Blondin had several imitators. A man calling himself Signor Farini, whose real name was William Leonard Hunt, successfully copied most of Blondin's stunts on the tightrope, but was never able to claim Blondin's great fame.

In 1867, a young Italian woman, Maria Spelterina, crossed the Niagara River on a tightrope. To make the performance more difficult, she even performed the crossing while blindfolded, and while wearing fruit baskets on her feet.