Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OpenSSL VS Actix

Compare OpenSSL VS Actix and see what are their differences

OpenSSL logo OpenSSL

OpenSSL is a free and open source software cryptography library that implements both the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols, which are primarily used to provide secure communications between web browsers and …

Actix logo Actix

Rust's powerful actor system and most fun web framework
  • OpenSSL Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-14
  • Actix Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-11

OpenSSL features and specs

  • Open Source
    OpenSSL is open-source software, which means it is freely available and can be reviewed, modified, and improved by anyone.
  • Widely Used
    OpenSSL is one of the most widely used libraries for SSL and TLS protocols, ensuring high compatibility and support across different platforms and applications.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    OpenSSL provides extensive documentation and resources that can help users understand and implement its features effectively.
  • Regular Updates
    The OpenSSL project is actively maintained, receiving regular updates and patches to address security vulnerabilities and improve functionality.
  • Community Support
    A large community of developers and users contribute to forums, mailing lists, and other discussion platforms, providing support and sharing knowledge.
  • Flexible and Powerful
    OpenSSL offers a wide range of cryptographic functions and protocols, making it a versatile tool for various security requirements.

Possible disadvantages of OpenSSL

  • Complexity
    OpenSSL can be complex to configure and use, particularly for beginners or those without a deep understanding of cryptographic principles.
  • Security Vulnerabilities
    Despite regular updates, OpenSSL has had several high-profile security vulnerabilities in the past, such as Heartbleed, which can have broad implications.
  • Performance Overhead
    Depending on the implementation and configuration, using OpenSSL can introduce performance overhead, impacting the speed and efficiency of applications.
  • Limited User-Friendly Tools
    While OpenSSL is powerful, it lacks user-friendly tools and interfaces, making it harder for less technical users to operate.
  • Documentation Quality
    Though comprehensive, some users find the OpenSSL documentation to be dense and difficult to navigate, which can make troubleshooting and implementation challenging.

Actix features and specs

  • High Performance
    Actix is built on top of Rust's Tokio framework, which provides asynchronous runtime with low overhead. This makes Actix extremely fast and suitable for high-performance applications, including web servers.
  • Strong Type Safety
    Being a Rust framework, Actix benefits from Rust's strong type system, which helps catch bugs at compile time, reducing runtime errors and improving overall application reliability.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    Actix comes with a variety of features for building web applications, including support for WebSockets, middleware, routing, and more. This makes it versatile and capable of handling various web development needs.
  • Concurrency and Asynchronous Support
    Actix leverages Rust's async/await syntax and its actor model to handle concurrency efficiently, making it ideal for I/O-bound applications that need to handle many simultaneous connections.
  • Community and Documentation
    Actix has an active community and a growing ecosystem. There is good documentation available to get started, and the community provides support through forums and GitHub.

Possible disadvantages of Actix

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Rust itself has a steep learning curve due to its unique ownership model and strong type system. Combined with Actix's specific model, it may be challenging for new users to get up to speed.
  • Complexity
    Actix's actor model introduces additional complexity that might not be necessary for all use cases. For simple applications, the added abstraction can be overwhelming.
  • Rapid Evolution
    Rust and its libraries, including Actix, evolve rapidly. This can lead to frequent updates and potential breaking changes, requiring developers to keep up-to-date with the latest versions.
  • Limited Resources Compared to Established Frameworks
    Actix, while growing, still has fewer resources, tutorials, and third-party integrations compared to more established frameworks like Node.js or Django, which can increase development time in certain cases.
  • Historical Security Concerns
    Actix has had security concerns in the past due to unsafe Rust code use, though these issues have been addressed. However, this history might still concern some developers when considering the framework.

Analysis of OpenSSL

Overall verdict

  • Yes, OpenSSL is generally considered a reliable and secure option for secure communications. However, like any software, it requires proper configuration and regular updates to maintain its security posture.

Why this product is good

  • OpenSSL is an open-source cryptographic library widely used for implementing secure communications over networks using the SSL and TLS protocols. It is considered good because of its extensive feature set, constant updates, and widespread adoption across different platforms. The project benefits from a large community of contributors who regularly update and patch the software, ensuring it stays secure and robust.

Recommended for

  • Web servers requiring SSL/TLS support for secure HTTP (HTTPS) connections
  • Developers needing cryptographic functions for applications
  • Embedded systems requiring small footprint security solutions
  • Network applications that require secure data transmission

OpenSSL videos

Das Kommando "enc" in OpenSSL

More videos:

  • Review - OpenSSL and FIPS... They Are Back Together!
  • Review - OpenSSL After Heartbleed by Rich Salz & Tim Hudson, OpenSSL

Actix videos

The Downfall of Actix Web

More videos:

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenSSL and Actix)
Development Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Web Frameworks
0 0%
100% 100
Javascript UI Libraries
90 90%
10% 10
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Actix seems to be a lot more popular than OpenSSL. While we know about 82 links to Actix, we've tracked only 2 mentions of OpenSSL. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenSSL mentions (2)

  • Why does Baserow need my personal data so I can run open source?
    Baserow uses open source like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSSL and can use it without handing over data to openssl.org. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Creating private key help
    Noob here; I'm looking at openssl.org Two commands are listed; "openssl-genrsa" and "openssl genrsa" (No hyphen). Source: over 3 years ago

Actix mentions (82)

  • Rusty Backends
    To find answers, we wanted to get our hands dirty with three popular Rust web frameworks including rocket, axum, and actix, and get a feeling for their performance, features, and most importantly the developer experience. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • A recap about the Zentrox development
    So, what framework do I use? Zentrox uses the actix_web framework which is a great library. My DevExp. With this tool was nice. It has good documentation and powerful tools. It was easy to implement for me as I was previously using Express.JS and Flask (Python). Actix also has other helper libraries for files, cookies, sessions,... Which I use in my project as well. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Understanding AML/KYC: a light primer for engineers
    APIs are often the key to enabling interoperability between AML/KYC solutions and other systems. Design APIs following RESTful principles—using libraries like ExpressJs (JavaScript), Flask (Python), or Actix Web (Rust)—ensuring they are stateless and support the JSON/XML formats expected by most systems. Use Swagger to generate detailed documentation for RESTful APIs to facilitate integration and ensure your APIs... - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • Empowering Web Privacy with Rust: Building a Decentralized Identity Management System
    Actix Web Documentation: Detailed documentation on using Actix-web, including examples and best practices for building web applications with Rust. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Building a REST API for Math Operations (+, *, /) with Rust, Actix, and Rhai🦀
    Are you ready to embark on another journey in Rust? Today, we'll explore how to create a REST API that performs basic mathematical operations: addition, multiplication, and division. We'll use Actix, a powerful web framework for Rust, together with Rhai, a lightweight scripting language, to achieve our goal. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenSSL and Actix, you can also consider the following products

jQuery - The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

Rocket - Web Framework for Rust

React Native - A framework for building native apps with React

Sycamore - A reactive library for creating web apps in Rust and WebAssembly

Babel - Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.

FastAPI - FastAPI is an Open Source, modern, fast (high-performance), web framework for building APIs with Python 3.6+ based on standard Python type hints.