# rand crate

9 Hacker News commenters recommended rand crate and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Trusted standard random number library for Rust that people treat as a core dependency. Critics say it sets habits and that its non-secure RNGs get misused.

## Why people recommend it

- Well audited and well maintained (3 comments): "The core packages (things like rand and regex) are pretty closely audited in practice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49375267)) "These aren't randos, these are all de-facto first party libraries." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49383227)) "The top hundred are efficient, concise, well-maintained crates" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49378056))
- Accepted as a standard dependency (2 comments): "I would use cargo and pull in the `rand` package, because I'm not an anti-dependencies ideologue." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46302815)) "A practical solution, and zero dramas as a result of having rand be part of std." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48262203))

## What people warn about

- Sets habits for Rust developers (2 comments): "Rust encourages that behavior. Sometimes rightly, but it does build a habit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175220)) "the Rust book uses the external rand create as a key example and it sets the tone for developers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46175511))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [anyhow (Rust crate)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anyhow.md): 34 recommend
- [Rayon](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rayon.md): 18 recommend
- [thiserror](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thiserror.md): 16 recommend
- [Facet (Rust reflection library)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/facet.md): 6 recommend
- [Surelock](https://hackerapproved.com/p/surelock.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "rand crate", https://hackerapproved.com/p/rand-crate/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).