tidytlg
A tables-listings-graphs package that reached CRAN and then went quiet.
Comparison · Analytics
crul vs serofoi
A side-by-side editorial comparison of crul and serofoi — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
crul vs serofoi: at a glance
What is crul?
crul took mocking back from webmockr and made it a property of the client itself
crul is the R6-based HTTP client underneath much of rOpenSci's package stack, covering synchronous requests, three flavours of async, pagination and retries. Its 1.6.0 release in July 2025 changed where test mocking lives: each client — HttpClient, Async, AsyncVaried — now takes a mocking parameter at initialisation or per method, and the standalone mock() function is deprecated. Mocking used to be something webmockr switched on from outside; it is now a setting on the client.
What is serofoi?
serofoi grew a serosurvey simulator alongside the force-of-infection models it was built to fit.
serofoi estimates the force of infection from serological survey data using Bayesian serocatalytic models fitted through Stan. Beyond fitting it now simulates serosurveys — specifying a model and a survey design and generating the data such a survey would produce. The most recent release is visualisation and naming work.
crul vs serofoi: editorial side-by-side
crul
0.0ANALYTICS
crul took mocking back from webmockr and made it a property of the client itself
◆ Current state
crul is the R6-based HTTP client underneath much of rOpenSci's package stack, covering synchronous requests, three flavours of async, pagination and retries. Its 1.6.0 release in July 2025 changed where test mocking lives: each client — HttpClient, Async, AsyncVaried — now takes a mocking parameter at initialisation or per method, and the standalone mock() function is deprecated. Mocking used to be something webmockr switched on from outside; it is now a setting on the client.
◆ Where it's heading
The async surface has been the growth area for years — retries reached Async, AsyncVaried, AsyncQueue and HttpRequest in 1.4, AsyncQueue gained the response accessors in 1.2, and 1.5.0 wired async requests up to webmockr. The 1.6.0 change reverses that direction of dependency, and it landed within a minute of webmockr's own release severing its tie to vcr. Read together, the rOpenSci HTTP stack is being deliberately untangled so each package can be used without the others.
◆ Prediction
With mock() deprecated rather than removed, the next major release is the likely point of deletion. Expect the remaining work to follow the same decoupling theme rather than adding request features.
serofoi
0.0ANALYTICS
serofoi grew a serosurvey simulator alongside the force-of-infection models it was built to fit.
◆ Current state
serofoi estimates the force of infection from serological survey data using Bayesian serocatalytic models fitted through Stan. Beyond fitting it now simulates serosurveys — specifying a model and a survey design and generating the data such a survey would produce. The most recent release is visualisation and naming work.
◆ Where it's heading
The package moved from fitting-only to a fit-and-simulate pair. 0.1.0 added simulation from time- or age-varying force-of-infection trends and simplified the fitted object down to a Stan fit; 1.0.2 broadened simulation into full serosurvey generation with its own vignette. 1.0.3 then spent its effort on naming consistency and plotting options, which is what a package does once its scope is set.
◆ Prediction
With simulation and fitting both in place, the natural next step is tooling that closes the loop between them — recovery checks or study-design guidance built on simulated surveys.
Alternatives to crul and serofoi
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 crul or serofoi.
Tplyr
Tplyr made clinical summary tables explain where every number came from.
rlistings
Clinical listings that keep inheriting their hardest problem — pagination — from the layer below.
hoardr
A cache-directory helper that has shipped nothing but CRAN-triggered patches for seven years.
gigs
gigs redesigned its whole conversion API for rOpenSci, then spent three releases getting the docs to build.
riem
A weather-data client that keeps rewriting its HTTP layer while slowly tightening its API.
See all crul alternatives → · See all serofoi alternatives →
Recent activity from crul and serofoi
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1y agocrulMocking becomes a client parameter, independent of webmockr ⚡
- 1y agoserofoiConstant FoI plots, r-hat plotting and shorter parameter names
- 1y agoserofoiSerological surveys can now be simulated end to end
- 2y agocrulAsync requests become mockable through webmockr
- 2y agoserofoiSimulation functions added; fitted output simplified to a Stan fit
- 2y agocrulDocumentation fixes and test helper tweak
- 3y agoserofoiFirst release: three force-of-infection models and the core modules
- 3y agocrulHTTP retries reach the async classes
- 3y agocrulClearer error for mismatched urls and disk lengths
- 4y agocrulAsyncQueue gains response accessors; results print as a summary
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between crul and serofoi?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. crul and serofoi 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 crul better than serofoi?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. crul and serofoi 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 crul?
Top crul alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "crul alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/crul for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to serofoi?
Top serofoi alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "serofoi alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/serofoi for the full list with editorial commentary on each.