Crates / getrandom / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to getrandom
Short answerThe closest alternatives to getrandom on crates.io data are errno (2.8M real downloads a day), zeroize (2.4M real downloads a day), iana-time-zone (2M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is errno, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. getrandom itself gets 7,623,482 a day with 5,558 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs getrandom | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| errno Established | 2,791,762 | 0.37x | 259 | 13mo | category No standard library, category Operating systems | compare |
| zeroize Widely used | 2,397,082 | 0.31x | 5,204 | 18d | category No standard library, category Operating systems | compare |
| iana-time-zone Established | 2,009,518 | 0.26x | 109 | 9mo | category Operating systems | compare |
| hermit-abi Pulled in | 1,146,485 | 0.15x | 10 | 54d | category Operating systems | compare |
| zeroize_derive Pulled in | 979,424 | 0.13x | 26 | 4mo | category No standard library, category Operating systems | compare |
| iana-time-zone-haiku Pulled in | 927,965 | 0.12x | 1 | 3.5y | category Operating systems | compare |
| camino Widely used | 872,911 | 0.11x | 1,078 | 39d | category Operating systems | compare |
| whoami Established | 872,045 | 0.11x | 481 | 2mo | 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 getrandom; 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 getrandom: 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 getrandom, 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: Established and steady. 2,791,762 real downloads a day.errnoRust crate. Cross-platform interface to the `errno` variable. Real use: 2.8M downloads a day on quiet days; 259 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time