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cheapr vs ggstatsplot

A side-by-side editorial comparison of cheapr and ggstatsplot — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:r-package

cheapr vs ggstatsplot: at a glance

Featurecheaprggstatsplot
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesperformance, parallelism, simd, c-apistatistical-plots, ggplot2, contingency-tables, hypothesis-testing
Last editorial update1h ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

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.

Read the full cheapr trajectory →

What is ggstatsplot?

ggstatsplot reached 1.0 by adding tests, having outsourced its statistics years ago.

ggstatsplot produces ggplot2 graphics with statistical test results embedded in the subtitle and caption — comparisons, correlations, contingency tables, histograms. Since the 2019 refactoring that moved all statistical computation into the separate statsExpressions package, its own release notes have been dominated by upstream tracking: adapting to ggplot2, dplyr, purrr and easystats changes. The 1.0.0 release in April 2026 breaks that run with real additions to the contingency-table functions.

Read the full ggstatsplot trajectory →

cheapr vs ggstatsplot: editorial side-by-side

C
cheapr
ANALYTICS
0.0

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.

G
ggstatsplot
ANALYTICS
0.0

ggstatsplot reached 1.0 by adding tests, having outsourced its statistics years ago.

◆ Current state

ggstatsplot produces ggplot2 graphics with statistical test results embedded in the subtitle and caption — comparisons, correlations, contingency tables, histograms. Since the 2019 refactoring that moved all statistical computation into the separate statsExpressions package, its own release notes have been dominated by upstream tracking: adapting to ggplot2, dplyr, purrr and easystats changes. The 1.0.0 release in April 2026 breaks that run with real additions to the contingency-table functions.

◆ Where it's heading

The architecture explains the cadence. With statistics living in statsExpressions, ggstatsplot's own releases are mostly the tax of sitting on top of a fast-moving plotting and tidyverse stack — five of the six most recent entries change nothing a user would notice. When substantive work does arrive it clusters in the plotting layer's coverage of test families, as in 1.0.0's one-sample goodness-of-fit support and pairwise contingency analyses. The maintainer is also visibly deliberate about scope, having removed the normality-curve overlay in 0.12.4 for being unrelated to the analysis in question.

◆ Prediction

Expect continued parity work across the plot family — features that exist in one function being extended to its siblings, as goodness-of-fit support moved from ggpiestats to ggbarstats — punctuated by maintenance releases tracking ggplot2 and easystats.

Alternatives to cheapr and ggstatsplot

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 ggstatsplot.

See all cheapr alternatives → · See all ggstatsplot alternatives →

Recent activity from cheapr and ggstatsplot

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 1mo agocheaprrep_len_ crash on shrinking lengths fixed
  2. 3mo agoggstatsplotPairwise contingency tests and one-sample goodness-of-fit
  3. 4mo agoggstatsplotInternal maintenance only
  4. 4mo agocheaprNon-API R internals removed
  5. 4mo agocheaprParallelised math, thread control, and a C API rewrite
  6. 6mo agoggstatsplotAdapted to dplyr 1.2.0 and purrr 1.2.1
  7. 8mo agoggstatsplotContributor list updated in DESCRIPTION
  8. 10mo agoggstatsplotSecondary axis label parsing fixed in gghistostats
  9. 11mo agoggstatsplotAdapted to the latest ggplot2 release
  10. 1y agocheaprSubsetting speedups; sset_col negative-index crash fixed
  11. 1y agocheaprdf_modify added; attribute helpers renamed for intent
  12. 1y agocheaprcounts and str_coalesce added; reconstruct renamed to rebuild

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cheapr and ggstatsplot?

Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. cheapr and ggstatsplot 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 ggstatsplot?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. cheapr and ggstatsplot 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 ggstatsplot?

Top ggstatsplot alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ggstatsplot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ggstatsplot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.