diff --git a/examples/examples/axum.rs b/examples/examples/axum.rs
index 9727b3f..0a067f2 100644
--- a/examples/examples/axum.rs
+++ b/examples/examples/axum.rs
@@ -38,20 +38,17 @@ async fn main() {
     tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(subscriber).unwrap();
 
     let backend = RedisBackend::new().unwrap();
-    let inmemory = hitbox_stretto::StrettoBackendBuilder::new(12960, 1e6 as i64)
+    let inmemory = hitbox_stretto::StrettoBackendBuilder::new(2 ^ 16)
         .finalize()
         .unwrap();
     // build our application with a single route
     let app = Router::new()
         .route("/greet/:name/", get(handler_result))
         .route("/", get(handler))
-        .route(
-            "/json/",
-            get(handler_json), // .layer(Cache::builder().backend(inmemory.clone()).build()),
-        )
+        .route("/json/", get(handler_json))
         .layer(
             ServiceBuilder::new()
-                // .layer(Cache::builder().backend(inmemory).build())
+                .layer(Cache::builder().backend(inmemory).build())
                 .layer(Cache::builder().backend(backend).build()),
         );
 
diff --git a/examples/examples/tower.rs b/examples/examples/tower.rs
index de434e3..ff1dfa3 100644
--- a/examples/examples/tower.rs
+++ b/examples/examples/tower.rs
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@ async fn main() {
         .finish();
     tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(subscriber).unwrap();
 
-    let inmemory = StrettoBackendBuilder::new(12960, 1e6 as i64)
-        .finalize()
-        .unwrap();
+    let inmemory = StrettoBackendBuilder::new(2 ^ 16).finalize().unwrap();
     let service = tower::ServiceBuilder::new()
         .layer(tower_http::trace::TraceLayer::new_for_http())
         .layer(Cache::builder().backend(inmemory).build())
diff --git a/hitbox-backend/Cargo.toml b/hitbox-backend/Cargo.toml
index e8f348b..eb4814d 100644
--- a/hitbox-backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/hitbox-backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,4 +16,5 @@ futures = { version = "0.3", default-features = false }
 chrono = { version = "0.4", features = ["serde"] }
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1"
+bincode = "1"
 thiserror = "1"
diff --git a/hitbox-backend/src/serializer.rs b/hitbox-backend/src/serializer.rs
index 0dafb8c..97df3f7 100644
--- a/hitbox-backend/src/serializer.rs
+++ b/hitbox-backend/src/serializer.rs
@@ -108,6 +108,40 @@ impl Serializer for JsonSerializer<String> {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Default)]
+pub struct BinSerializer<Raw = Vec<u8>> {
+    _raw: PhantomData<Raw>,
+}
+
+impl Serializer for BinSerializer<Vec<u8>> {
+    type Raw = Vec<u8>;
+
+    fn deserialize<T>(data: Self::Raw) -> Result<CachedValue<T>, SerializerError>
+    where
+        T: DeserializeOwned,
+    {
+        let deserialized: SerializableCachedValue<T> = bincode::deserialize(&data)
+            .map_err(|err| SerializerError::Deserialize(Box::new(err)))?;
+        let cached_value = deserialized.into_cached_value();
+        Ok(CachedValue::new(
+            cached_value.data.into(),
+            cached_value.expired,
+        ))
+    }
+
+    fn serialize<T>(value: &CachedValue<T>) -> Result<Self::Raw, SerializerError>
+    where
+        T: Serialize,
+    {
+        let serializable_value: SerializableCachedValue<&T> = SerializableCachedValue {
+            data: &value.data,
+            expired: value.expired,
+        };
+        Ok(bincode::serialize(&serializable_value)
+            .map_err(|err| SerializerError::Serialize(Box::new(err)))?)
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod test {
     use std::convert::Infallible;
@@ -155,7 +189,15 @@ mod test {
     fn test_json_string_serializer() {
         let value = CachedValue::new(Test::new(), Utc::now());
         let raw = JsonSerializer::<String>::serialize(&value).unwrap();
-        dbg!(&raw);
+        assert_eq!(raw.len(), 71);
         assert_eq!(value, JsonSerializer::<String>::deserialize(raw).unwrap());
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_bincode_serializer() {
+        let value = CachedValue::new(Test::new(), Utc::now());
+        let raw = <BinSerializer>::serialize(&value).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(raw.len(), 54);
+        assert_eq!(value, BinSerializer::<Vec<u8>>::deserialize(raw).unwrap());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/hitbox-stretto/Cargo.toml b/hitbox-stretto/Cargo.toml
index 9f7b782..c8fab52 100644
--- a/hitbox-stretto/Cargo.toml
+++ b/hitbox-stretto/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,3 +30,6 @@ tower = { version = "0.4", features = ["full"] }
 tower-http = { version = "0.4", features = ["full"] }
 http = "0.2"
 lazy_static = "1"
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+chrono = { version = "0.4", features = ["serde"] }
diff --git a/hitbox-stretto/src/backend.rs b/hitbox-stretto/src/backend.rs
index 356b01a..6fb98b5 100644
--- a/hitbox-stretto/src/backend.rs
+++ b/hitbox-stretto/src/backend.rs
@@ -1,20 +1,18 @@
 use axum::async_trait;
 use hitbox_backend::{
-    serializer::{JsonSerializer, Serializer},
+    serializer::{BinSerializer, Serializer},
     BackendError, BackendResult, CacheBackend, CacheableResponse, CachedValue, DeleteStatus,
 };
 use std::time::Duration;
 use stretto::AsyncCache;
 
