Comparison of cryptography libraries

The tables below compare cryptography libraries that deal with cryptography algorithms and have application programming interface function calls to each of the supported features.

Cryptography libraries

Name of implementation	Initiative	Main implementation language	Open-source software	Software license	Latest release
Botan	Jack Lloyd	C++		Simplified BSD
Bouncy Castle	Legion of the Bouncy Castle Inc.	Java, C#		MIT License
BSAFE	Dell, formerly RSA Security	Java, C, Assembly			Crypto-C Micro Edition: Micro Edition Suite: Crypto Module for C: Crypto-J:
cryptlib	Peter Gutmann	C		Sleepycat License or commercial license
Crypto++	The Crypto++ project	C++		Boost	Jan 10, 2023
GnuTLS	Nikos Mavrogiannopoulos, Simon Josefsson	C		LGPL-2.1-or-later
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library	Intel	C, ASM		Apache 2.0	March 2025
Java's default JCA/JCE providers	Oracle	Java		GNU GPL v2 and commercial license
LibreSSL	OpenBSD Foundation	C		Apache 1.0
Libgcrypt	GnuPG community and g10code	C		GNU LGPL v2.1+
libsodium	Frank Denis	C		ISC	Sep 13, 2023
Mbed TLS	Arm Limited	C		Apache 2.0
NaCl	Daniel J. Bernstein, Tanja Lange, Peter Schwabe	C		Public domain	February 21, 2011
Nettle		C		GNU GPL v2+ or GNU LGPL v3
Network Security Services	Mozilla	C		MPL 2.0
OpenSSL	The OpenSSL Project	C		Apache 2.0
wolfCrypt	wolfSSL, Inc.	C		GNU GPL v3 or commercial license

FIPS 140

This table denotes, if a cryptography library provides the technical requisites for FIPS 140, and the status of their FIPS 140 certification.

Implementation	FIPS 140-2 mode	FIPS 140-2 validated	FIPS 140-3 validated
Botan
Bouncy Castle
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
Mbed TLS
NaCl
Nettle
Network Security Services
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

Key operations

Key operations include key generation algorithms, key exchange agreements, and public key cryptography standards.

Public key algorithms

Implementation

Ed448

Intel Cryptography Primitives Library

Java's default JCA/JCE providers

Elliptic-curve cryptography (ECC) support

Implementation	NIST	SECG	ECC Brainpool	Curve25519	Curve448	GOST R 34.10
Botan
Bouncy Castle
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
Mbed TLS
Nettle
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

Public key cryptography standards

Implementation	PKCS #1	PKCS #5, PBKDF2	PKCS #8	PKCS #12	IEEE P1363	ASN.1
Botan
Bouncy Castle
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
Mbed TLS
Nettle
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

Hash functions

Comparison of supported cryptographic hash functions. Here hash functions are defined as taking an arbitrary length message and producing a fixed size output that is virtually impossible to use for recreating the original message.

Implementation	MD5	SHA-1	SHA-2	SHA-3	RIPEMD-160	Tiger	Whirlpool	BLAKE2	GOST R 34.11-94	GOST R 34.11-2012 (Stribog)	SM3
Botan
Bouncy Castle
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
Mbed TLS
Nettle
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

MAC algorithms

Comparison of implementations of message authentication code algorithms. A MAC is a short piece of information used to authenticate a message—in other words, to confirm that the message came from the stated sender and has not been changed in transit.

Implementation	HMAC-MD5	HMAC-SHA1	HMAC-SHA2	Poly1305	BLAKE2-MAC
Botan
Bouncy Castle
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
Mbed TLS
Nettle
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

Block ciphers

Table compares implementations of block ciphers. Block ciphers are defined as being deterministic and operating on a set number of bits using a symmetric key. Each block cipher can be broken up into the possible key sizes and block cipher modes it can be run with.

Block cipher algorithms

Implementation	AES	3DES	Camellia	Blowfish	Twofish	IDEA	CAST5	ARIA	GOST 28147-89 / GOST R 34.12-2015	SM4
Botan
Bouncy Castle
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
Mbed TLS
Nettle
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

Cipher modes

Implementation

ECB

CBC

OFB

CFB

CTR

Intel Cryptography Primitives Library

Java's default JCA/JCE providers

Stream ciphers

The table below shows the support of various stream ciphers. Stream ciphers are defined as using plain text digits that are combined with a pseudorandom cipher digit stream. Stream ciphers are typically faster than block ciphers and may have lower hardware complexity, but may be more susceptible to attacks.

