ANALYTICS
stringi has spent two years on build hardening since its Unicode 15.1 reset.
Alternatives · analytics tools
fastplyr alternatives
The best fastplyr alternatives in analytics tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Aug 15, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to fastplyr? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in analytics tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, fastplyr 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 fastplyr
A fast dplyr stand-in that keeps finding new places to skip work entirely.
fastplyr reimplements the dplyr verbs on a faster backend, exposing f_summarise, f_mutate, f_reframe and a set of group metadata helpers alongside optimized joins and quantiles. The most recent release removes non-API C functions and raises the floor to R 4.5.0, a steep requirement that follows the C++17 requirement introduced a release earlier. The verb surface itself has been stable since 0.9.0.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 57m ago
Top 12 alternatives to fastplyr
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
ANALYTICS
collapse got a JSS paper and a 7x fmean speedup in the same release.
ANALYTICS
gtsummary is quietly rebuilding itself around analysis results data, one table verb at a time.
ANALYTICS
broadcast is filling in NumPy-style array broadcasting for R, operator by operator.
ANALYTICS
climaemet added weather alerts and wildfire risk, then spent two years managing rate limits.
ANALYTICS
spanishoddata spent a year finding out its 2020-2021 data was quietly incomplete.
ANALYTICS
tidyterra finished wiring terra objects into the tidyverse, one verb family at a time.
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mapSpain's 1.0.0 broke every user cache to get the package onto modern foundations.
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A Berlin groundwater scraper grew a full IoT publishing pipeline in two days.
ANALYTICS
cheapr turned multi-threaded, and its next stop is a C++20 public API.
ANALYTICS
RadialMR's 2026 release corrects degrees of freedom that had been wrong since documentation.
ANALYTICS
mrbayes spent 2026 auditing its own Bayesian MR estimators for coding errors.
fastplyr 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| fastplyr (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | dataframe-performancedplyr-alternativequery-optimization | — |
| stringi | 2.5 | 0 | unicodeicubuild-portability | ICU 74.1 bundle lands; Solaris support dropped |
| collapse | 0.0 | 0 | data-transformationperformancesimd | — |
| gtsummary | 0.0 | 0 | clinical-tablesanalysis-results-dataregression-summaries | — |
| broadcast | 0.0 | 0 | array-broadcastingrcpptype-consistency | — |
| climaemet | 0.0 | 0 | weather-dataaemetspain | Weather alerts and wildfire risk rasters added |
| spanishoddata | 0.0 | 0 | mobility-dataorigin-destinationduckdb | — |
| tidyterra | 0.0 | 0 | geospatialterratidyverse | 1.0.0 requires ggplot2 4.0 and adds broom-style generics |
| mapSpain | 0.0 | 0 | spainadministrative-boundariesgeospatial | 1.0.0 rebuilds on httr2 and invalidates every cache |
| wasserportal | 0.0 | 0 | groundwater-monitoringweb-scrapingthingsboard | ThingsBoard integration turns the scraper into a pipeline |
| cheapr | 0.0 | 0 | performanceparallelismsimd | Parallelised math, thread control, and a C API rewrite |
| RadialMR | 0.0 | 0 | mendelian-randomizationradial-plotscorrectness-audit | — |
| mrbayes | 0.0 | 0 | mendelian-randomizationbayesian-inferencestan | — |
The 12 best fastplyr alternatives, in depth
1. 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 fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, stringi focuses on unicode, icu and build portability.
stringi and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
2. collapse · velocity 0.0
Collapse got a JSS paper and a 7x fmean speedup in the same release.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, collapse focuses on data transformation, performance and simd.
collapse and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
3. gtsummary · velocity 0.0
Gtsummary is quietly rebuilding itself around analysis results data, one table verb at a time.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, gtsummary focuses on clinical tables, analysis results data and regression summaries.
gtsummary and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full gtsummary trajectory → · Compare fastplyr vs gtsummary →
4. broadcast · velocity 0.0
Broadcast is filling in NumPy-style array broadcasting for R, operator by operator.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, broadcast focuses on array broadcasting, rcpp and type consistency.
broadcast and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full broadcast trajectory → · Compare fastplyr vs broadcast →
5. climaemet · velocity 0.0
Climaemet added weather alerts and wildfire risk, then spent two years managing rate limits.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Weather alerts and wildfire risk rasters added”.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, climaemet focuses on weather data, aemet and spain.
climaemet and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full climaemet trajectory → · Compare fastplyr vs climaemet →
6. spanishoddata · velocity 0.0
Spanishoddata spent a year finding out its 2020-2021 data was quietly incomplete.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, spanishoddata focuses on mobility data, origin destination and duckdb.
spanishoddata and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full spanishoddata trajectory → · Compare fastplyr vs spanishoddata →
7. tidyterra · velocity 0.0
Tidyterra finished wiring terra objects into the tidyverse, one verb family at a time.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “1.0.0 requires ggplot2 4.0 and adds broom-style generics”.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, tidyterra focuses on geospatial, terra and tidyverse.
tidyterra and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full tidyterra trajectory → · Compare fastplyr vs tidyterra →
8. mapSpain · velocity 0.0
MapSpain's 1.0.0 broke every user cache to get the package onto modern foundations.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “1.0.0 rebuilds on httr2 and invalidates every cache”.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, mapSpain focuses on spain, administrative boundaries and geospatial.
mapSpain and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
9. wasserportal · velocity 0.0
A Berlin groundwater scraper grew a full IoT publishing pipeline in two days.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “ThingsBoard integration turns the scraper into a pipeline”.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, wasserportal focuses on groundwater monitoring, web scraping and thingsboard.
wasserportal and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full wasserportal trajectory → · Compare fastplyr vs wasserportal →
10. cheapr · velocity 0.0
Cheapr turned multi-threaded, and its next stop is a C++20 public API.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Parallelised math, thread control, and a C API rewrite”.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, cheapr focuses on performance, parallelism and simd.
cheapr and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
11. RadialMR · velocity 0.0
RadialMR's 2026 release corrects degrees of freedom that had been wrong since documentation.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, RadialMR focuses on mendelian randomization, radial plots and correctness audit.
RadialMR and fastplyr have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
12. mrbayes · velocity 0.0
Mrbayes spent 2026 auditing its own Bayesian MR estimators for coding errors.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where fastplyr leans on dataframe performance, dplyr alternative and query optimization, mrbayes focuses on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan.
mrbayes and fastplyr 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 fastplyr?
The top fastplyr alternatives we currently track in analytics tools are stringi, collapse, gtsummary, broadcast, climaemet, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of fastplyr alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare fastplyr directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with fastplyr" link to a side-by-side /compare page.