Crates / proc-macro-error / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to proc-macro-error
Short answerThe closest alternatives to proc-macro-error on crates.io data are litrs (719K real downloads a day), thiserror (5M real downloads a day), anyhow (2.9M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is thiserror, and 6 shipped a release in the last year. proc-macro-error itself gets 513,716 a day with 603 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs proc-macro-error | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| litrs Pulled in | 718,877 | 1.40x | 96 | 12d | category Procedural macro helpers, keyword "proc-macro" | compare |
| thiserror Foundational | 5,048,791 | 9.83x | 75,923 | 31d | keyword "error" | compare |
| anyhow Foundational | 2,875,638 | 5.60x | 52,113 | 3mo | keyword "error" | compare |
| quick-error Established | 1,130,044 | 2.20x | 293 | 5.5y | keyword "error" | compare |
| indenter Pulled in | 305,993 | 0.60x | 58 | 15mo | keyword "error" | compare |
| snafu Established | 263,488 | 0.51x | 998 | 3mo | keyword "error" | compare |
| unicode-ident Established | 4,390,154 | 8.55x | 222 | 12d | category Procedural macro helpers | compare |
| clap_derive Established | 2,491,922 | 4.85x | 136 | 40d | category Procedural macro helpers | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with proc-macro-error; 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 proc-macro-error: 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 proc-macro-error, 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: Few direct dependents and steady. 718,877 real downloads a day.litrsRust crate. Parse and inspect Rust literals (i.e. tokens in the Rust programming language representing fixed values). Particularly useful for proc macros, but can also...Read it next →Also worth your time