r2rtf
The clinical-report table engine learned Chinese, then learned to leave RTF entirely
Comparison · Analytics
cloudml vs forestly
A side-by-side editorial comparison of cloudml and forestly — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
cloudml vs forestly: at a glance
What is cloudml?
Six years since the last functional change, and Google renamed the service it wraps in the release before that
cloudml lets R users train keras, tfestimators and tensorflow models on Google's managed machine learning service, tune hyperparameters there, and deploy the results. Its last release with functional content was 0.6.1 in September 2019, which adapted to Google renaming the service from ml-engine to ai-platform. The only entry since is a 2025 documentation update made to satisfy CRAN.
What is forestly?
forestly built an interactive safety review tool, then taught it to produce submission-ready RTF.
forestly renders adverse-event forest plots as interactive reactable widgets — filterable by AE category, with sliders for incidence thresholds and a toggle for the risk-difference column. Version 0.1.3 added `rtf_static_forestly()` for static RTF output, and 0.1.4 has been about giving the display owner control over what reviewers see: the CSV download button, the AE filter label, and the diff toggle can each be switched off.
cloudml vs forestly: editorial side-by-side
cloudml
0.0ANALYTICS
Six years since the last functional change, and Google renamed the service it wraps in the release before that
◆ Current state
cloudml lets R users train keras, tfestimators and tensorflow models on Google's managed machine learning service, tune hyperparameters there, and deploy the results. Its last release with functional content was 0.6.1 in September 2019, which adapted to Google renaming the service from ml-engine to ai-platform. The only entry since is a 2025 documentation update made to satisfy CRAN.
◆ Where it's heading
The visible arc is short and stops abruptly. Releases through 2018 tracked the TensorFlow runtime version and patched packaging problems; 0.6.1 added a customCommands hook so users could run OS-level setup before package installation, and adjusted to the service's new name. Then nothing for six years. A 2025 release containing only documentation changes is the standard signal of a package being kept on CRAN rather than being developed.
◆ Prediction
There is nothing in this feed to support a prediction of functional work. The most likely next event is another CRAN-driven documentation patch, or archival.
forestly
0.0ANALYTICS
forestly built an interactive safety review tool, then taught it to produce submission-ready RTF.
◆ Current state
forestly renders adverse-event forest plots as interactive reactable widgets — filterable by AE category, with sliders for incidence thresholds and a toggle for the risk-difference column. Version 0.1.3 added `rtf_static_forestly()` for static RTF output, and 0.1.4 has been about giving the display owner control over what reviewers see: the CSV download button, the AE filter label, and the diff toggle can each be switched off.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc runs from a fixed interactive widget toward a configurable one with two output modes. Nearly every new argument in the last two releases exists to remove something from the display or relabel it, which suggests the users driving development are producing outputs for others to review under conventions they do not control. The x-axis range, column header, figure header and slider range arguments point the same way — this is a tool being fitted into standardised reporting rather than used ad hoc.
◆ Prediction
Given that the last two releases have consisted almost entirely of display-control arguments, the next is likely more of the same, applied to whichever parts of the interactive layout are still fixed.
Alternatives to cloudml and forestly
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 cloudml or forestly.
DoseFinding
New stewardship at openpharma, then two releases adding the methods MCP-Mod was missing
webmockr
The stubbing library added httr2 support, then spent a year cutting itself free of everything else
crul
crul took mocking back from webmockr and made it a property of the client itself
dendroNetwork
Six releases, six identical bodies — the feed carries the package abstract instead of release notes
chattr
chattr deleted every LLM integration it had written and outsourced the lot to ellmer
See all cloudml alternatives → · See all forestly alternatives →
Recent activity from cloudml and forestly
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5mo agoforestlyDownload button, AE filter label and diff toggle become optional
- 11mo agoforestlyStatic RTF forest plots join the interactive output ⚡
- 0y agocloudmlDocumentation updated for CRAN
- 1y agoforestlyreactR 0.6.0 rendering fix and slider label control
- 2y agoforestlyTreatment group selection and rough-edge fixes
- 3y agoforestlyFirst release on GitHub and CRAN
- 6y agocloudmlai-platform command adopted; custom pre-install commands added
- 7y agocloudmlDefault runtime moves to TensorFlow 1.9
- 8y agocloudmlPatch for CRAN results and a packrat error
- 8y agocloudmlCloud training, GPU jobs, tuning and deployment from R
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cloudml and forestly?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. cloudml and forestly 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 cloudml better than forestly?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. cloudml and forestly 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 cloudml?
Top cloudml alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "cloudml alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/cloudml for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to forestly?
Top forestly alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "forestly alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/forestly for the full list with editorial commentary on each.