-const COST: i64 = 0;
-
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct StrettoBackend {
-    cache: AsyncCache<String, Vec<u8>>,
+    pub(crate) cache: AsyncCache<String, Vec<u8>>,
 }
 
 impl StrettoBackend {
-    pub fn new(cache: AsyncCache<String, Vec<u8>>) -> Self {
+    pub fn builder(cache: AsyncCache<String, Vec<u8>>) -> Self {
         Self { cache }
     }
 }
@@ -26,12 +24,18 @@ impl CacheBackend for StrettoBackend {
         T: CacheableResponse,
         <T as CacheableResponse>::Cached: serde::de::DeserializeOwned,
     {
+        let () = self
+            .cache
+            .wait()
+            .await
+            .map_err(crate::error::Error::from)
+            .map_err(BackendError::from)?;
+
         match self.cache.get(&key).await {
-            Some(cached) => Ok(Some(
-                JsonSerializer::<Vec<u8>>::deserialize(cached.value().to_owned())
-                    .map_err(BackendError::from)
-                    .unwrap(),
-            )),
+            Some(cached) => BinSerializer::<Vec<u8>>::deserialize(cached.value().to_owned())
+                .map_err(BackendError::from)
+                .map(Some),
+
             None => Ok(None),
         }
     }
@@ -46,15 +50,20 @@ impl CacheBackend for StrettoBackend {
         T: CacheableResponse + Send,
         T::Cached: serde::Serialize + Send + Sync,
     {
-        let serialized =
-            JsonSerializer::<Vec<u8>>::serialize(&value).map_err(BackendError::from)?;
+        let serialized = BinSerializer::<Vec<u8>>::serialize(&value).map_err(BackendError::from)?;
+        let cost = serialized.len();
         let inserted = match ttl {
             Some(ttl) => {
                 self.cache
-                    .insert_with_ttl(key, serialized, COST, Duration::from_secs(ttl as u64))
+                    .insert_with_ttl(
+                        key,
+                        serialized,
+                        cost as i64,
+                        Duration::from_secs(ttl as u64),
+                    )
                     .await
             }
-            None => self.cache.insert(key, serialized, COST).await,
+            None => self.cache.insert(key, serialized, cost as i64).await,
         };
         if inserted {
             Ok(())
@@ -65,7 +74,7 @@ impl CacheBackend for StrettoBackend {
 
     async fn delete(&self, key: String) -> BackendResult<DeleteStatus> {
         self.cache.remove(&key).await;
-        Ok(DeleteStatus::Deleted(0))
+        Ok(DeleteStatus::Deleted(1))
     }
 
     async fn start(&self) -> BackendResult<()> {
@@ -73,24 +82,55 @@ impl CacheBackend for StrettoBackend {
     }
 }
 
