Decision Workspace
primefield vs p256 vs ed25519
Side-by-side comparison of Rust crates
62
primefield
growingv0.14.0-rc.9
Generic implementation of prime fields built on `crypto-bigint`, along with macros for writing field element newtypes including ones with formally verified arithmetic using `fiat-crypto`
76
p256
growingv0.13.2
Pure Rust implementation of the NIST P-256 (a.k.a. secp256r1, prime256v1) elliptic curve as defined in SP 800-186, with support for ECDH, ECDSA signing/verification, and general purpose curve arithmetic
75
ed25519
stablev3.0.0
Edwards Digital Signature Algorithm (EdDSA) over Curve25519 (as specified in RFC 8032) support library providing signature type definitions and PKCS#8 private key decoding/encoding support
Core Metrics
| primefield | p256 | ed25519 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Score | 62 | 76 | 75 |
| Total Downloads | 1.2M | 120.4M | 153.6M |
| 30d Downloads | 508.9K | 12.0M | 20.9M |
| Dependents | 159 | 7.1K | 1.6K |
| Releases | 18 | 54 | 43 |
| Last Updated | 38d ago | 36d ago | 22d ago |
| Age | 2y 5m | 7y 7m | 9y 7m |
Health Breakdown
primefield
Maintenance
17
Quality
11
Community
12
Popularity
7
Documentation
15
p256
Maintenance
17
Quality
16
Community
20
Popularity
8
Documentation
15
ed25519
Maintenance
17
Quality
15
Community
20
Popularity
8
Documentation
15
Technical Details
| primefield | p256 | ed25519 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Version | 0.14.0-rc.9 | 0.13.2 | 3.0.0 |
| Stable (≥1.0) | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 OR MIT | Apache-2.0 OR MIT | Apache-2.0 OR MIT |
| Dependencies | 6 | 13 | 6 |
| Crate Size | 21KB | 63KB | 19KB |
| Features | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| Yanked % | 5.6% | 3.7% | 34.9% |
| Edition | 2024 | 2021 | 2024 |
| MSRV | 1.85 | 1.65 | 1.85 |
| Owners | 1 | 2 (team) | 2 (team) |
Links
Quick Verdict
- •p256 leads with a health score of 76/100, but none of the options score above 80.
- •ed25519 has the most downloads (153.6M), suggesting wider adoption.
- •p256 is depended on by 7.1K crates — strongest ecosystem trust.
- •primefield, p256 are pre-1.0 — API may change.