Who even uses jemalloc in 2026 anyway? (many major projects)

This article examines the history and current adoption of jemalloc, an alternative malloc implementation for multi-threaded programs. It covers jemalloc's origins, its archival in 2025, and Meta's subsequent takeover and revival with a new release. The author surveys major projects that historically used jemalloc, noting that some (like Rust's standard library and Apache Arrow) moved away before development slowed, while others switched to it later. The article also mentions competitors like tcmalloc and mimalloc, and outlines the methodology for detecting jemalloc usage in binaries. It provides a tech-focused analysis of memory allocator trends in the software industry.