Crates / Compare / log vs tracing
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
log vs tracing
Short answerNew async apps: tracing (it can also capture log records). Tiny libraries: log is still fine. By steady daily use, log is bigger: 3,895,505 real downloads a day against 2,611,879 for tracing (1.5x). 31,897 crates depend on log and 46,220 on tracing. log last shipped 2 months ago, tracing 10 months ago.
log
FoundationalFoundational and steady.
31,897 crates depend on it; downloads don't spike on releases.
A lightweight logging facade for Rust
tracing
FoundationalFoundational and steady.
46,220 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Application-level tracing for Rust.
logtracing · 100% = that crate's normal quiet day, so a spike to 300% is triple its usual traffic
How they relate
- tracing is built on log: its latest version lists log as a dependency, so every tracing build also downloads log. Part of log's count is tracing's.
Every number, side by side
| Same window, same method | log | tracing |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 3,895,505 | 2,611,879 |
| Crates that depend on it | 31,897 | 46,220 |
| Last release | 0.4.34, 2 months ago | 0.1.44, 10 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | -2% | +2% |
| Release-window share | 1.4% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 343,381,483 | 235,971,565 |
| All-time downloads | 1,415,399,355 | 965,769,957 |
| Versions published | 64 | 46 |
| License | MIT OR Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| MSRV | 1.71.0 | 1.65.0 |
| First published | Dec 13, 2014 | Nov 27, 2017 |
Which to pick
- Pick log if you need plain leveled log lines with the fewest dependencies, for example in a small library.
- Pick tracing if you run async services and want structured fields and spans that follow a request across tasks.
- Bottom line: New async apps: tracing (it can also capture log records). Tiny libraries: log is still fine. (checked against each project's docs, Oct 24, 2026)
- Downloads tell you what is common, not what fits. Each crate's own description above says what it is for; when the jobs differ, pick by the job.
- When both fit, prefer the one more crates depend on (tracing, 46,220 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: log 2 months ago, tracing 10 months ago.
Also in this space
Method
Real downloads = the median day with no release that day or the day before, from the crates.io API (Jul 27, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026). Raw crates.io counts include CI and bots and run high (why); the method is from our 90-day study. People search for this pair: Google suggests "log vs tracing rust".