rust-protobuf by stepancheg

Rust implementation of Google protocol buffers

rustprotobufserialization
Verdict 58/100 health $4.13/mo cheapest, hetzner 2/5 setup difficulty

Self-host rust-protobuf on hetzner CAX11 for $4.13/mo.

Health score
58 /100
6-dim composite
Self-hosts from
$4.13 /mo
hetzner · CAX11
Difficulty
2 /5
Docker + read README
GitHub stars
3.0k
395 forks

About rust-protobuf

From the project's README at github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf. Lightly cleaned for readability; for the full source see the upstream repo.

<!-- https://travis-ci.org/stepancheg/rust-protobuf.png --> [![crates.io version][crates-io-shields]][crates-io] [![docs.rs][docs-rs-shields]][docs-rs] [![GitHub Workflow Status][actions-shields]][actions] [![License][license-shields]][license]

[crates-io]: https://crates.io/crates/protobuf [crates-io-shields]: https://img.shields.io/crates/v/protobuf.svg [docs-rs]: https://docs.rs/protobuf [docs-rs-shields]: https://img.shields.io/badge/docs.rs-rustdoc-green.svg [actions]: https://github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf/actions?query=workflow%3ACI [actions-shields]: https://img.shields.io/github/workflow/status/stepancheg/rust-protobuf/CI [license]: https://github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf/blob/master/LICENSE.txt [license-shields]: https://img.shields.io/crates/l/protobuf.svg End of life

This implementation is approaching end of life. Official protobuf implementation (not based on this implementation) is on the way, that will be released as protobuf=4 soon. Follow progress in protobuf repository. Original readme

Written in pure rust Generates rust code Has runtime library support for generated code (Coded{Input|Output}Stream impl) Supports both Protobuf versions 2 and 3 and more Where is documentation

Health score breakdown

6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.

activity
80
maturity
30
community
79
security
70
sustainability
53
adoption
31

Adoption signals

Real-world usage data, pulled from each registry. The bigger the numbers, the more battle-tested the project.

SignalValueSource
GitHub stars 3.0k github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf
GitHub forks 395 github.com/stepancheg/rust-protobuf

Release & maintenance

Is this project actively maintained, or about to die? Check the recency of last commit and last release.

Project age12.8 yearssince Jul 2013
Last commit8 months agoSep 22, 2025

Self-hosting cost across providers

Detected requirements: 4GB RAM, 40GB disk minimum. Cheapest plan per provider that meets the requirement.

ProviderPlanSpecsMonthly
hetzner CAX11 2c · 4GB · 40GB $4.13 USD Deploy →
vultr VC2 1c · 1GB · 25GB $5 USD Deploy →
linode Nanode 1GB 1c · 1GB · 25GB $5.12 USD Deploy →
digitalocean Basic Regular 1GB 1c · 1GB · 25GB $6 USD Deploy →

Security advisories

2 known advisories tracked via OSV.dev. Most recent: CVE-2025-53605.

Ready to self-host rust-protobuf?

Spin up a hetzner CAX11 (4GB RAM, 40GB disk) for $4.13/mo and follow the project's official install docs.

Data last refreshed May 7, 2026.

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