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
weird alternatives
The best weird alternatives in analytics tools, ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score.
Updated Aug 15, 2026
Looking for the best alternatives to weird? Sparkpulse tracks and ranks 12 alternatives in analytics tools by shipping velocity — how frequently each ships meaningful updates, verified from official changelogs. For reference, weird 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 weird
weird rebuilt itself on distributional objects, and now the anomaly tooling composes with everything else.
An R package for anomaly detection and unusual-observation diagnostics, at four releases with a long gap between the 2024 patch and the 2026 major line. The current shape is set by 2.0.0, which refactored the package onto distributional objects and renamed its central concept from density_scores() to surprisals(). Since then the work has been filling that structure in: surprisals for more model classes, faster bandwidth and probability calculations, and new visual diagnostics.
Velocity 0.0 · Last update 51m ago
Top 12 alternatives to weird
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
rjd3highfreq ships whatever the Java side ships, and only occasionally says what that was.
ANALYTICS
audubon's release feed is almost entirely Renovate bumping the JavaScript toolchain behind its Japanese text splitter.
ANALYTICS
affiner is quietly turning a grid transformation helper into a small computational geometry library.
ANALYTICS
ageproR spent two years chasing a moving file format, then added the recruitment models that justify the effort.
ANALYTICS
ledger adds a Rust toolchain fallback, so beancount imports work whether or not the Python tooling is installed.
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.
weird 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| weird (baseline) | 0.0 | 0 | anomaly-detectionr-packagedistributional | — |
| 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 |
| rjd3highfreq | 0.0 | 0 | seasonal-adjustmenttime-seriesjdemetra | — |
| audubon | 0.0 | 0 | japanese-nlptext-processingr-package | — |
| affiner | 0.0 | 0 | r-packagecomputational-geometrygrid-graphics | — |
| ageproR | 0.0 | 0 | fisheries-sciencestock-assessmentr-package | Four recruitment models added, including autocorrelated lognormal error |
| r-ledger | 0.0 | 0 | plain-text-accountingr-packagebeancount | — |
| gridpattern | 0.0 | 0 | r-graphicspattern-fillsgrid | — |
| distributional | 0.0 | 0 | r-packageprobability-distributionsdistribution-arithmetic | Distribution arithmetic: FFT convolution behind the + and - operators |
The 12 best weird 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 weird'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 weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, vellumplot focuses on r graphics, grammar of graphics and accessibility.
Over the last 30 days vellumplot has been shipping faster than weird — a point in its favour if release momentum matters to you.
Full vellumplot trajectory → · Compare weird 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 weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, mizer focuses on size spectrum modelling, marine ecology and numerical methods.
mizer and weird 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 weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, vellum focuses on r graphics, rendering engine and linting.
vellum and weird 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 weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, distributions3 focuses on r package, probability distributions and statistical modelling.
distributions3 and weird 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 weird 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 weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, stringi focuses on unicode, icu and build portability.
stringi and weird have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
6. rjd3highfreq · velocity 0.0
Rjd3highfreq ships whatever the Java side ships, and only occasionally says what that was.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, rjd3highfreq focuses on seasonal adjustment, time series and jdemetra.
rjd3highfreq and weird have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
Full rjd3highfreq trajectory → · Compare weird vs rjd3highfreq →
7. audubon · velocity 0.0
Audubon's release feed is almost entirely Renovate bumping the JavaScript toolchain behind its Japanese text splitter.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, audubon focuses on japanese nlp, text processing and r package.
audubon and weird have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
8. affiner · velocity 0.0
Affiner is quietly turning a grid transformation helper into a small computational geometry library.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, affiner focuses on r package, computational geometry and grid graphics.
affiner and weird have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
9. ageproR · velocity 0.0
AgeproR spent two years chasing a moving file format, then added the recruitment models that justify the effort.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence; its most recent meaningful update was “Four recruitment models added, including autocorrelated lognormal error”.
Where weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, ageproR focuses on fisheries science, stock assessment and r package.
ageproR and weird have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
10. r-ledger · velocity 0.0
Ledger adds a Rust toolchain fallback, so beancount imports work whether or not the Python tooling is installed.
Its velocity score of 0.0/10 reflects longer-term release cadence.
Where weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, r-ledger focuses on plain text accounting, r package and beancount.
r-ledger and weird have shipped at a similar pace over the last 30 days, so the decision comes down to fit and feature depth.
11. 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 weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, gridpattern focuses on r graphics, pattern fills and grid.
gridpattern and weird 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 weird vs gridpattern →
12. 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 weird leans on anomaly detection, r package and distributional, distributional focuses on r package, probability distributions and distribution arithmetic.
distributional and weird 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 weird vs distributional →
Frequently asked questions
What are the best alternatives to weird?
The top weird alternatives we currently track in analytics tools are vellumplot, mizer, vellum, distributions3, stringi, ranked by recent ship velocity.
How is this list of weird alternatives ranked?
Alternatives are ranked by Sparkpulse's velocity_score — release cadence + 30-day spark count + sector-relative ship rate.
Can I compare weird directly with one of these alternatives?
Yes — every card has a "Compare with weird" link to a side-by-side /compare page.