rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
bayestestR vs rredlist
A side-by-side editorial comparison of bayestestR and rredlist — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
bayestestR vs rredlist: at a glance
What is bayestestR?
Bayesian diagnostics get stricter defaults while the Stan backend list widens
bayestestR is the diagnostics and hypothesis-testing layer of the easystats stack, and its recent releases have concentrated on two things: reporting the right uncertainty numbers by default, and accepting posterior draws from more sources. The 0.18.x line added CmdStanFit support alongside the existing rstanarm/brms paths and switched effective-sample-size reporting to tail-ESS. Bug-fix releases in between are mostly CRAN-check maintenance.
What is rredlist?
rredlist threw out its species-centric API in 1.0.0 and rebuilt around assessments.
rredlist 1.0.0 is a hard break: the IUCN Red List API moved to v4, and the package followed by dropping v3 support entirely, reorganising around assessments rather than species, renaming or removing most functions, changing returned data structures, and requiring users to generate a new API key. The two releases since are consolidation on that new shape — `rl_assessment_list()` and `rl_assessment_extract()` for retrieving and unpacking many assessments at once, a `scope` argument on the `*_latest()` functions, and NULL-safe extraction.
bayestestR vs rredlist: editorial side-by-side
bayestestR
0.0ANALYTICS
Bayesian diagnostics get stricter defaults while the Stan backend list widens
◆ Current state
bayestestR is the diagnostics and hypothesis-testing layer of the easystats stack, and its recent releases have concentrated on two things: reporting the right uncertainty numbers by default, and accepting posterior draws from more sources. The 0.18.x line added CmdStanFit support alongside the existing rstanarm/brms paths and switched effective-sample-size reporting to tail-ESS. Bug-fix releases in between are mostly CRAN-check maintenance.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is converging on a single posture: work with raw MCMC draws from anywhere, and report the diagnostic that actually governs the interval being shown. Successive releases have swapped defaults rather than added surface area, and the efficiency work in 0.16.x aimed squarely at large brms and rstanarm fits. Output formatting is drifting toward the shared easystats display() and tinytable path.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued backend coverage on the Stan side and further alignment of print/display behavior with insight and the rest of easystats; the entries do not show a push into new inference methods.
rredlist
0.0ANALYTICS
rredlist threw out its species-centric API in 1.0.0 and rebuilt around assessments.
◆ Current state
rredlist 1.0.0 is a hard break: the IUCN Red List API moved to v4, and the package followed by dropping v3 support entirely, reorganising around assessments rather than species, renaming or removing most functions, changing returned data structures, and requiring users to generate a new API key. The two releases since are consolidation on that new shape — `rl_assessment_list()` and `rl_assessment_extract()` for retrieving and unpacking many assessments at once, a `scope` argument on the `*_latest()` functions, and NULL-safe extraction.
◆ Where it's heading
Post-1.0.0 work is clearly aimed at bulk use: fetch many assessments, pull a chosen field out of each. That is a different usage pattern from the one-species-at-a-time queries the v3-era functions encouraged, and it suits the conservation-analysis workloads the package is actually used for. Deprecated v3 functions are still present and flagged for eventual removal.
◆ Prediction
The deprecated v3-era functions are the obvious next thing to disappear, and further bulk-retrieval helpers are likely given both post-1.0 releases went that way.
Alternatives to bayestestR and rredlist
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 bayestestR or rredlist.
writexl
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
rgbif
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
rstanarm
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
taxa
taxa started a ground-up rewrite in 2021 and has published almost nothing since.
rotl
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
See all bayestestR alternatives → · See all rredlist alternatives →
Recent activity from bayestestR and rredlist
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agobayestestRmcse() gains a centrality argument
- 2mo agobayestestRCmdStanFit support and tail-ESS as the default diagnostic
- 11mo agorredlistrredlist 1.1.1 extracts multiple assessment elements
- 11mo agobayestestRrope() gains complement probabilities; display() methods added
- 1y agorredlistrredlist 1.1.0 adds bulk assessment retrieval and extraction
- 1y agobayestestRdescribe_posterior() efficiency and multinomial handling
- 1y agobayestestReffects argument changes behavior for large brms/rstanarm fits
- 1y agobayestestRTail ESS returned from effective_sample() and its callers
- 1y agorredlistrredlist 1.0.0 rebuilds on IUCN Red List API v4 ⚡
- 3y agorredlistrredlist 0.7.1 changes maintainer
- 5y agorredlistrredlist 0.7.0 adds vignette and HTTPS base URL
- 6y agorredlistrredlist 0.6.0 improves docs and NA handling
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between bayestestR and rredlist?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. bayestestR and rredlist 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 bayestestR better than rredlist?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. bayestestR and rredlist 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 Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to bayestestR?
Top bayestestR alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "bayestestR alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/bayestestr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to rredlist?
Top rredlist alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rredlist alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rredlist for the full list with editorial commentary on each.