Crates / Compare / shlex vs getopts
Rust crates side by side · data Oct 24, 2026
shlex vs getopts
Short answerBy steady daily use, shlex is bigger: 3,284,146 real downloads a day against 419,097 for getopts (7.8x). 754 crates depend on shlex and 522 on getopts. shlex last shipped 5 months ago, getopts 14 months ago.
shlex
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
754 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
Split a string into shell words, like Python's shlex.
getopts
EstablishedEstablished and steady.
522 crates depend on it; no release in the last 90 days, so its count is all steady use.
getopts-like option parsing
shlexgetopts · 100% = that crate's normal quiet day, so a spike to 300% is triple its usual traffic
Every number, side by side
| Same window, same method | shlex | getopts |
|---|---|---|
| Real downloads a day | 3,284,146 | 419,097 |
| Crates that depend on it | 754 | 522 |
| Last release | 2.0.1, 5 months ago | 0.2.24, 14 months ago |
| Trend vs the field | +3% | -5% |
| Release-window share | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Downloads in the window | 305,450,312 | 36,496,473 |
| All-time downloads | 979,833,532 | 171,298,383 |
| Versions published | 9 | 30 |
| License | MIT OR Apache-2.0 | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |
| MSRV | 1.46.0 | 1.66 |
| First published | Jun 22, 2015 | Dec 13, 2014 |
Which to pick
- 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 (shlex, 754 dependents): more eyes, more answered questions, and you may already have it in your tree.
- Check the release dates against your own pace: shlex 5 months ago, getopts 14 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.
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