easystats
The easystats meta-package is install tooling wrapped around a relicensed ecosystem.
Comparison · Analytics
bbotk vs scales
A side-by-side editorial comparison of bbotk and scales — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
bbotk vs scales: 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 scales?
scales keeps widening what ggplot2 can put on an axis.
scales supplies the breaks, labels and transformations behind ggplot2's axes and legends. Unlike much of the tidyverse infrastructure around it, it still ships genuine feature work each release: native timespan handling in 1.3.0, then custom range-training classes and label_glue() in 1.4.0.
bbotk vs scales: 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.
scales
0.0ANALYTICS
scales keeps widening what ggplot2 can put on an axis.
◆ Current state
scales supplies the breaks, labels and transformations behind ggplot2's axes and legends. Unlike much of the tidyverse infrastructure around it, it still ships genuine feature work each release: native timespan handling in 1.3.0, then custom range-training classes and label_glue() in 1.4.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc runs toward extensibility and type coverage. First came built-in support for awkward types like difftime and hms; 1.4.0 inverts that by letting any third-party class participate in range training simply by implementing range() or levels(). Labelling is getting more expressive rather than merely more numerous.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued type-support and labelling work, with extension points that let downstream packages plug in their own classes instead of scales enumerating every one.
Alternatives to bbotk and scales
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 scales.
discrim
discrim settled into a thin engine shim after handing its model definitions to parsnip.
dbparser
dbparser shed its database and CSV writers to become just a DrugBank parser.
desirability2
desirability2 is making multi-metric model selection a first-class tidymodels step.
crosstalk
crosstalk is frozen infrastructure: four releases in five years, mostly CRAN upkeep.
cmdstanr
cmdstanr keeps adding fast approximations beside full HMC, and fighting Windows toolchains.
See all bbotk alternatives → · See all scales alternatives →
Recent activity from bbotk and scales
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 ⚡
- 8mo agobbotkFix: conditions now work with OptimizerLocalSearch
- 1y agoscalesscales 1.4.0 opens range training to custom classes
- 2y agoscalesscales 1.3.0 makes timespans first-class on axes
- 3y agoscalesscales 1.2.1 re-documents to fix .Rd HTML issues
- 4y agoscalesscales 1.2.0 fixes currency sign order and adds scale_cut
- 6y agoscalesscales 1.1.1 fixes palette inversion and adds oob_keep()
- 6y agoscalesscales 1.1.0 reorganises breaks and labels into a naming scheme
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between bbotk and scales?
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 scales?
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 scales?
Top scales alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "scales alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/scales-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.