The best replacement for cout is printf.

The best alternatives to cout are rated as following:
★★★★★  printf
★★★  cerr
★★  std cout
★  printf performance
★  wcout
★  cout
★  stdout
  puts

Your alternative for cout is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about cout, one probably shouldn't forget about precision.

Other search terms related to cout and their ratings are:
★★★★★ precision
★★★★★ formatting
★★★ format specifiers
★★ format
You have in mind a companion for cout and it is not yet here? Propose!



Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of cout in all years. Click on graph for more.
cout
printf
cerr