ANALYTICS
Author disambiguation for bibliometrics, still grinding on the hard part: which names are the same person.
Alternatives · analytics tools
maplegend alternatives
The best maplegend alternatives in analytics tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Aug 14, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to maplegend? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in analytics tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, maplegend 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 maplegend
The legend engine mapsf spun out, now covering legend types the parent map package can draw.
maplegend draws the legends for base-R thematic maps, extracted from mapsf so both packages could evolve the legend vocabulary independently. It has been catching up to the map types it has to serve: 0.6.0 added choro_point, choro_line, and choro_symb for choropleth legends rendered on circles, lines, and symbols, following the histogram legend type in 0.4.0. Considerable effort has gone into behaving correctly when the plot aspect ratio is not 1, which required refactoring most of the package in 0.4.0 and still produced a proportional-symbol segment sizing fix in 0.6.3.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 1h ago
Top 12 alternatives to maplegend
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
ANALYTICS
Posit's Spark Connect bridge keeps adding backends — and now runs tidymodels tuning on the cluster.
ANALYTICS
Reference-based multiple imputation for trials, now shipping without Bayesian support by default.
ANALYTICS
A tabular deep-learning model in R that keeps widening what counts as a tabular task.
ANALYTICS
osmapiR is the rare API client that tracks its server's wiki revision numbers in the changelog.
ANALYTICS
ymlthis retired itself, naming Quarto as the reason it no longer needs to exist.
ANALYTICS
forestly built an interactive safety review tool, then taught it to produce submission-ready RTF.
ANALYTICS
pharmaverseadam is the pharmaverse's test-data mirror, and it now covers neurology.
ANALYTICS
pkglite's whole job is knowing which files in an R package are text — and it keeps getting better at guessing.
ANALYTICS
gMCPLite exists to be gMCP without Java, and its releases guard that boundary rather than extend it.
ANALYTICS
Extracted from Quarto's CLI, typst-gather learned to explain a dependency tree before fetching it.
ANALYTICS
naijR is assembling the Nigerian reference data R analysts otherwise hand-code every time.
maplegend 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| maplegend (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | cartographylegendsbase-graphics | — |
| refsplitr | 5.0 | 0 | bibliometricsauthor-disambiguationgeoreferencing | — |
| pysparklyr | 3.8 | 1 | sparkdatabrickssnowflake | tune_grid_spark() runs tidymodels tuning on Spark Connect |
| rbmi | 2.5 | 0 | clinical-trialsmissing-datamultiple-imputation | rstan demoted to Suggests, Bayesian imputation now opt-in |
| tabnet | 2.5 | 0 | tabular-deep-learningtorchtidymodels | Hierarchical multi-label classification via data.tree |
| osmapiR | 0.0 | 0 | openstreetmapapi-clientr-language | Complete OSM API coverage arrives in one release |
| ymlthis | 0.0 | 0 | r-markdownyamlretirement | ymlthis retired; Quarto covers the need |
| forestly | 0.0 | 0 | clinical-safetyadverse-eventsdata-visualization | Static RTF forest plots join the interactive output |
| pharmaverseadam | 0.0 | 0 | pharmaverseclinical-dataadam | — |
| pkglite | 0.0 | 0 | r-packagespharma-submissionspackaging | — |
| gMCPLite | 0.0 | 0 | multiple-comparisonsclinical-trialsr-language | — |
| typst-gather | 0.0 | 0 | typsthermetic-buildsrust | analyze subcommand reports the import graph as JSON |
| naijR | 0.0 | 0 | nigeriageospatialreference-data | — |
The 12 best maplegend alternatives, in depth
1. refsplitr · velocity 5.0
Author disambiguation for bibliometrics, still grinding on the hard part: which names are the same person.
Its velocity score of 5.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, refsplitr focuses on bibliometrics, author disambiguation and georeferencing.
refsplitr and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full refsplitr trajectory → · Compare maplegend vs refsplitr →
2. pysparklyr · velocity 3.8
Posit's Spark Connect bridge keeps adding backends — and now runs tidymodels tuning on the cluster.
Over the last 30 days pysparklyr shipped 1 meaningful update vs maplegend's 0, most recently “tune_grid_spark() runs tidymodels tuning on Spark Connect”. Its velocity score of 3.8/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, pysparklyr focuses on spark, databricks and snowflake.
Over the last 30 days pysparklyr has been shipping faster than maplegend — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full pysparklyr trajectory → · Compare maplegend vs pysparklyr →
3. rbmi · velocity 2.5
Reference-based multiple imputation for trials, now shipping without Bayesian support by default.
Its velocity score of 2.5/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “rstan demoted to Suggests, Bayesian imputation now opt-in”.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, rbmi focuses on clinical trials, missing data and multiple imputation.
rbmi and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
4. tabnet · velocity 2.5
A tabular deep-learning model in R that keeps widening what counts as a tabular task.
Its velocity score of 2.5/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Hierarchical multi-label classification via data.tree”.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, tabnet focuses on tabular deep learning, torch and tidymodels.
tabnet and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
5. osmapiR · velocity 0.0
OsmapiR is the rare API client that tracks its server's wiki revision numbers in the changelog.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Complete OSM API coverage arrives in one release”.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, osmapiR focuses on openstreetmap, api client and r language.
osmapiR and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
6. ymlthis · velocity 0.0
Ymlthis retired itself, naming Quarto as the reason it no longer needs to exist.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “ymlthis retired; Quarto covers the need”.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, ymlthis focuses on r markdown, yaml and retirement.
ymlthis and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
7. forestly · velocity 0.0
Forestly built an interactive safety review tool, then taught it to produce submission-ready RTF.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Static RTF forest plots join the interactive output”.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, forestly focuses on clinical safety, adverse events and data visualization.
forestly and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full forestly trajectory → · Compare maplegend vs forestly →
8. pharmaverseadam · velocity 0.0
Pharmaverseadam is the pharmaverse's test-data mirror, and it now covers neurology.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, pharmaverseadam focuses on pharmaverse, clinical data and adam.
pharmaverseadam and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full pharmaverseadam trajectory → · Compare maplegend vs pharmaverseadam →
9. pkglite · velocity 0.0
Pkglite's whole job is knowing which files in an R package are text — and it keeps getting better at guessing.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, pkglite focuses on r packages, pharma submissions and packaging.
pkglite and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
10. gMCPLite · velocity 0.0
GMCPLite exists to be gMCP without Java, and its releases guard that boundary rather than extend it.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, gMCPLite focuses on multiple comparisons, clinical trials and r language.
gMCPLite and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full gMCPLite trajectory → · Compare maplegend vs gMCPLite →
11. typst-gather · velocity 0.0
Extracted from Quarto's CLI, typst-gather learned to explain a dependency tree before fetching it.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “analyze subcommand reports the import graph as JSON”.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, typst-gather focuses on typst, hermetic builds and rust.
typst-gather and maplegend have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full typst-gather trajectory → · Compare maplegend vs typst-gather →
12. naijR · velocity 0.0
NaijR is assembling the Nigerian reference data R analysts otherwise hand-code every time.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where maplegend leans on cartography, legends and base graphics, naijR focuses on nigeria, geospatial and reference data.
naijR and maplegend 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 maplegend?
The top maplegend alternatives we currently track in analytics tools are refsplitr, pysparklyr, rbmi, tabnet, osmapiR, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of maplegend alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare maplegend directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with maplegend" link to a side-by-side /compare page.