easystats
The easystats meta-package is install tooling wrapped around a relicensed ecosystem.
Comparison · Analytics
censored vs pins
A side-by-side editorial comparison of censored and pins — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
censored vs pins: at a glance
What is censored?
censored keeps survival models aligned with parsnip's shifting prediction contracts
censored supplies survival-analysis engines to parsnip, and its release history is dominated by staying in step with the rest of tidymodels rather than shipping independent features. The 0.2.0 and 0.3.0 releases added engines and prediction types; everything since has been contract alignment — quantile prediction format, hardhat test adaptation, flexsurv preparation.
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.
censored vs pins: editorial side-by-side
censored
0.0ANALYTICS
censored keeps survival models aligned with parsnip's shifting prediction contracts
◆ Current state
censored supplies survival-analysis engines to parsnip, and its release history is dominated by staying in step with the rest of tidymodels rather than shipping independent features. The 0.2.0 and 0.3.0 releases added engines and prediction types; everything since has been contract alignment — quantile prediction format, hardhat test adaptation, flexsurv preparation.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is settling into a downstream role where parsnip and hardhat set the interface and censored implements it for censored regression. Breaking changes arrive from upstream, not from new ideas here. The substantive engine work — aorsf, flexsurvspline, glmnet multi_predict — is behind it, and recent cycles are thin.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next releases to track further parsnip prediction-type changes rather than add engines; the entries do not show new survival methods in progress.
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 censored 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 censored or pins.
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 censored alternatives → · See all pins alternatives →
Recent activity from censored and pins
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agocensoredcensored 0.3.4
- 5mo agopinsqs2 replaces qs; pins can be written in multiple formats
- 1y agopinsPin previews on Connect; Databricks host normalization
- 1y agocensoredQuantile prediction format follows new parsnip requirements
- 1y agopinsAdds board_databricks() and switches parquet to nanoparquet
- 2y agocensoredSurvival probabilities at infinite evaluation times now computed
- 2y agocensoredcensored 0.3.1
- 2y agocensoredmulti_predict() for all glmnet prediction types; aorsf predicts time
- 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
- 3y agocensoredeval_time replaces time; matrix fitting for censored regression
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between censored and pins?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. censored 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 censored better than pins?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. censored 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 censored?
Top censored alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "censored alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/censored 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.