ANALYTICS
A tables-listings-graphs package that reached CRAN and then went quiet.
Alternatives · analytics tools
crul alternatives
The best crul alternatives in analytics tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Aug 14, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to crul? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in analytics tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, crul shipped 0 meaningful updates in the last 30 days and carries a velocity score of 0.0 out of 10 in 2026. The alternatives below are ranked the same way, so you're comparing real release momentum, not marketing claims.
About crul
crul took mocking back from webmockr and made it a property of the client itself
crul is the R6-based HTTP client underneath much of rOpenSci's package stack, covering synchronous requests, three flavours of async, pagination and retries. Its 1.6.0 release in July 2025 changed where test mocking lives: each client — HttpClient, Async, AsyncVaried — now takes a mocking parameter at initialisation or per method, and the standalone mock() function is deprecated. Mocking used to be something webmockr switched on from outside; it is now a setting on the client.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 1h ago
Top 12 alternatives to crul
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
ANALYTICS
Tplyr made clinical summary tables explain where every number came from.
ANALYTICS
Clinical listings that keep inheriting their hardest problem — pagination — from the layer below.
ANALYTICS
A cache-directory helper that has shipped nothing but CRAN-triggered patches for seven years.
ANALYTICS
gigs redesigned its whole conversion API for rOpenSci, then spent three releases getting the docs to build.
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A weather-data client that keeps rewriting its HTTP layer while slowly tightening its API.
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datasetjson rebuilt its object model to track the CDISC Dataset-JSON 1.1 schema.
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A TIFF reader for scientific imaging that spent its recent releases shedding weight and fixing memory bugs.
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tern is migrating its entire analysis-function catalogue off make_afun(), one release at a time.
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A reference posterior database that hit 1.0 with a paper, and is now graded on the statistics it ships.
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Markdown round-tripping through XML, where every release is another thing it learned not to mangle.
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A Qualtrics data-cleaning package that has been in maintenance mode since its CRAN acceptance.
crul vs alternatives — shipping velocity at a glance
Velocity score (0–10) and meaningful releases shipped in the last 30 days, from official changelogs. Higher = shipping faster.
| Product | Velocity | Sparks · 30d | Focus areas | Latest release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| crul (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | http-clientasyncmocking | Mocking becomes a client parameter, independent of webmockr |
| tidytlg | 0.0 | 0 | clinical-trialstablesr-package | — |
| Tplyr | 0.0 | 0 | clinical-trialstablestraceability | 1.0.0 introduces the traceability metadata framework |
| rlistings | 0.0 | 0 | clinical-trialslistingspagination | — |
| hoardr | 0.0 | 0 | cachingr-packageropensci | — |
| gigs | 0.0 | 0 | growth-standardsneonatal-healthr-package | Conversion API rewritten around data frames and classify_growth() |
| riem | 0.0 | 0 | weather-dataapi-clientr-package | — |
| datasetjson | 0.0 | 0 | clinical-datacdiscjson | Dataset-JSON 1.1.0 support with a redesigned object model |
| ijtiff | 0.0 | 0 | imagingtiffr-package | — |
| tern | 0.0 | 0 | clinical-trialstablesr-package | Two dozen more analysis functions drop make_afun() |
| posteriordb | 0.0 | 0 | bayesianbenchmarkingreference-data | — |
| tinkr | 0.0 | 0 | markdownxmlr-package | First release: the extensible yarn R6 class |
| excluder | 0.0 | 0 | survey-datadata-cleaningr-package | — |
The 12 best crul alternatives, in depth
1. tidytlg · velocity 0.0
A tables-listings-graphs package that reached CRAN and then went quiet.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, tidytlg focuses on clinical trials, tables and r package.
tidytlg and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
2. Tplyr · velocity 0.0
Tplyr made clinical summary tables explain where every number came from.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “1.0.0 introduces the traceability metadata framework”.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, Tplyr focuses on clinical trials, tables and traceability.
Tplyr and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
3. rlistings · velocity 0.0
Clinical listings that keep inheriting their hardest problem — pagination — from the layer below.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, rlistings focuses on clinical trials, listings and pagination.
rlistings and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
4. hoardr · velocity 0.0
A cache-directory helper that has shipped nothing but CRAN-triggered patches for seven years.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, hoardr focuses on caching, r package and ropensci.
hoardr and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
5. gigs · velocity 0.0
Gigs redesigned its whole conversion API for rOpenSci, then spent three releases getting the docs to build.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Conversion API rewritten around data frames and classify_growth()”.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, gigs focuses on growth standards, neonatal health and r package.
gigs and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
6. riem · velocity 0.0
A weather-data client that keeps rewriting its HTTP layer while slowly tightening its API.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, riem focuses on weather data, api client and r package.
riem and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
7. datasetjson · velocity 0.0
Datasetjson rebuilt its object model to track the CDISC Dataset-JSON 1.1 schema.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Dataset-JSON 1.1.0 support with a redesigned object model”.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, datasetjson focuses on clinical data, cdisc and json.
datasetjson and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full datasetjson trajectory → · Compare crul vs datasetjson →
8. ijtiff · velocity 0.0
A TIFF reader for scientific imaging that spent its recent releases shedding weight and fixing memory bugs.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, ijtiff focuses on imaging, tiff and r package.
ijtiff and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
9. tern · velocity 0.0
Tern is migrating its entire analysis-function catalogue off make_afun(), one release at a time.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Two dozen more analysis functions drop make_afun()”.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, tern focuses on clinical trials, tables and r package.
tern and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
10. posteriordb · velocity 0.0
A reference posterior database that hit 1.0 with a paper, and is now graded on the statistics it ships.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, posteriordb focuses on bayesian, benchmarking and reference data.
posteriordb and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full posteriordb trajectory → · Compare crul vs posteriordb →
11. tinkr · velocity 0.0
Markdown round-tripping through XML, where every release is another thing it learned not to mangle.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “First release: the extensible yarn R6 class”.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, tinkr focuses on markdown, xml and r package.
tinkr and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
12. excluder · velocity 0.0
A Qualtrics data-cleaning package that has been in maintenance mode since its CRAN acceptance.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where crul leans on http client, async and mocking, excluder focuses on survey data, data cleaning and r package.
excluder and crul have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to crul?
The top crul alternatives we currently track in analytics tools are tidytlg, Tplyr, rlistings, hoardr, gigs, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of crul alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare crul directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with crul" link to a side-by-side /compare page.