tidytext
Finished, widely taught, and shipping roxygen fixes.
Comparison · Analytics
bbotk vs feasts
A side-by-side editorial comparison of bbotk and feasts — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
bbotk vs feasts: at a glance
What is bbotk?
bbotk is generalizing from an optimizer toolkit into an evaluation framework.
bbotk is the black-box optimization backend behind mlr3 tuning: search spaces, terminators, archives, and an async layer built on rush. Recent releases pair steady async-API buildout with removal of the deprecated arguments that preceded it. The 1.9.0 release introduced EvalInstance as a base class for OptimInstance, separating evaluating an objective from optimizing one.
What is feasts?
feasts is splitting itself in two, moving every plot into ggtime
feasts provides feature extraction and statistics for tsibble time series. The last two releases are dominated by one decision: all of its gg_*() plotting functions are being moved out into a separate ggtime package. 0.4.2 announced the deprecation and 0.5.0 makes ggtime a dependency with soft-deprecation messages on every re-export.
bbotk vs feasts: editorial side-by-side
bbotk
2.5ANALYTICS
bbotk is generalizing from an optimizer toolkit into an evaluation framework.
◆ Current state
bbotk is the black-box optimization backend behind mlr3 tuning: search spaces, terminators, archives, and an async layer built on rush. Recent releases pair steady async-API buildout with removal of the deprecated arguments that preceded it. The 1.9.0 release introduced EvalInstance as a base class for OptimInstance, separating evaluating an objective from optimizing one.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads run through the visible history. The first is async optimization maturing: ArchiveAsync gained a full push/finish/fail vocabulary over rush tasks in 1.11.0, and 1.12.0 deleted the deprecated extra arguments it replaced. The second is dependency consolidation, with custom C hypervolume code handed to moocore and rush pinned to 1.0.0, trimming maintenance surface as the async path becomes the default.
◆ Prediction
The deprecation removals in 1.12.0 suggest the async archive API is now treated as settled; the next releases most likely build on EvalInstance rather than continuing to churn ArchiveAsync.
feasts
0.0ANALYTICS
feasts is splitting itself in two, moving every plot into ggtime
◆ Current state
feasts provides feature extraction and statistics for tsibble time series. The last two releases are dominated by one decision: all of its gg_*() plotting functions are being moved out into a separate ggtime package. 0.4.2 announced the deprecation and 0.5.0 makes ggtime a dependency with soft-deprecation messages on every re-export.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is narrowing to its stated purpose — features and statistics — and shedding graphics entirely over a deliberately slow two-year window. Everything else in the recent history is ggplot2 compatibility work and narrow seasonal-plot bug fixes, which is consistent with a maintainer trimming surface area rather than growing it.
◆ Prediction
The next releases should be compatibility upkeep while the ggtime deprecation runs its course; the re-exports stay until the announced window closes.
Alternatives to bbotk and feasts
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 bbotk or feasts.
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 bbotk alternatives → · See all feasts alternatives →
Recent activity from bbotk and feasts
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 24d agobbotkDeprecated extra argument removed from ArchiveAsync methods
- 1mo agobbotkArchiveAsync gains full push/finish/fail task API over rush
- 2mo agobbotkDominance and hypervolume computation moved to moocore
- 4mo agobbotkmlr_test_functions adds standard optimization benchmarks
- 5mo agobbotkEvalInstance base class separates evaluation from optimization ⚡
- 6mo agofeastsfeasts moves its plots to ggtime behind a 2-year deprecation ⚡
- 8mo agobbotkFix: conditions now work with OptimizerLocalSearch
- 11mo agofeastsggplot2 4.0.0 compatibility and the ggtime deprecation notice
- 1y agofeastsgg_season() fix for sub-weekly daily data
- 1y agofeastsImpulse-response plots and Johansen cointegration tests
- 2y agofeastsPatch for ggplot2 3.5.0 breaking changes
- 3y agofeastsCRAN patch for S3 method consistency
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between bbotk and feasts?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. bbotk 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 bbotk better than feasts?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. bbotk 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 bbotk?
Top bbotk alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "bbotk alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/bbotk for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to feasts?
Top feasts alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "feasts alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/feasts for the full list with editorial commentary on each.