ANALYTICS
vellumplot tags its first release with a bet most R grammars don't make: the static figure and the widget are the same object.
Alternatives · analytics tools
distributions3 alternatives
The best distributions3 alternatives in analytics tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Aug 15, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to distributions3? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in analytics tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, distributions3 shipped 0 meaningful updates in the last 30 days and carries a velocity score of 2.5 out of 10 in 2026. The alternatives below are ranked the same way, so you're comparing real release momentum, not marketing claims.
About distributions3
distributions3 changes hands to Achim Zeileis, and a moment calculation bug goes with it.
An R package giving probability distributions a consistent object interface — d/p/q/r functions, moments, and prodist() methods that extract a fitted distribution from a regression object. Releases are infrequent, roughly one a year, and the last one is largely administrative: Achim Zeileis takes over maintenance from Alex Hayes, with all URLs and documentation updated to match, alongside a fix to incorrect moment calculations reported by a user.
Velocity 2.5 · Last update 54m ago
Top 12 alternatives to distributions3
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
ANALYTICS
After two and a half years dormant, mizer shipped three major versions in seven weeks.
ANALYTICS
vellum's bugs are now found by using it, not testing it — the downstream grammar is doing the QA.
ANALYTICS
stringi has spent two years on build hardening since its Unicode 15.1 reset.
ANALYTICS
rjd3highfreq ships whatever the Java side ships, and only occasionally says what that was.
ANALYTICS
audubon's release feed is almost entirely Renovate bumping the JavaScript toolchain behind its Japanese text splitter.
ANALYTICS
affiner is quietly turning a grid transformation helper into a small computational geometry library.
ANALYTICS
ageproR spent two years chasing a moving file format, then added the recruitment models that justify the effort.
ANALYTICS
ledger adds a Rust toolchain fallback, so beancount imports work whether or not the Python tooling is installed.
ANALYTICS
gridpattern keeps widening its catalogue, and the newest patterns finally use the device's own line rendering.
ANALYTICS
distributional taught + and - to work on any pair of distributions, closing the algebra it started with.
ANALYTICS
An outside audit against Stata found seven errors in ardlverse's panel estimator, including regressions with no intercept.
distributions3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| distributions3 (baseline) | 2.5 | 0 | r-packageprobability-distributionsstatistical-modelling | — |
| vellumplot | 6.3 | 1 | r-graphicsgrammar-of-graphicsaccessibility | First tagged release: one spec compiles to PNG, SVG, tagged PDF and a widget |
| mizer | 5.0 | 0 | size-spectrum-modellingmarine-ecologynumerical-methods | Diffusion enters the McKendrick-von Foerster equation, ending a two-year gap |
| vellum | 5.0 | 0 | r-graphicsrendering-enginelinting | — |
| stringi | 2.5 | 0 | unicodeicubuild-portability | ICU 74.1 bundle lands; Solaris support dropped |
| rjd3highfreq | 0.0 | 0 | seasonal-adjustmenttime-seriesjdemetra | — |
| audubon | 0.0 | 0 | japanese-nlptext-processingr-package | — |
| affiner | 0.0 | 0 | r-packagecomputational-geometrygrid-graphics | — |
| ageproR | 0.0 | 0 | fisheries-sciencestock-assessmentr-package | Four recruitment models added, including autocorrelated lognormal error |
| r-ledger | 0.0 | 0 | plain-text-accountingr-packagebeancount | — |
| gridpattern | 0.0 | 0 | r-graphicspattern-fillsgrid | — |
| distributional | 0.0 | 0 | r-packageprobability-distributionsdistribution-arithmetic | Distribution arithmetic: FFT convolution behind the + and - operators |
| ardlverse | 0.0 | 0 | econometricspanel-dataardl | — |
The 12 best distributions3 alternatives, in depth
1. vellumplot · velocity 6.3
Vellumplot tags its first release with a bet most R grammars don't make: the static figure and the widget are the same object.
Over the last 30 days vellumplot shipped 1 meaningful update vs distributions3's 0, most recently “First tagged release: one spec compiles to PNG, SVG, tagged PDF and a widget”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, vellumplot focuses on r graphics, grammar of graphics and accessibility.
Over the last 30 days vellumplot has been shipping faster than distributions3 — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full vellumplot trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs vellumplot →
2. mizer · velocity 5.0
After two and a half years dormant, mizer shipped three major versions in seven weeks.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Diffusion enters the McKendrick-von Foerster equation, ending a two-year gap”.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, mizer focuses on size spectrum modelling, marine ecology and numerical methods.
mizer and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
3. vellum · velocity 5.0
Vellum's bugs are now found by using it, not testing it — the downstream grammar is doing the QA.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, vellum focuses on r graphics, rendering engine and linting.
vellum and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full vellum trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs vellum →
4. stringi · velocity 2.5
Stringi has spent two years on build hardening since its Unicode 15.1 reset.
Its velocity score of 2.5/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “ICU 74.1 bundle lands; Solaris support dropped”.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, stringi focuses on unicode, icu and build portability.
stringi and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full stringi trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs stringi →
5. rjd3highfreq · velocity 0.0
Rjd3highfreq ships whatever the Java side ships, and only occasionally says what that was.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, rjd3highfreq focuses on seasonal adjustment, time series and jdemetra.
rjd3highfreq and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full rjd3highfreq trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs rjd3highfreq →
6. audubon · velocity 0.0
Audubon's release feed is almost entirely Renovate bumping the JavaScript toolchain behind its Japanese text splitter.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, audubon focuses on japanese nlp, text processing and r package.
audubon and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full audubon trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs audubon →
7. affiner · velocity 0.0
Affiner is quietly turning a grid transformation helper into a small computational geometry library.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, affiner focuses on r package, computational geometry and grid graphics.
affiner and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full affiner trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs affiner →
8. ageproR · velocity 0.0
AgeproR spent two years chasing a moving file format, then added the recruitment models that justify the effort.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Four recruitment models added, including autocorrelated lognormal error”.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, ageproR focuses on fisheries science, stock assessment and r package.
ageproR and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full ageproR trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs ageproR →
9. r-ledger · velocity 0.0
Ledger adds a Rust toolchain fallback, so beancount imports work whether or not the Python tooling is installed.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, r-ledger focuses on plain text accounting, r package and beancount.
r-ledger and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full r-ledger trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs r-ledger →
10. gridpattern · velocity 0.0
Gridpattern keeps widening its catalogue, and the newest patterns finally use the device's own line rendering.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, gridpattern focuses on r graphics, pattern fills and grid.
gridpattern and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full gridpattern trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs gridpattern →
11. distributional · velocity 0.0
Distributional taught + and - to work on any pair of distributions, closing the algebra it started with.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Distribution arithmetic: FFT convolution behind the + and - operators”.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, distributional focuses on r package, probability distributions and distribution arithmetic.
distributional and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full distributional trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs distributional →
12. ardlverse · velocity 0.0
An outside audit against Stata found seven errors in ardlverse's panel estimator, including regressions with no intercept.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where distributions3 leans on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling, ardlverse focuses on econometrics, panel data and ardl.
ardlverse and distributions3 have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full ardlverse trajectory → · Compare distributions3 vs ardlverse →
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to distributions3?
The top distributions3 alternatives we currently track in analytics tools are vellumplot, mizer, vellum, stringi, rjd3highfreq, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of distributions3 alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare distributions3 directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with distributions3" link to a side-by-side /compare page.