ANALYTICS
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
Alternatives · analytics tools
modelbased alternatives
The best modelbased alternatives in analytics tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Aug 13, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to modelbased? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in analytics tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, modelbased 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 modelbased
modelbased is turning marginal effects into a full contrast grammar
modelbased computes marginal means, contrasts, and slopes from fitted models, and it ships every one to two months with a consistent shape: new comparison types, broader model support, and steady renaming toward clearer vocabulary. The recent arc runs from marginal effects inequality measures through inequality ratios to an omnibus global test and a post_process argument for multi-step comparisons. Argument names have been settled along the way, with trend becoming slope and an alias left behind.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 1h ago
Top 12 alternatives to modelbased
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
ANALYTICS
mlr3viz keeps the ecosystem's plots working while the plots themselves move out
ANALYTICS
mlr3tuning is rebuilding its async machinery under a stable public surface
ANALYTICS
mlr3mbo picked its defaults from a benchmark study, not from taste
ANALYTICS
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
ANALYTICS
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
ANALYTICS
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
ANALYTICS
taxa started a ground-up rewrite in 2021 and has published almost nothing since.
ANALYTICS
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
ANALYTICS
taxize spends its releases absorbing other people's API changes, one dead source at a time.
ANALYTICS
osmdata keeps tightening its Overpass query surface, breaking small things to get types right.
ANALYTICS
posterior keeps deepening two things: the rvar type and Pareto-based diagnostics.
modelbased 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| modelbased (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | easystatsmarginal-effectscontrasts | — |
| writexl | 6.3 | 1 | xlsxlibxlsxwritercell-formatting | writexl 2.0.0 adds formatting, comments and full libxlsxwriter coverage |
| mlr3viz | 2.5 | 0 | mlr3visualizationggplot2 | — |
| mlr3tuning | 2.5 | 0 | mlr3hyperparameter-tuningasync-optimization | — |
| mlr3mbo | 2.5 | 0 | bayesian-optimizationmlr3hyperparameter-tuning | mlr3mbo 1.0.0 ships benchmark-derived default settings |
| rnaturalearth | 0.0 | 0 | spatial-datanatural-earthsf-migration | — |
| rgbif | 0.0 | 0 | gbifbiodiversity-databulk-downloads | rgbif 3.8.1 adds SQL-based occurrence downloads |
| rstanarm | 0.0 | 0 | bayesianstanregression-models | — |
| taxa | 0.0 | 0 | taxonomyvctrsstalled-rewrite | taxa 0.4.0 begins a base-R-vector rewrite without taxmap |
| rotl | 0.0 | 0 | open-tree-of-lifetaxonomic-matchingreproducibility | — |
| taxize | 0.0 | 0 | taxonomyapi-aggregationupstream-churn | — |
| osmdata | 0.0 | 0 | openstreetmapoverpass-apispatial-data | — |
| posterior | 0.0 | 0 | bayesianrvarpareto-diagnostics | — |
The 12 best modelbased alternatives, in depth
1. writexl · velocity 6.3
Writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
Over the last 30 days writexl shipped 1 meaningful update vs modelbased's 0, most recently “writexl 2.0.0 adds formatting, comments and full libxlsxwriter coverage”. Its velocity score of 6.3/10 blends that with longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, writexl focuses on xlsx, libxlsxwriter and cell formatting.
Over the last 30 days writexl has been shipping faster than modelbased — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
2. mlr3viz · velocity 2.5
Mlr3viz keeps the ecosystem's plots working while the plots themselves move out.
Its velocity score of 2.5/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, mlr3viz focuses on mlr3, visualization and ggplot2.
mlr3viz and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
3. mlr3tuning · velocity 2.5
Mlr3tuning is rebuilding its async machinery under a stable public surface.
Its velocity score of 2.5/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, mlr3tuning focuses on mlr3, hyperparameter tuning and async optimization.
mlr3tuning and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full mlr3tuning trajectory → · Compare modelbased vs mlr3tuning →
4. mlr3mbo · velocity 2.5
Mlr3mbo picked its defaults from a benchmark study, not from taste.
Its velocity score of 2.5/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “mlr3mbo 1.0.0 ships benchmark-derived default settings”.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, mlr3mbo focuses on bayesian optimization, mlr3 and hyperparameter tuning.
mlr3mbo and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
5. rnaturalearth · velocity 0.0
Rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, rnaturalearth focuses on spatial data, natural earth and sf migration.
rnaturalearth and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full rnaturalearth trajectory → · Compare modelbased vs rnaturalearth →
6. rgbif · velocity 0.0
Rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “rgbif 3.8.1 adds SQL-based occurrence downloads”.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, rgbif focuses on gbif, biodiversity data and bulk downloads.
rgbif and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
7. rstanarm · velocity 0.0
Rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, rstanarm focuses on bayesian, stan and regression models.
rstanarm and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full rstanarm trajectory → · Compare modelbased vs rstanarm →
8. taxa · velocity 0.0
Taxa started a ground-up rewrite in 2021 and has published almost nothing since.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “taxa 0.4.0 begins a base-R-vector rewrite without taxmap”.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, taxa focuses on taxonomy, vctrs and stalled rewrite.
taxa and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
9. rotl · velocity 0.0
Rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, rotl focuses on open tree of life, taxonomic matching and reproducibility.
rotl and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
10. taxize · velocity 0.0
Taxize spends its releases absorbing other people's API changes, one dead source at a time.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, taxize focuses on taxonomy, api aggregation and upstream churn.
taxize and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
11. osmdata · velocity 0.0
Osmdata keeps tightening its Overpass query surface, breaking small things to get types right.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, osmdata focuses on openstreetmap, overpass api and spatial data.
osmdata and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
12. posterior · velocity 0.0
Posterior keeps deepening two things: the rvar type and Pareto-based diagnostics.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where modelbased leans on easystats, marginal effects and contrasts, posterior focuses on bayesian, rvar and pareto diagnostics.
posterior and modelbased have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full posterior trajectory → · Compare modelbased vs posterior →
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to modelbased?
The top modelbased alternatives we currently track in analytics tools are writexl, mlr3viz, mlr3tuning, mlr3mbo, rnaturalearth, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of modelbased alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare modelbased directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with modelbased" link to a side-by-side /compare page.