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
mrbayes alternatives
The best mrbayes alternatives in analytics tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Aug 15, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to mrbayes? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in analytics tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, mrbayes 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 mrbayes
mrbayes spent 2026 auditing its own Bayesian MR estimators for coding errors.
mrbayes wraps Stan and JAGS implementations of Bayesian Mendelian randomization estimators — IVW, MR-Egger, radial Egger, and their multivariable forms. Most of the visible history is packaging work: dependency trimming, conditional examples so the package installs where JAGS will not compile, a maintainer handover. The 0.5.3 release in July 2026 breaks that pattern with a dense list of fixes inside the model code itself.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 1h ago
Top 12 alternatives to mrbayes
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
distributions3 changes hands to Achim Zeileis, and a moment calculation bug goes with it.
ANALYTICS
stringi has spent two years on build hardening since its Unicode 15.1 reset.
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.
ANALYTICS
weird rebuilt itself on distributional objects, and now the anomaly tooling composes with everything else.
ANALYTICS
n2kanalysis has spent eight years wiring INLA models to an S3 bucket.
ANALYTICS
A Fortran-descended optimizer got thread-safe, then found two flags that never worked.
ANALYTICS
ggstatsplot reached 1.0 by adding tests, having outsourced its statistics years ago.
mrbayes 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mrbayes (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | mendelian-randomizationbayesian-inferencestan | — |
| 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 | — |
| distributions3 | 2.5 | 0 | r-packageprobability-distributionsstatistical-modelling | — |
| stringi | 2.5 | 0 | unicodeicubuild-portability | ICU 74.1 bundle lands; Solaris support dropped |
| 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 | — |
| weird | 0.0 | 0 | anomaly-detectionr-packagedistributional | — |
| n2kanalysis | 0.0 | 0 | biodiversity-monitoringinlabayesian-models | — |
| n1qn1c | 0.0 | 0 | numerical-optimizationquasi-newtonthread-safety | — |
| ggstatsplot | 0.0 | 0 | statistical-plotsggplot2contingency-tables | — |
The 12 best mrbayes 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 mrbayes'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 mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, vellumplot focuses on r graphics, grammar of graphics and accessibility.
Over the last 30 days vellumplot has been shipping faster than mrbayes — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full vellumplot trajectory → · Compare mrbayes 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 mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, mizer focuses on size spectrum modelling, marine ecology and numerical methods.
mizer and mrbayes 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 mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, vellum focuses on r graphics, rendering engine and linting.
vellum and mrbayes have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
4. distributions3 · velocity 2.5
Distributions3 changes hands to Achim Zeileis, and a moment calculation bug goes with it.
Its velocity score of 2.5/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, distributions3 focuses on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling.
distributions3 and mrbayes have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full distributions3 trajectory → · Compare mrbayes vs distributions3 →
5. 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 mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, stringi focuses on unicode, icu and build portability.
stringi and mrbayes have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
6. 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 mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, gridpattern focuses on r graphics, pattern fills and grid.
gridpattern and mrbayes 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 mrbayes vs gridpattern →
7. 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 mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, distributional focuses on r package, probability distributions and distribution arithmetic.
distributional and mrbayes 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 mrbayes vs distributional →
8. 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 mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, ardlverse focuses on econometrics, panel data and ardl.
ardlverse and mrbayes 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 mrbayes vs ardlverse →
9. weird · velocity 0.0
Weird rebuilt itself on distributional objects, and now the anomaly tooling composes with everything else.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, weird focuses on anomaly detection, r package and distributional.
weird and mrbayes have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
10. n2kanalysis · velocity 0.0
N2kanalysis has spent eight years wiring INLA models to an S3 bucket.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, n2kanalysis focuses on biodiversity monitoring, inla and bayesian models.
n2kanalysis and mrbayes have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full n2kanalysis trajectory → · Compare mrbayes vs n2kanalysis →
11. n1qn1c · velocity 0.0
A Fortran-descended optimizer got thread-safe, then found two flags that never worked.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, n1qn1c focuses on numerical optimization, quasi newton and thread safety.
n1qn1c and mrbayes have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
12. ggstatsplot · velocity 0.0
Ggstatsplot reached 1.0 by adding tests, having outsourced its statistics years ago.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where mrbayes leans on mendelian randomization, bayesian inference and stan, ggstatsplot focuses on statistical plots, ggplot2 and contingency tables.
ggstatsplot and mrbayes have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full ggstatsplot trajectory → · Compare mrbayes vs ggstatsplot →
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to mrbayes?
The top mrbayes alternatives we currently track in analytics tools are vellumplot, mizer, vellum, distributions3, stringi, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of mrbayes alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare mrbayes directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with mrbayes" link to a side-by-side /compare page.