tidytext
Finished, widely taught, and shipping roxygen fixes.
Comparison · Analytics
broom vs workflows
A side-by-side editorial comparison of broom and workflows — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
broom vs workflows: 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 workflows?
The tidymodels pipeline grew a third stage, and it happens after the model runs.
workflows bundles a preprocessor and a model into one object that tidymodels can fit, tune and extract from. Version 1.3.0 added a post stage backed by the tailor package, wired through every generic a workflow supports — augment, tidy, tunable, tune_args, required_pkgs and parameter extraction. Version 1.2.0 added sparse data support so fit() and predict() accept dgCMatrix and sparse tibbles. Earlier releases in view are boundary tightening: erroring on unknown model modes, on trained recipes, and on silently ignored formula offsets.
broom vs workflows: 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.
workflows
0.0ANALYTICS
The tidymodels pipeline grew a third stage, and it happens after the model runs.
◆ Current state
workflows bundles a preprocessor and a model into one object that tidymodels can fit, tune and extract from. Version 1.3.0 added a post stage backed by the tailor package, wired through every generic a workflow supports — augment, tidy, tunable, tune_args, required_pkgs and parameter extraction. Version 1.2.0 added sparse data support so fit() and predict() accept dgCMatrix and sparse tibbles. Earlier releases in view are boundary tightening: erroring on unknown model modes, on trained recipes, and on silently ignored formula offsets.
◆ Where it's heading
The object is filling out into a complete pipeline description rather than a preprocessing-plus-model pair. Postprocessing is the structural addition — calibration and threshold selection were previously done by hand after prediction, outside anything tidymodels could tune or record — and the fact that it arrived integrated with tunable() and tune_args() rather than as a standalone step is the point. The rest of the arc is the steady tidymodels habit of converting silent guesses into errors.
◆ Prediction
Expect tailor postprocessors to spread through tune and workflowsets next, since the parameter and tuning generics were wired up first, and expect sparse support to extend to more engines after lightgbm.
Alternatives to broom and workflows
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 workflows.
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.
vetiver
Posit's MLOps package went quiet for two years, then came back to keep up with recipes.
patchwork
patchwork stopped being a ggplot composer and became a page composer.
See all broom alternatives → · See all workflows alternatives →
Recent activity from broom and workflows
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
- 8mo agobroombroom 1.0.11 transfers maintainership to Emil Hvitfeldt
- 11mo agobroombroom 1.0.10 clears an r-devel namespacing warning
- 11mo agoworkflowsWorkflows gain a postprocessing stage via tailor ⚡
- 1y agobroombroom 1.0.9 requires R 4.1 and repairs epiR compatibility
- 1y agobroombroom 1.0.8 fixes cluster-robust intervals, drops orcutt tidiers
- 1y agoworkflowsSparse matrices work through fit() and predict()
- 2y agoworkflowsaugment() aligns with parsnip; censored regression supported
- 3y agoworkflowsRegister tuning generics unconditionally
- 3y agoworkflowsMissing parsnip extensions now error early; unsupervised specs supported
- 3y agoworkflowsMode guessing removed; silent offset handling now errors
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between broom and workflows?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. broom and workflows 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 workflows?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. broom and workflows 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 workflows?
Top workflows alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "workflows alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/workflows-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.