-#[tokio::test]
-async fn test() {
-    let c: AsyncCache<String, String> = AsyncCache::new(1000, 100, tokio::spawn).unwrap();
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod test {
+    use axum::async_trait;
+    use chrono::Utc;
+    use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+    use super::*;
+    use hitbox_backend::CacheableResponse;
 
-    for i in 0..100 {
-        let key = format!("key-{}", i);
-        let r = c.insert(key, "value".to_string(), 1).await;
-        dbg!(r);
+    #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Clone, PartialEq, Debug)]
+    struct Test {
+        a: i32,
+        b: String,
     }
 
-    c.wait().await.unwrap();
+    #[async_trait]
+    impl CacheableResponse for Test {
+        type Cached = Self;
 
-    for i in 0..100 {
-        let key = format!("key-{}", i);
-        let value = c.get(&key).await;
-        match value {
-            Some(v) => dbg!(v.to_string()),
-            None => dbg!("None".to_string()),
-        };
+        async fn into_cached(self) -> Self::Cached {
+            self
+        }
+        async fn from_cached(cached: Self::Cached) -> Self {
+            cached
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl Test {
+        pub fn new() -> Self {
+            Self {
+                a: 42,
+                b: "nope".to_owned(),
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn test_set_and_get() {
+        let cache = crate::StrettoBackendBuilder::new(100).finalize().unwrap();
+        let value = CachedValue::new(Test::new(), Utc::now());
+        let res = cache.set::<Test>("key-1".to_string(), &value, None).await;
+        assert!(res.is_ok());
+        let value = cache
+            .get::<Test>("key-1".to_string())
+            .await
+            .unwrap()
+            .unwrap()
+            .into_inner();
+        assert_eq!(value.a, 42);
+        assert_eq!(value.b, "nope".to_owned());
     }
 }
diff --git a/hitbox-stretto/src/builder.rs b/hitbox-stretto/src/builder.rs
index 4357353..6909621 100644
--- a/hitbox-stretto/src/builder.rs
+++ b/hitbox-stretto/src/builder.rs
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ type Cache = AsyncCacheBuilder<String, Vec<u8>>;
 pub struct StrettoBackendBuilder(Cache);
 
 impl StrettoBackendBuilder {
-    pub fn new(num_counters: usize, max_cost: i64) -> Self {
-        Self(AsyncCacheBuilder::new(num_counters, max_cost))
+    pub fn new(max_size: i64) -> Self {
+        let num_counters = max_size * 10;
+        Self(AsyncCacheBuilder::new(num_counters as usize, max_size))
     }
 
     pub fn set_buffer_size(self, sz: usize) -> Self {
@@ -19,18 +20,15 @@ impl StrettoBackendBuilder {
         Self(self.0.set_buffer_items(sz))
     }
 
-    pub fn set_ingore_internal_cost(self, val: bool) -> Self {
-        Self(self.0.set_ignore_internal_cost(val))
-    }
-
     pub fn set_cleanup_duration(self, d: Duration) -> Self {
         Self(self.0.set_cleanup_duration(d))
     }
 
     pub fn finalize(self) -> Result<crate::backend::StrettoBackend, Error> {
         self.0
+            .set_ignore_internal_cost(true)
             .finalize(tokio::spawn)
-            .map(crate::backend::StrettoBackend::new)
+            .map(|cache| crate::backend::StrettoBackend { cache })
             .map_err(Error::from)
     }
 }