STACAS
Single-cell batch correction that learned to use cell labels, then spent three releases chasing Seurat.
Comparison · Analytics
cfbfastr vs tEDM
A side-by-side editorial comparison of cfbfastr and tEDM — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
cfbfastr vs tEDM: 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 tEDM?
The temporal half of the stscl EDM pair, tracking its spatial sibling
tEDM applies empirical dynamic modeling to time series — cross mapping, convergent cross mapping and the logistic map — as the temporal counterpart to spEDM, with which it shares a maintainer and a C++ core. The recent releases are consolidation rather than expansion: index handling in cross mapping corrected, generics taught to accept varying E, k and tau, and the associated paper now cited in the README. Only three releases are visible in the feed.
cfbfastr vs tEDM: 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.
tEDM
0.0ANALYTICS
The temporal half of the stscl EDM pair, tracking its spatial sibling
◆ Current state
tEDM applies empirical dynamic modeling to time series — cross mapping, convergent cross mapping and the logistic map — as the temporal counterpart to spEDM, with which it shares a maintainer and a C++ core. The recent releases are consolidation rather than expansion: index handling in cross mapping corrected, generics taught to accept varying E, k and tau, and the associated paper now cited in the README. Only three releases are visible in the feed.
◆ Where it's heading
tEDM moves in lockstep with spEDM. Configurable distance metrics, varying E/k/tau inputs, strict floating-point comparison and the S3 plotting font unification all appear in both packages within days or weeks, as does the maintainer surname correction. The recent balance has tilted toward correcting library and prediction index handling — the kind of repeated attention that suggests the indexing model was the weak point of the shared core.
◆ Prediction
Expect tEDM to keep inheriting the shared-core changes spEDM lands, with its own releases staying small and centred on cross-mapping parameter handling rather than new method surface.
Alternatives to cfbfastr and tEDM
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 tEDM.
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 tEDM alternatives →
Recent activity from cfbfastr and tEDM
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agotEDMMaintainer name corrected, published paper cited
- 7mo agotEDMCross-mapping index handling corrected, generics accept varying E, k, tau
- 11mo agocfbfastrRebuilt on CFBD API v2 with metered access and live endpoints ⚡
- 11mo agotEDMConfigurable distance metrics for cross mapping
- 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
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cfbfastr and tEDM?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. cfbfastr and tEDM 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 tEDM?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. cfbfastr and tEDM 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 tEDM?
Top tEDM alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "tEDM alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/tedm for the full list with editorial commentary on each.