YAML is a human-readable data serialization language. It is commonly used for configuration files and in applications where data are being stored or transmitted. YAML targets many of the same communications applications as Extensible Markup Language (XML) but has a minimal...
Protocol Buffers Alternatives
Protocol Buffers is described as 'Protocol buffers are Google's language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data – think XML, but smaller, faster, and simpler. You define how you want your data to be structured once, then you can use special generated source code to' and is an app. There are six alternatives to Protocol Buffers for Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD and Self-Hosted. The best Protocol Buffers alternative is YAML, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Protocol Buffers are TOML, Apache Thrift, MessagePack and Avro.
Alternatives list
- 12 YAML alternatives
TOML aims to be a minimal configuration file format that's easy to read due to obvious semantics. TOML is designed to map unambiguously to a hash table. TOML should be easy to parse into data structures in a wide variety of languages.
Thrift is a lightweight, language-independent software stack for point-to-point RPC implementation. Thrift provides clean abstractions and implementations for data transport, data serialization, and application level processing.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source (Apache-2.0)
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Self-Hosted

MessagePack is an efficient binary serialization specification that lets you exchange data among multiple languages like JSON but quicker and with a lower overhead.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
Apache Avro™ is a data serialization system. Avro provides: A compact, fast, binary data format. A container file, to store persistent data. Remote procedure call (RPC).
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- 9 Eno alternatives
Eno is a data language for all people. Its simple structure welcomes a wide audience, both in regards to cultural background as well as technical ability. Deliberate design choices such as a flat hierarchy and the absence of types at the language level make it one of the easiest...














