TL;DR — Quick Summary

cargo-nextest runs Rust tests up to 60% faster than cargo test. Parallel execution, better output, retries, JUnit XML — designed for CI and large test suites.

cargo-nextest runs tests faster. True parallelism, better output, retries — drop-in upgrade.

Installation

cargo install cargo-nextest --locked

Usage

# Run all tests (replaces cargo test)
cargo nextest run

# Filter tests
cargo nextest run -E 'test(=my_test)'

# Retry flaky tests
cargo nextest run --retries 2

# JUnit output for CI
cargo nextest run --message-format junit > results.xml

# Show slow tests
cargo nextest run --slow-timeout 30s

Summary

  • cargo-nextest runs Rust tests up to 60% faster
  • Each test in its own process — true parallelism
  • Better output with progress bars and timing
  • Retry support for flaky tests
  • JUnit XML output for CI integration