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A distribution catalogue that grows by one family at a time, and rarely breaks anything.
Alternatives · analytics tools
skylight alternatives
The best skylight alternatives in analytics tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Aug 17, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to skylight? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in analytics tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, skylight 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 skylight
A frozen astronomical model quietly became the inner loop of its sibling's optimizer.
skylight returns sun and moon illuminance, azimuth and altitude for a given date, time and location, implemented as a near-verbatim transcription of a 1987 US Naval Observatory circular. The model formulation has not changed since the initial 2022 release and the author states so explicitly. Everything shipped since has been packaging, citation and speed: v1.3 moved the main routine from R to C++, and v1.4 removed a parameter check that was flooding the console with messages.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 58m ago
Top 12 alternatives to skylight
Ranked by recent ship velocity. Tap any card for the full editorial breakdown, or pivot to a head-to-head.
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College football's open data client hit v2 — and now reports how many API calls you have left.
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The USA phenology data client rebuilt its entire stack and stopped handing users -9999 as a number.
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GeneNMF rebuilt how it derives meta-programs, changing every result it had produced.
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Publication-ready psychology tables and plots, tracking APA style as closely as the software allows.
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A spatial-statistics utility package exists to be depended on, and is built accordingly.
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The area-proportional Euler diagram package is finished software, and maintained like it.
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A Cox cure-rate model package woke up after four years to simplify its own interface.
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A phyloseq toolbox keeps absorbing metabarcoding methods, and has started splitting into a family.
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The R-ArcGIS plumbing layer grew a portal administration API and geoprocessing job support.
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A parametric bootstrap for state-space models, shipped and then left alone.
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A Brazilian housing-data palette package went from internal tooling to public 1.0 in five days.
skylight 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| skylight (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | astronomyilluminancecpp-port | — |
| TidyDensity | 0.0 | 0 | statistical-distributionsrandom-generationparameter-estimation | — |
| cfbfastr | 0.0 | 0 | college-footballsports-analyticsapi-migration | Rebuilt on CFBD API v2 with metered access and live endpoints |
| rnpn | 0.0 | 0 | phenologyapi-clientecological-data | Dependency stack and return types replaced wholesale |
| GeneNMF | 0.0 | 0 | single-cell-genomicsnmfgene-programs | Meta-programs rebuilt on gene weight vectors and cosine similarity |
| rempsyc | 0.0 | 0 | apa-formattingpsychology-researchstatistical-tables | — |
| sdsfun | 0.0 | 0 | spatial-statisticsgeodetectorspatial-clustering | — |
| eulerr | 0.0 | 0 | euler-diagramsset-visualizationoptimization | — |
| intsurv | 0.0 | 0 | survival-analysiscure-modelscensored-data | — |
| miscmetabar | 0.0 | 0 | metabarcodingphyloseqbioinformatics | — |
| arcgisutils | 0.0 | 0 | arcgisgeospatialapi-client | Portal administration and geoprocessing jobs join the utility layer |
| bootStateSpace | 0.0 | 0 | state-space-modelsparametric-bootstrappsychometrics | — |
| benviplot | 0.0 | 0 | data-visualizationcolor-palettesggplot2 | — |
The 12 best skylight alternatives, in depth
1. TidyDensity · velocity 0.0
A distribution catalogue that grows by one family at a time, and rarely breaks anything.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, TidyDensity focuses on statistical distributions, random generation and parameter estimation.
TidyDensity and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full TidyDensity trajectory → · Compare skylight vs TidyDensity →
2. cfbfastr · velocity 0.0
College football's open data client hit v2 — and now reports how many API calls you have left.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Rebuilt on CFBD API v2 with metered access and live endpoints”.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, cfbfastr focuses on college football, sports analytics and api migration.
cfbfastr and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
3. rnpn · velocity 0.0
The USA phenology data client rebuilt its entire stack and stopped handing users -9999 as a number.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Dependency stack and return types replaced wholesale”.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, rnpn focuses on phenology, api client and ecological data.
rnpn and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
4. GeneNMF · velocity 0.0
GeneNMF rebuilt how it derives meta-programs, changing every result it had produced.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Meta-programs rebuilt on gene weight vectors and cosine similarity”.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, GeneNMF focuses on single cell genomics, nmf and gene programs.
GeneNMF and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
5. rempsyc · velocity 0.0
Publication-ready psychology tables and plots, tracking APA style as closely as the software allows.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, rempsyc focuses on apa formatting, psychology research and statistical tables.
rempsyc and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
6. sdsfun · velocity 0.0
A spatial-statistics utility package exists to be depended on, and is built accordingly.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, sdsfun focuses on spatial statistics, geodetector and spatial clustering.
sdsfun and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
7. eulerr · velocity 0.0
The area-proportional Euler diagram package is finished software, and maintained like it.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, eulerr focuses on euler diagrams, set visualization and optimization.
eulerr and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
8. intsurv · velocity 0.0
A Cox cure-rate model package woke up after four years to simplify its own interface.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, intsurv focuses on survival analysis, cure models and censored data.
intsurv and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
9. miscmetabar · velocity 0.0
A phyloseq toolbox keeps absorbing metabarcoding methods, and has started splitting into a family.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, miscmetabar focuses on metabarcoding, phyloseq and bioinformatics.
miscmetabar and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full miscmetabar trajectory → · Compare skylight vs miscmetabar →
10. arcgisutils · velocity 0.0
The R-ArcGIS plumbing layer grew a portal administration API and geoprocessing job support.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Portal administration and geoprocessing jobs join the utility layer”.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, arcgisutils focuses on arcgis, geospatial and api client.
arcgisutils and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full arcgisutils trajectory → · Compare skylight vs arcgisutils →
11. bootStateSpace · velocity 0.0
A parametric bootstrap for state-space models, shipped and then left alone.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, bootStateSpace focuses on state space models, parametric bootstrap and psychometrics.
bootStateSpace and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full bootStateSpace trajectory → · Compare skylight vs bootStateSpace →
12. benviplot · velocity 0.0
A Brazilian housing-data palette package went from internal tooling to public 1.0 in five days.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where skylight leans on astronomy, illuminance and cpp port, benviplot focuses on data visualization, color palettes and ggplot2.
benviplot and skylight have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full benviplot trajectory → · Compare skylight vs benviplot →
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to skylight?
The top skylight alternatives we currently track in analytics tools are TidyDensity, cfbfastr, rnpn, GeneNMF, rempsyc, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of skylight alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare skylight directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with skylight" link to a side-by-side /compare page.