 ms
bincode 2.0.0	1.4593 ms	3.6933 ms	1406257	1117802	1062438	9.5873 ms
bincode 1.3.3	3.9391 ms	4.1783 ms	1854234	1141994	1048745	10.979 ms
bitcode 0.6.5	762.71 µs	2.3284 ms	971318	878034	850340	2.9004 ms
borsh 1.5.5	2.9320 ms	2.8607 ms	1521989	1108471	1038528	9.9027 ms
capnp 0.20.6	2.1323 ms	†	2724288	1546992	1239111	14.401 ms
cbor4ii 1.0.0	3.0539 ms	17.977 ms	6012539	1695215	1464951	21.089 ms
ciborium 0.2.2	23.729 ms	56.399 ms	6012373	1695146	1465025	21.759 ms
databuf 0.5.0	1.3149 ms	3.7887 ms	1319999	1062631	1008334	8.9395 ms
dlhn 0.1.7	4.8338 ms	6.3859 ms	1311281	1077520	1046095	8.5842 ms
flatbuffers 25.2.10	5.1680 ms	†	2325620	1440289	1264800	14.026 ms
minicbor 0.26.1	2.5191 ms	11.649 ms	1777386	1276218	1252558	12.388 ms
nachricht-serde 0.4.0	29.370 ms	17.342 ms	1770060	1277755	1263362	12.538 ms
nanoserde 0.1.37	1.3050 ms	2.9524 ms	1812404	1134820	1053109	10.380 ms
parity-scale-codec 3.7.4	2.9551 ms	3.3909 ms	1319999	1064380	1010708	9.0060 ms
postcard 1.1.1	1.9865 ms	4.2391 ms	1311281	1083900	1041434	8.7110 ms
pot 3.0.1	13.932 ms	32.555 ms	2604812	1482233	1298928	15.898 ms
prost 0.13.5	5.4487 ms* 9.3563 ms*	8.5889 ms	1859886	1338076	1295351	12.063 ms
protobuf 3.7.1	5.5339 ms* 12.717 ms*	12.045 ms	1859886	1338076	1295351	12.103 ms
rkyv 0.8.10	939.26 µs	2.1681 ms* 2.5887 ms*	2075936	1383779	1210377	12.937 ms
rmp-serde 1.3.0	10.573 ms	11.039 ms	1745322	1261627	1228923	11.551 ms
ron 0.8.1	36.874 ms	90.378 ms	8677703	2233642	1826180	34.325 ms
savefile 0.18.5	854.28 µs	2.7374 ms	1791505	1128012	1051153	10.107 ms
serde-brief 0.1.1	6.8749 ms	21.647 ms	6951772	1796265	1567819	23.719 ms
serde_bare 0.5.0	5.0736 ms	4.7813 ms	1319999	1062645	1008349	9.0705 ms
serde_cbor 0.11.2	10.473 ms	22.062 ms	6012373	1695146	1465025	21.148 ms
serde_json 1.0.140	20.468 ms	30.970 ms	9390461	2391679	1842767	35.007 ms
simd-json 0.14.3	11.662 ms	25.816 ms	9390461	2391679	1842767	34.753 ms
speedy 0.8.7	766.27 µs	2.4250 ms	1584734	1119837	1037992	10.023 ms

Zero-copy deserialization speed

Crate	Access	Read	Update
capnp 0.20.6	74.659 ns*	711.39 ns*	‡
flatbuffers 25.2.10	2.4870 ns* 5.8721 ms*	2.6022 µs* 5.8734 ms*	‡
rkyv 0.8.10	1.2430 ns* 421.91 µs*	419.82 ns* 423.56 µs*	235.20 ns*

Comparison

Relative to best. Higher is better.

Serialize / deserialize speed and size

Crate	Serialize	Deserialize	Size	Zlib	Zstd	Zstd Time
bilrost 0.1012.3	16.65%* 29.79%*	25.80%	56.98%	67.84%	68.26%	24.34%
bincode 2.0.0	52.27%	58.70%	69.07%	78.55%	80.04%	30.25%
bincode 1.3.3	19.36%	51.89%	52.38%	76.89%	81.08%	26.42%
bitcode 0.6.5	100.00%	93.12%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
borsh 1.5.5	26.01%	75.79%	63.82%	79.21%	81.88%	29.29%
capnp 0.20.6	35.77%	†	35.65%	56.76%	68.63%	20.14%
cbor4ii 1.0.0	24.97%	12.06%	16.15%	51.79%	58.05%	13.75%
ciborium 0.2.2	3.21%	3.84%	16.16%	51.80%	58.04%	13.33%
databuf 0.5.0	58.01%	57.23%	73.58%	82.63%	84.33%	32.44%
dlhn 0.1.7	15.78%	33.95%	74.07%	81.49%	81.29%	33.79%
flatbuffers 25.2.10	14.76%	†	41.77%	60.96%	67.23%	20.68%
minicbor 0.26.1	30.28%	18.61%	54.65%	68.80%	67.89%	23.41%
nachricht-serde 0.4.0	2.60%	12.50%	54.87%	68.72%	67.31%	23.13%
nanoserde 0.1.37	58.45%	73.44%	53.59%	77.37%	80.75%	27.94%
parity-scale-codec 3.7.4	25.81%	63.94%	73.58%	82.49%	84.13%	32.21%
postcard 1.1.1	38.39%	51.15%	74.07%	81.01%	81.65%	33.30%
pot 3.0.1	5.47%	6.66%	37.29%	59.24%	65.46%	18.24%
prost 0.13.5	14.00%* 8.15%*	25.24%	52.22%	65.62%	65.65%	24.04%
protobuf 3.7.1	13.78%* 6.00%*	18.00%	52.22%	65.62%	65.65%	23.96%
rkyv 0.8.10	81.20%	100.00%* 83.75%*	46.79%	63.45%	70.25%	22.42%
rmp-serde 1.3.0	7.21%	19.64%	55.65%	69.60%	69.19%	25.11%
ron 0.8.1	2.07%	2.40%	11.19%	39.31%	46.56%	8.45%
savefile 0.18.5	89.28%	79.20%	54.22%	77.84%	80.90%	28.70%
serde-brief 0.1.1	11.09%	10.02%	13.97%	48.88%	54.24%	12.23%
serde_bare 0.5.0	15.03%	45.35%	73.58%	82.63%	84.33%	31.98%
serde_cbor 0.11.2	7.28%	9.83%	16.16%	51.80%	58.04%	13.71%
serde_json 1.0.140	3.73%	7.00%	10.34%	36.71%	46.14%	8.29%
simd-json 0.14.3	6.54%	8.40%	10.34%	36.71%	46.14%	8.35%
speedy 0.8.7	99.54%	89.41%	61.29%	78.41%	81.92%	28.94%

Zero-copy deserialization speed

Crate	Access	Read	Update
capnp 0.20.6	1.66%*	59.01%*	‡
flatbuffers 25.2.10	49.98%* 0.00%*	16.13%* 0.01%*	‡
rkyv 0.8.10	100.00%* 0.00%*	100.00%* 0.10%*	100.00%*

Footnotes:

* mouse over for situational details

† this deserialization capability is not supported

‡ buffer mutation is not supported (capnp and flatbuffers may but not for rust)