Crates / cargo-packager / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 29, 2026
Alternatives to cargo-packager
Short answerThe closest alternatives to cargo-packager on crates.io data are crossterm (583K real downloads a day), wasite (348K real downloads a day), os_str_bytes (211K real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is getrandom, and 7 shipped a release in the last year. cargo-packager itself gets 792 a day with 4 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs cargo-packager | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| crossterm Widely used | 583,388 | 736.60x | 8,320 | 19mo | category Command line utilities, category Command-line interface | compare |
| wasite Pulled in | 348,285 | 439.75x | 1 | 10mo | category Command-line interface, category Operating systems | compare |
| os_str_bytes Pulled in | 211,293 | 266.78x | 47 | 3mo | category Command-line interface, category Operating systems | compare |
| sccache Pulled in | 1,573 | 1.99x | 0 | 3d | category Build Utils, category Command line utilities | compare |
| semver Widely used | 2,771,038 | 3498.79x | 4,141 | 7mo | keyword "cargo" | compare |
| cfg-expr Pulled in | 348,087 | 439.50x | 22 | 23d | keyword "cargo" | compare |
| getrandom Widely used | 7,623,482 | 9625.61x | 5,558 | 4mo | category Operating systems | compare |
| libc Foundational | 4,964,021 | 6267.70x | 17,338 | 8d | category Operating systems | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with cargo-packager; 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 cargo-packager: 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 cargo-packager, 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 29, 2026. Built when we find 3 or more.
Up next
The closest alternative: Widely used and steady. 583,388 real downloads a day.crosstermRust crate. A crossplatform terminal library for manipulating terminals. Real use: 583K downloads a day on quiet days; 8,320 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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