Open-source alternatives to Ugorji Go

Polymorphic serialization for .NET

Protocol Buffers is a language-neutral, platform-agnostic mechanism for serializing structured data. It provides a schema-driven toolchain that compiles declarative data definitions into type-safe source code, enabling consistent communication and strongly typed API contracts across services written in different programming languages. The project distinguishes itself through a highly efficient binary wire format that utilizes tag-based encoding and variable-width integer compression to minimize payload size and processing overhead. It supports robust evolutionary schema management, allowing d

mapstructure is a reflection-based library for the bidirectional encoding and decoding of generic map data into native typed Go structures. It functions as a tool for transforming loosely typed map values into specific structs and encoding those structs back into maps. The library utilizes Go reflection to map generic data keys to struct fields during runtime. It supports the transformation of untyped data from dynamic sources or configuration files into type-safe native structures. The mapping process includes recursive traversal of nested maps and slices, as well as the use of struct tags

csvutil provides fast and idiomatic mapping between CSV and Go (golang) values.

Bond was a cross-platform framework for working with schematized data. The open-source project ended on March 31, 2025.

Python wrapper around rapidjson

Simple Binary Encoding (SBE) - High Performance Message Codec

Colfer is a binary serialization format optimized for speed and size.

Fast, idiomatic C# implementation of Flatbuffers

This project is a high-performance JSON library for Go, serving as a replacement for the standard encoding/json package. It provides a serialization engine for encoding and decoding data structures, alongside a schemaless parser for extracting specific values from JSON blobs using paths. The library distinguishes itself through a focus on reducing CPU and memory overhead. It implements a high-performance encoder that utilizes buffer reuse and reduced float precision to increase data throughput. Broad capability areas include data serialization, high-performance JSON processing, and schema-le

Fast Binary Encoding is ultra fast and universal serialization solution for C++, C#, Go, Java, JavaScript, Kotlin, Python, Ruby, Swift

Marshmallow is a Python data serialization library and validation framework. It functions as a bridge that transforms complex application objects into primitive data types for storage or network transmission and vice versa. The library utilizes a schema-based approach to validate that incoming data conforms to specific types and constraints. It employs a two-way transformation pipeline consisting of separate load and dump phases to handle deserialization and serialization. The framework supports class-based schema definitions with declarative field validation and recursive schema nesting for

Boost.org serialization module

Lua bitstream

MemoryPack is a high-performance binary serialization library for C# and Unity. It provides a zero-allocation data pipeline and a schema-evolution framework designed to minimize memory allocations and encoding overhead. The project utilizes compile-time source generators to avoid runtime reflection and implements a zero-encoding binary format for maximum throughput. It distinguishes itself through a zero-allocation approach that reuses object instances to reduce garbage collection pressure and copies the memory layout of unmanaged structs directly to binary streams. The library covers binary

documentation

Rapid YAML - a library to parse and emit YAML, and do it fast.