Crates / rand_hc / Alternatives
Rust crate alternatives · data Oct 24, 2026
Alternatives to rand_hc
Short answerThe closest alternatives to rand_hc on crates.io data are oorandom (759K real downloads a day), fastrand (2.9M real downloads a day), itertools (4.5M real downloads a day). Of the 8 we list, the most used is itertools, and 5 shipped a release in the last year. rand_hc itself gets 226,231 a day with 29 dependents.
Every alternative we found
| Alternative | Real downloads a day | vs rand_hc | Dependents | Last release | Why it is listed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oorandom Pulled in | 758,903 | 3.35x | 87 | 20mo | category Algorithms, category No standard library, keyword "random", keyword "rng" | compare |
| fastrand Widely used | 2,895,139 | 12.80x | 1,809 | 3mo | category Algorithms, keyword "random" | compare |
| itertools Widely used | 4,545,996 | 20.09x | 8,656 | 4mo | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| foldhash Established | 3,043,165 | 13.45x | 333 | 14mo | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| num-traits Widely used | 2,894,023 | 12.79x | 7,561 | 2.5y | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| crossbeam-utils Established | 2,696,777 | 11.92x | 605 | 49d | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| crc32fast Widely used | 2,229,287 | 9.85x | 1,440 | 4d | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
| num-integer Established | 2,011,508 | 8.89x | 701 | 2mo | category Algorithms, category No standard library | compare |
How to choose
- Same job, not the same API. Each line is listed because it shares a crates.io category or keyword with rand_hc; 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 rand_hc: 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 rand_hc, 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. 758,903 real downloads a day.oorandomRust crate. A tiny, robust PRNG implementation. Real use: 759K downloads a day on quiet days; 87 crates depend on it.Read it next →Also worth your time