qqman
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
Comparison · Analytics
cheapr vs constants
A side-by-side editorial comparison of cheapr and constants — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
cheapr vs constants: at a glance
What is cheapr?
cheapr turned multi-threaded, and its next stop is a C++20 public API.
cheapr supplies lower-overhead replacements for base R's data manipulation primitives — subsetting, recycling, concatenation, attribute handling, data frame construction. Through 2025 it grew function by function: sset_df/sset_row/sset_col, list_as_df, cheapr_c, counts, str_coalesce, df_modify. The 1.5.0 release in April 2026 changed the nature of the package, adding parallelised math functions, user-settable thread counts, multi-threaded vector initialisers, and a SIMD-parallelised if_else_, with threading on by default at two threads.
What is constants?
The R package for CODATA constants rebuilt its symbol table on NIST's naming so future updates stop being hand work.
constants exposes the CODATA recommended values of the physical constants to R, as a data frame plus symbol lists that carry units, uncertainties, or both. The package reached 1.0.0 on the 2018 CODATA release and has shipped once since, purely to track a units package update. Its surface is small and its release cadence is bound to CODATA, which revises every few years.
cheapr vs constants: editorial side-by-side
cheapr
0.0ANALYTICS
cheapr turned multi-threaded, and its next stop is a C++20 public API.
◆ Current state
cheapr supplies lower-overhead replacements for base R's data manipulation primitives — subsetting, recycling, concatenation, attribute handling, data frame construction. Through 2025 it grew function by function: sset_df/sset_row/sset_col, list_as_df, cheapr_c, counts, str_coalesce, df_modify. The 1.5.0 release in April 2026 changed the nature of the package, adding parallelised math functions, user-settable thread counts, multi-threaded vector initialisers, and a SIMD-parallelised if_else_, with threading on by default at two threads.
◆ Where it's heading
Two arcs run at once. The visible one is parallelism: what began as single-threaded C shortcuts is becoming a threaded compute layer, and the notes state the C/C++ API is mid-rewrite with a stable form promised at 2.0.0 behind a C++20 requirement. The quieter one is R C API compliance — 1.5.1 removed R_MissingArg, R_UnboundValue, Rf_findVar and Rf_findVarinFrame, the non-API entry points being closed off upstream. The 1.5.x patches since are narrow crash fixes, which reads as consolidation before the 2.0.0 break.
◆ Prediction
Expect 2.0.0 to land the stable C/C++ API behind a C++20 toolchain floor, with more of the existing function surface threaded in the interim. The package has announced both moves in its own release notes.
constants
0.0ANALYTICS
The R package for CODATA constants rebuilt its symbol table on NIST's naming so future updates stop being hand work.
◆ Current state
constants exposes the CODATA recommended values of the physical constants to R, as a data frame plus symbol lists that carry units, uncertainties, or both. The package reached 1.0.0 on the 2018 CODATA release and has shipped once since, purely to track a units package update. Its surface is small and its release cadence is bound to CODATA, which revises every few years.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction set at 1.0.0 was to stop being a curated convenience wrapper and become a mechanical mirror of NIST. Hand-crafted symbol names were replaced with NIST's own ASCII symbols, categories adopted NIST's, and uncertainty switched from relative to absolute — all framed by the maintainer as necessary to make future CODATA updates routine. On top of that the package gained a correlation matrix and optional integration with the quantities package, moving it from a lookup table toward something that can propagate uncertainty.
◆ Prediction
Having rebuilt the symbol table specifically so CODATA revisions become mechanical, the next substantive release most likely tracks a new CODATA dataset rather than adding API. The experimental correlated-value support, disabled by default at 1.0.0, is the one part these entries flag as unfinished.
Alternatives to cheapr and constants
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 cheapr or constants.
austraits
The R client for AusTraits spends its releases chasing the dataset it reads.
ggdemetra
A ggplot2 layer for seasonal adjustment output, filling in one plot type at a time.
fossilsim
A fossil-record simulator that quietly grew a trait-evolution engine.
tern.rbmi
Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.
tern.mmrm
An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.
See all cheapr alternatives → · See all constants alternatives →
Recent activity from cheapr and constants
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agocheaprrep_len_ crash on shrinking lengths fixed
- 4mo agocheaprNon-API R internals removed
- 4mo agocheaprParallelised math, thread control, and a C API rewrite ⚡
- 1y agocheaprSubsetting speedups; sset_col negative-index crash fixed
- 1y agocheaprdf_modify added; attribute helpers renamed for intent
- 1y agocheaprcounts and str_coalesce added; reconstruct renamed to rebuild
- 5y agoconstantsCompatibility fix for units 0.7-0
- 5y agoconstantsconstants 1.0.0 ⚡
- 8y agoconstantsUnit handling fixes ahead of the 1.0.0 rebuild
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cheapr and constants?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. cheapr and constants 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 cheapr better than constants?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. cheapr and constants 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 cheapr?
Top cheapr alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "cheapr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/cheapr-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to constants?
Top constants alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "constants alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/constants-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.