Crates / chrono / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to chrono
Short answerThe closest alternatives to chrono on crates.io data are time (2.4M real downloads a day), time-core (2.2M real downloads a day), time-macros (2.2M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is time, and 5 shipped a release in the last year. chrono itself gets 2,369,156 a day with 38,126 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs chrono | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| time Widely used | 2,434,189 | 1.03x | 6,747 | 3mo | category Date and time, keyword "calendar", keyword "date" | side by side |
| time-core Pulled in | 2,195,248 | 0.93x | 9 | 4mo | category Date and time, keyword "calendar", keyword "date" | compare |
| time-macros Pulled in | 2,150,923 | 0.91x | 15 | 3mo | category Date and time, keyword "calendar", keyword "date" | compare |
| jiff Widely used | 981,794 | 0.41x | 1,531 | 18d | category Date and time, keyword "calendar", keyword "date" | compare |
| parse-zoneinfo Pulled in | 125,301 | 0.05x | 8 | 15mo | keyword "calendar", keyword "date" | compare |
| jiff-static Pulled in | 646,337 | 0.27x | 1 | 18d | category Date and time, keyword "date", keyword "time" | compare |
| httpdate Established | 1,757,620 | 0.74x | 659 | 3.2y | keyword "date", keyword "time" | compare |
| web-time Widely used | 1,133,377 | 0.48x | 1,163 | 2.6y | category Date and time, keyword "time" | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with chrono; 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 chrono: 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 chrono, 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 24, 2026. Built when we find 3 or more.
Up next
The closest alternative: Widely used and steady. 2,434,189 real downloads a day.timeRust crate. Date and time library. Fully interoperable with the standard library. Mostly compatible with #![no_std]. Real use: 2.4M downloads a day on quiet days; 6,747...Read it next →Also worth your time