Crates / proc-macro-error2 / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to proc-macro-error2
Short answerThe closest alternatives to proc-macro-error2 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-error2 itself gets 492,199 a day with 103 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs proc-macro-error2 | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| litrs Pulled in | 718,877 | 1.46x | 96 | 12d | category Procedural macro helpers, keyword "proc-macro" | compare |
| thiserror Foundational | 5,048,791 | 10.26x | 75,923 | 31d | keyword "error" | compare |
| anyhow Foundational | 2,875,638 | 5.84x | 52,113 | 3mo | keyword "error" | compare |
| quick-error Established | 1,130,044 | 2.30x | 293 | 5.5y | keyword "error" | compare |
| indenter Pulled in | 305,993 | 0.62x | 58 | 15mo | keyword "error" | compare |
| snafu Established | 263,488 | 0.54x | 998 | 3mo | keyword "error" | compare |
| unicode-ident Established | 4,390,154 | 8.92x | 222 | 12d | category Procedural macro helpers | compare |
| clap_derive Established | 2,491,922 | 5.06x | 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-error2; 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-error2: 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-error2, 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