Implementation	RC4	HC-256	Rabbit	Salsa20	ChaCha	SEAL	Panama	WAKE	Grain	VMPC	ISAAC
Botan
Bouncy Castle
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
Mbed TLS
Nettle
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

Hardware-assisted support

These tables compare the ability to use hardware enhanced cryptography. By using the assistance of specific hardware, the library can achieve greater speeds and/or improved security than otherwise.

Smart card, SIM, HSM protocol support

Implementation	PKCS #11	PC/SC	CCID
Botan
Bouncy Castle
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
Mbed TLS
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

General purpose CPU, platform acceleration support

Implementation	AES-NI	SSSE3, SSE4.1	AVX, AVX2	AVX-512	RDRAND	VIA PadLock	ARMv7-A NEON	ARMv8-A cryptography instructions	Power ISA v2.03	Power ISA v2.07
Botan
BSAFE
cryptlib
Crypto++
GnuTLS
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library
Java's default JCA/JCE providers
Libgcrypt
libsodium
OpenSSL
wolfCrypt

Portability

Implementation	Supported operating system	Thread safe
Botan	Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, DragonflyBSD, Solaris, AIX, QNX, Haiku
Bouncy Castle	General Java API: J2ME, Java Runtime Environment 1.1+, Android. Java FIPS API: Java Runtime 1.5+, Android. C# API : CLR 4. Kotlin API.
BSAFE	Solaris, Linux, Android, FreeBSD, AIX, 32 and 64-bit Windows, macOS
cryptlib	AMX, ARINC 653, BeOS, ChorusOS, CMSIS-RTOS/mbed-rtos, DOS, DOS32, eCOS, embOS, FreeRTOS/OpenRTOS, uItron, MQX, MVS, Nucleus, OS/2, Palm OS, QNX Neutrino, RTEMS, SMX, Tandem NonStop, Telit, ThreadX, uC/OS II, Unix, VDK, VM/CMS, VxWorks, Win16, Win32, Win64, WinCE/PocketPC/etc, XMK
Crypto++	Unix, Win32, Win64, Android, iOS, ARM
GnuTLS	Runs on most Unix platforms and Windows	?
Intel Cryptography Primitives Library	Windows 10/11, Windows Server 2019/2022, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8/9, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4 / SP5 / SP6, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS / 24.04 LTS, Rocky Linux 9, Fedora 39 / 40, Debian 12
Libgcrypt	All 32- and 64-bit Unix Systems, Win32, Win64, WinCE, and more
libsodium	macOS, Linux, OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD, DragonflyBSD, Android, iOS, 32 and 64-bit Windows, NativeClient, QNX, JavaScript, AIX, MINIX, Solaris
Mbed TLS	Win32/64, Unix Systems, embedded Linux, Micrium's μC/OS, FreeRTOS	?
OpenSSL	Solaris, IRIX, HP-UX, MPE/iX, Tru64, Linux, Android, BSD, NextSTEP, QNX, UnixWare, SCO, AIX, 32 and 64-bit Windows, UEFI, macOS, iOS, HURD, VxWorks, uClinux, VMS, DJGPP, Haiku
wolfCrypt	Win32/64, Linux, macOS, Solaris, ThreadX, VxWorks, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, embedded Linux, Yocto Linux, OpenEmbedded, WinCE, Haiku, OpenWRT, iPhone, Android, Nintendo Wii and GameCube through DevKitPro, QNX, MontaVista, NonStop, TRON/ITRON/μITRON, Micrium's μC/OS, FreeRTOS, SafeRTOS, Freescale MQX, Nucleus, TinyOS, HP-UX, AIX, ARC MQX, TI-RTOS, uTasker, embOS, INtime, Mbed, uT-Kernel, RIOT, CMSIS-RTOS, FROSTED, Green Hills INTEGRITY, Keil RTX, TOPPERS, PetaLinux, Apache Mynewt, PikeOS, Deos, Azure Sphere OS, Zephyr