Hi,
I have seen a 555 use an inductor to do the timing rather than a cap, but
it's more of a novelty thing and certainly not as cheap or simple as using
a cap. There might be some magnetic field sensitivity too, which can be
good or bad depending on what you are doing with it.
There is also the LC filter on the output of the 555 idea, to help to filter into
a more sinusoidal wave shape. For the best wave shape, the resonate
point of the LC combination should match the running frequency of the 555,
and the 555 should be connected to put out as close to a square wave as
possible.