Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 27, 2026
Alternatives to bacon
Short answerThe closest alternatives to bacon on crates.io data are cargo-watch (2.2K real downloads a day), trunk (1.6K real downloads a day), just (5.9K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is schemars, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. bacon itself gets 268 a day with 0 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs bacon | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cargo-watch Pulled in | 2,207 | 8.24x | 7 | 2.1y | category Command line utilities, category Development tools, keyword "watch" | compare |
| trunk Pulled in | 1,565 | 5.84x | 0 | 1d | category Command line utilities, keyword "compiler" | compare |
| just Pulled in | 5,924 | 22.10x | 10 | 12d | category Command line utilities, category Development tools | compare |
| espflash Pulled in | 3,168 | 11.82x | 9 | 47d | category Command line utilities, category Development tools | compare |
| cargo-make Pulled in | 3,021 | 11.27x | 12 | 21mo | category Command line utilities, category Development tools | compare |
| schemars Widely used | 2,383,996 | 8895.51x | 6,659 | 12d | keyword "rust" | compare |
| target-lexicon Established | 1,275,273 | 4758.48x | 245 | 8mo | keyword "compiler" | compare |
| schemars_derive Pulled in | 952,344 | 3553.52x | 6 | 12d | keyword "rust" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with bacon; read its description before you swap.
- More dependents means more answered questions and a smaller chance it disappears.
- Check the last release against how fast you need fixes. For bacon: is it still maintained?
Rules
Alternatives = tracked crates (top 1000 by downloads) that share a specific crates.io category (2 points each) or keyword (3 points each) with bacon, most similar first; its own parts (same name prefix) and crates it depends on or that depend on it are left out, because those are companions, not substitutes. Real downloads = quiet-day median, crates.io data Oct 27, 2026. Built when we find 3 or more.
Up next
The closest alternative: Few direct dependents and quiet for years. 2,207 real downloads a day.cargo-watchRust crate. Watches over your Cargo project’s source. Real use: 2.2K downloads a day on quiet days; 7 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time
Art: Nicholas Roerich, Nag Lake (1925). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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