tidytext
Finished, widely taught, and shipping roxygen fixes.
Comparison · Analytics
bayesplot vs loo
A side-by-side editorial comparison of bayesplot and loo — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:stan
bayesplot vs loo: at a glance
What is bayesplot?
bayesplot keeps widening its posterior-check catalogue while absorbing each ggplot2 break.
bayesplot supplies the plotting layer for Stan-adjacent Bayesian workflows: posterior predictive checks, MCMC diagnostics and LOO diagnostics. Releases through 2025 alternate between new plot families and keeping pace with ggplot2, which changed behavior twice in the visible window. Contributions increasingly arrive from outside the core Stan team.
What is loo?
loo keeps rewriting the diagnostics Bayesian modellers read off model comparison
loo computes leave-one-out cross-validation and model comparison for Bayesian models in the Stan ecosystem. Two releases in this window changed what users actually read: 2.7.0 replaced the fixed Pareto-k thresholds with sample-size-dependent ones and dropped the middle category, and 2.10.0 reshaped loo_compare's output into a data.frame with new uncertainty columns. The releases between are diagnostic robustness fixes and moment-matching corrections.
bayesplot vs loo: editorial side-by-side
bayesplot
0.0ANALYTICS
bayesplot keeps widening its posterior-check catalogue while absorbing each ggplot2 break.
◆ Current state
bayesplot supplies the plotting layer for Stan-adjacent Bayesian workflows: posterior predictive checks, MCMC diagnostics and LOO diagnostics. Releases through 2025 alternate between new plot families and keeping pace with ggplot2, which changed behavior twice in the visible window. Contributions increasingly arrive from outside the core Stan team.
◆ Where it's heading
Two forces drive the release line: expanding what can be checked visually, and absorbing upstream ggplot2 churn. The 1.13-1.14 pair shows the first, adding LOO-PIT ECDF plots, quantile dot plots and discrete-data handling across the stat family, while 1.12 and 1.15 are largely spent on ggplot2 3.6 and 4.0 compatibility. The recurring new-contributor lists suggest maintenance load is being spread rather than concentrated.
◆ Prediction
Discrete-data support has rolled out plot family by plot family across three releases; the next release most likely continues that sweep and finishes the ggplot2 v4 adaptation.
loo
2.5ANALYTICS
loo keeps rewriting the diagnostics Bayesian modellers read off model comparison
◆ Current state
loo computes leave-one-out cross-validation and model comparison for Bayesian models in the Stan ecosystem. Two releases in this window changed what users actually read: 2.7.0 replaced the fixed Pareto-k thresholds with sample-size-dependent ones and dropped the middle category, and 2.10.0 reshaped loo_compare's output into a data.frame with new uncertainty columns. The releases between are diagnostic robustness fixes and moment-matching corrections.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is being brought in line with the current PSIS literature rather than extended with new features, and the practical effect is that the numbers practitioners quote in papers keep changing meaning. Work is increasingly delegated to posterior for shared computations, and the project has added contributor process, benchmarks and a published AI contribution policy.
◆ Prediction
Expect further work on comparison diagnostics — the p_worse and diag_* columns are new enough that their defaults and documentation will likely be revised next.
Alternatives to bayesplot and loo
Other Analytics 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 bayesplot or loo.
textrecipes
Text features finally stay sparse all the way to the model.
probably
The package that made calibration a step instead of an afterthought.
workflowsets
workflowsets keeps widening what counts as a model worth comparing.
workflows
The tidymodels pipeline grew a third stage, and it happens after the model runs.
vetiver
Posit's MLOps package went quiet for two years, then came back to keep up with recipes.
See all bayesplot alternatives → · See all loo alternatives →
Recent activity from bayesplot and loo
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 20d agoloopsis_smooth_tail revert and simplify arg restored
- 1mo agolooloo_compare returns a data.frame with new uncertainty columns ⚡
- 7mo agolooStacking overflow fixes and posterior-based ESS
- 8mo agobayesplotmcmc_scatter gains shape; pre-ggplot2 v4 theme behavior restored
- 11mo agobayesplotQuantile dot plots and broader discrete-data support
- 1y agobayesplotppc_loo_pit_ecdf() added; KM overlays gain truncation control
- 1y agobayesplotggplot2 3.6 compatibility and a run of plot-data fixes
- 2y agolooMore robust Pareto-k diagnostics and moment matching
- 2y agolooPareto-k thresholds now depend on sample size ⚡
- 2y agobayesplotPatch caps ppc_pit_ecdf evaluation points at 1000
- 2y agobayesplotbins/breaks across histograms; all LOO plots accept psis_object
- 3y agolooLOO predictive metrics and CRPS scoring functions
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between bayesplot and loo?
Both compete on the same themes — stan — within Analytics. loo is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is bayesplot better than loo?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. loo is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to bayesplot?
Top bayesplot alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "bayesplot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/bayesplot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to loo?
Top loo alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "loo alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/loo for the full list with editorial commentary on each.