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Single-cell batch correction that learned to use cell labels, then spent three releases chasing Seurat.
Comparison · Analytics
cfbfastr vs tbrf
A side-by-side editorial comparison of cfbfastr and tbrf — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
cfbfastr vs tbrf: at a glance
What is cfbfastr?
College football's open data client hit v2 — and now reports how many API calls you have left.
cfbfastR retrieves college football data — play-by-play, box scores, betting lines, ratings and recruiting — from the CollegeFootballData API, ESPN endpoints and the sportsdataverse data repository. Version 2.0.0 in September 2025 was the first release in over three years and rebuilt the package against CFBD's v2 API. Every load_cfb_*() function changed its underlying source to comply with CFBD's terms, the play-by-play dataset gained team and game identifiers users previously had to join in themselves, and a batch of new endpoints arrived covering opponent-adjusted metrics, FPI ratings and live scoreboard and play data.
What is tbrf?
Time-based rolling statistics for water-quality data, finally getting plotting and padding built in.
tbrf computes rolling statistics over time windows rather than fixed row counts — geometric means, confidence intervals and related summaries indexed by date. That distinction matters for irregularly sampled environmental monitoring data, where a fixed-width window spans different amounts of real time. Version 0.1.7 folds in stat_stepribbon() from ggalt, ships an Entero example dataset for lognormal workflows, and adds na.pad across the tbr_ family.
cfbfastr vs tbrf: editorial side-by-side
cfbfastr
0.0ANALYTICS
College football's open data client hit v2 — and now reports how many API calls you have left.
◆ Current state
cfbfastR retrieves college football data — play-by-play, box scores, betting lines, ratings and recruiting — from the CollegeFootballData API, ESPN endpoints and the sportsdataverse data repository. Version 2.0.0 in September 2025 was the first release in over three years and rebuilt the package against CFBD's v2 API. Every load_cfb_*() function changed its underlying source to comply with CFBD's terms, the play-by-play dataset gained team and game identifiers users previously had to join in themselves, and a batch of new endpoints arrived covering opponent-adjusted metrics, FPI ratings and live scoreboard and play data.
◆ Where it's heading
The package's direction is now set by the data provider rather than by its own plans, and that provider has moved to metered access — the free tier is capped at 1,000 calls a month, with limits tied to membership level. cfbd_api_key_info() reporting a user's tier and usage is the clearest sign of that shift: quota is now something an analysis has to manage. The long gap before 2.0.0 and its arrival largely through a first-time contributor also indicate a package sustained by community effort rather than steady maintenance.
◆ Prediction
The live scoreboard and play endpoints are the natural place for the next work, since they are the ones that benefit from in-season iteration. Given the release notes warn users to check their pipelines, follow-up fixes for the changed loading functions are likely before anything new lands.
tbrf
0.0ANALYTICS
Time-based rolling statistics for water-quality data, finally getting plotting and padding built in.
◆ Current state
tbrf computes rolling statistics over time windows rather than fixed row counts — geometric means, confidence intervals and related summaries indexed by date. That distinction matters for irregularly sampled environmental monitoring data, where a fixed-width window spans different amounts of real time. Version 0.1.7 folds in stat_stepribbon() from ggalt, ships an Entero example dataset for lognormal workflows, and adds na.pad across the tbr_ family.
◆ Where it's heading
The package spent its middle releases absorbing upstream breakage — a lubridate duration redefinition, a tibble 3.0.0 subassignment change, tidyselect internals. The 0.1.7 release breaks that pattern: it is the first in five years to add capability rather than repair it, and it does so by internalising a stat from an abandoned dependency instead of relying on it. Cadence remains very low, with a five-year gap between 0.1.5 and 0.1.6.
◆ Prediction
Absorbing stat_stepribbon() directly suggests further vendoring of the plotting layer rather than new statistical functions. The entries do not indicate which rolling statistics, if any, are queued next.
Alternatives to cfbfastr and tbrf
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 cfbfastr or tbrf.
ggtrace
A debugger for ggplot2's internals, hardening its grip as the internals it traces keep moving.
kde1d
A univariate density estimator that added zero-inflated data and reopened its C++ API to do it.
svines
Stationary vine copulas for time series, released in lockstep with the rest of Nagler's vine stack.
gghighlight
A single-purpose ggplot2 extension that has spent six years tracking ggplot2 instead of growing.
rtrek
A Star Trek data package that became a Memory Alpha web client and has been patching scrapers ever since.
See all cfbfastr alternatives → · See all tbrf alternatives →
Recent activity from cfbfastr and tbrf
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 11mo agocfbfastrRebuilt on CFBD API v2 with metered access and live endpoints ⚡
- 0y agotbrfstat_stepribbon vendored in, plus na.pad on all rolling functions
- 1y agotbrfgm_mean_ci forwards na.rm and zero.propagate correctly
- 4y agocfbfastrESPN endpoints and repo-backed loaders added
- 4y agocfbfastrAll outputs standardised as tibbles with a custom class
- 4y agocfbfastrCRAN release with option-restoring cleanup
- 4y agocfbfastrMinor fixes to betting and FPI rating functions
- 4y agocfbfastrESPN scoreboard and play-by-play access, with argument cleanup
- 6y agotbrfFix internals broken by tibble 3.0.0 subassignment
- 6y agotbrfDate windows recomputed with intervals and periods
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cfbfastr and tbrf?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. cfbfastr and tbrf 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 cfbfastr better than tbrf?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. cfbfastr and tbrf 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 cfbfastr?
Top cfbfastr alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "cfbfastr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/cfbfastr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to tbrf?
Top tbrf alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "tbrf alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tbrf for the full list with editorial commentary on each.