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Comparison · Infra & APIs
BAS vs tidyplots
A side-by-side editorial comparison of BAS and tidyplots — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
BAS vs tidyplots: at a glance
What is BAS?
A Bayesian model-averaging package spending its 2.0 on memory, not methods.
BAS performs Bayesian variable selection and model averaging for linear and generalized linear models, sampling from a model space too large to enumerate. The visible history splits cleanly: 2023-2024 added sampling machinery — an adaptive independent MCMC sampler with Horvitz-Thompson estimation, hereditary-constraint counting — while 2.0.0 in late 2025 reworked how sampler output is allocated in C. The 2.0.2 patch is a PROTECT fix for rchk warnings.
What is tidyplots?
tidyplots keeps rebuilding its own foundations rather than layering around them.
tidyplots wraps ggplot2 in a pipe-driven API aimed at publication-ready scientific figures, trading grammar-of-graphics flexibility for a shorter path to a finished plot. It is at 0.4.0 after two years of frequent releases, and almost every one carries a breaking change — the most recent moved multi-panel layout off patchwork and onto ggplot2's own faceting. Statistical annotation, colour schemes and size control have each been reworked at least once.
BAS vs tidyplots: editorial side-by-side
BAS
0.0INFRA · APIS
A Bayesian model-averaging package spending its 2.0 on memory, not methods.
◆ Current state
BAS performs Bayesian variable selection and model averaging for linear and generalized linear models, sampling from a model space too large to enumerate. The visible history splits cleanly: 2023-2024 added sampling machinery — an adaptive independent MCMC sampler with Horvitz-Thompson estimation, hereditary-constraint counting — while 2.0.0 in late 2025 reworked how sampler output is allocated in C. The 2.0.2 patch is a PROTECT fix for rchk warnings.
◆ Where it's heading
Memory is the binding constraint and the releases say so directly. The hereditary-constraint counter, the GROW option, and the replacement of over-allocation with resizing all attack the same problem: n.models is a guess, and guessing high wastes memory on problems where few unique models are actually visited. The 2.0.0 work was additionally forced by R tightening its C API against non-API calls like SETLENGTH, a constraint every C-heavy CRAN package has been absorbing. Method development has been quiet since 1.7.x.
◆ Prediction
The 1.7.5 notes call the hereditary-constraint counting a first step and say future updates will cover other constraint types, including polynomials, which remain unhandled. That is the one concrete commitment in this history, though nothing since has returned to it.
tidyplots
0.0INFRA · APIS
tidyplots keeps rebuilding its own foundations rather than layering around them.
◆ Current state
tidyplots wraps ggplot2 in a pipe-driven API aimed at publication-ready scientific figures, trading grammar-of-graphics flexibility for a shorter path to a finished plot. It is at 0.4.0 after two years of frequent releases, and almost every one carries a breaking change — the most recent moved multi-panel layout off patchwork and onto ggplot2's own faceting. Statistical annotation, colour schemes and size control have each been reworked at least once.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is converging on ggplot2 rather than abstracting away from it: split_plot() now uses facet_wrap and facet_grid, as_tidyplot() was hard-deprecated on the grounds that converting a ggplot was never a good idea, and releases are timed against upstream ggplot2 versions. The other constant is the statistics surface, which has grown from basic error bars to paired and selected comparisons. Breaking changes are announced plainly and frequently, consistent with a package using 0.x to fix its shape before committing.
◆ Prediction
The patchwork removal is described as something that will eventually break dependent code, so the near-term work is likely completing that migration and settling the split_plot() parameters introduced alongside it. A 1.0 would signal the breaking-change cadence is ending, and nothing here indicates that yet.
Alternatives to BAS and tidyplots
Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either BAS or tidyplots.
ggalign
Composable aligned layouts, rebuilt on S7 while ggplot2 4.0 lands underneath.
prioritizr
Conservation planning absorbs the literature's target-setting rules as code.
jSDM
Joint species distribution models in Gibbs-sampled C++, quiet since 2023.
rsofun
An ecosystem model starts tracking carbon isotopes and land-use change.
usmap
Ten years in, US mapping splits its data out and finally adds Puerto Rico.
See all BAS alternatives → · See all tidyplots alternatives →
Recent activity from BAS and tidyplots
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 7mo agotidyplotstidyplots 0.4.0
- 8mo agoBASBAS 2.0.2
- 8mo agoBASBAS 2.0.0
- 1y agotidyplotstidyplots 0.3.1
- 1y agotidyplotstidyplots 0.2.2
- 1y agotidyplotstidyplots 0.2.1
- 1y agotidyplotstidyplots 0.2.0
- 1y agoBASBAS 1.7.5
- 1y agotidyplotstidyplots 0.1.2
- 1y agoBASBAS 1.7.3
- 1y agoBASBAS 1.7.2
- 2y agoBASBAS 1.7.1
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between BAS and tidyplots?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Infra & APIs. BAS and tidyplots are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is BAS better than tidyplots?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. BAS and tidyplots are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to BAS?
Top BAS alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "BAS alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/bas for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to tidyplots?
Top tidyplots alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "tidyplots alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tidyplots for the full list with editorial commentary on each.