bbotk
bbotk is generalizing from an optimizer toolkit into an evaluation framework.
Comparison · Analytics
broom vs pins
A side-by-side editorial comparison of broom and pins — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
broom vs pins: at a glance
What is broom?
broom's release calendar is now set by CRAN checks, not by new tidiers.
broom converts model objects from across R's statistical ecosystem into tidy data frames. Four of its last six releases exist purely to resolve R CMD check warnings and errors on r-devel or to absorb upstream package changes. Maintainership passed to Emil Hvitfeldt at 1.0.11.
What is pins?
pins keeps adding a storage backend per release while retiring its original API
pins publishes and versions R objects to a board, where a board is whatever storage you have. The recent releases read as a steady list of new boards - Google Cloud Storage, Google Drive, Databricks Volumes, Connect vanity URLs - alongside serialization changes that track which formats R users actually want: parquet via nanoparquet, and qs replaced by qs2.
broom vs pins: editorial side-by-side
broom
0.0ANALYTICS
broom's release calendar is now set by CRAN checks, not by new tidiers.
◆ Current state
broom converts model objects from across R's statistical ecosystem into tidy data frames. Four of its last six releases exist purely to resolve R CMD check warnings and errors on r-devel or to absorb upstream package changes. Maintainership passed to Emil Hvitfeldt at 1.0.11.
◆ Where it's heading
Carrying hundreds of tidier methods for model classes it does not own, broom's workload is dominated by other projects' breaking changes and CRAN's evolving checks. New tidier coverage has largely migrated to the packages that define the models, leaving broom as a compatibility surface.
◆ Prediction
Expect the cadence to stay reactive, with releases triggered by r-devel check failures and upstream API shifts rather than expanded model coverage.
pins
0.0ANALYTICS
pins keeps adding a storage backend per release while retiring its original API
◆ Current state
pins publishes and versions R objects to a board, where a board is whatever storage you have. The recent releases read as a steady list of new boards - Google Cloud Storage, Google Drive, Databricks Volumes, Connect vanity URLs - alongside serialization changes that track which formats R users actually want: parquet via nanoparquet, and qs replaced by qs2.
◆ Where it's heading
Two long-running processes, neither dramatic. Backend coverage expands toward wherever teams already store artifacts, which increasingly means Databricks and cloud object storage rather than a shared drive. Meanwhile the legacy pin() API from before the board model has been in a staged deprecation across at least three releases, escalated each time rather than removed.
◆ Prediction
Expect another board or two as storage platforms are requested, and the legacy pin() functions to finally become errors; the format list will keep tracking whichever serializer the R community settles on.
Alternatives to broom and pins
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 broom or pins.
bayesplot
bayesplot keeps widening its posterior-check catalogue while absorbing each ggplot2 break.
animation
Contribution-driven maintenance on a package whose last structural change was magick support.
tsibble
tsibble shipped one release in five and a half years - the data structure is finished
yardstick
yardstick made fairness metrics a first-class part of tidymodels evaluation
tune
tune extends tuning past the model itself to postprocessors, and adds a second parallel backend
Recent activity from broom and pins
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3mo agobroombroom 1.0.13 relocates a test fixture to clear an r-devel warning
- 3mo agobroombroom 1.0.12 tracks renamed summary() output fields
- 5mo agopinsqs2 replaces qs; pins can be written in multiple formats
- 8mo agobroombroom 1.0.11 transfers maintainership to Emil Hvitfeldt
- 11mo agobroombroom 1.0.10 clears an r-devel namespacing warning
- 1y agobroombroom 1.0.9 requires R 4.1 and repairs epiR compatibility
- 1y agopinsPin previews on Connect; Databricks host normalization
- 1y agobroombroom 1.0.8 fixes cluster-robust intervals, drops orcutt tidiers
- 1y agopinsAdds board_databricks() and switches parquet to nanoparquet
- 2y agopinspin_write() arguments must be named; Connect caches removed
- 2y agopinsMessage clarity and Google Drive dribble handling
- 2y agopinsboard_gdrive() added; cache location configurable
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between broom and pins?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. broom and pins 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 broom better than pins?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. broom and pins 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 broom?
Top broom alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "broom alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/broom for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to pins?
Top pins alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "pins alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/pins-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.