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Comparison · Analytics
epidemics vs ReLTER
A side-by-side editorial comparison of epidemics and ReLTER — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
epidemics vs ReLTER: at a glance
What is epidemics?
epidemics swapped its C++ engine for odin — and quietly inverted how contact matrices must be passed.
epidemics ships composable compartmental model structures — default SEIR-V, Vacamole, diphtheria and Ebola — with classes for populations, interventions and vaccination campaigns. After more than two years without a release, 0.5.0 landed in July 2026 carrying both an engine migration and a breaking input-convention change. Maintainership moved to a new lead back in 0.4.0.
What is ReLTER?
An interface to Europe's long-term ecosystem research network that went quiet after 2.0.
ReLTER provides programmatic access to the eLTER network — the European long-term ecosystem research infrastructure — pulling site metadata, datasets and activities from DEIMS-SDR and enriching them with taxonomic resolution via PESI and WORMS and raster layers from European OpenDataScience. Version 1.0.0 consolidated the function surface and passed into rOpenSci review; 1.1.0 addressed the reviewers' feedback and added vignettes and a Docker install path. Version 2.0.0 was tagged in late 2022 with release notes consisting only of a merge commit message, and nothing has shipped since.
epidemics vs ReLTER: editorial side-by-side
epidemics
3.8ANALYTICS
epidemics swapped its C++ engine for odin — and quietly inverted how contact matrices must be passed.
◆ Current state
epidemics ships composable compartmental model structures — default SEIR-V, Vacamole, diphtheria and Ebola — with classes for populations, interventions and vaccination campaigns. After more than two years without a release, 0.5.0 landed in July 2026 carrying both an engine migration and a breaking input-convention change. Maintainership moved to a new lead back in 0.4.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The package's history is a sequence of deliberate breaking releases: 0.2.0 renamed every model function and vectorised the ODE models, 0.3.0 restructured the Ebola model into two levels and made replicates the default, and 0.5.0 rewrites the compiled core. The direction is toward a smaller, more declarative model definition layer with the numerical work delegated to a dedicated tool.
◆ Prediction
With the default, Vacamole and diphtheria systems now declared in odin, the Ebola model is the obvious remaining candidate for the same treatment.
ReLTER
0.0ANALYTICS
An interface to Europe's long-term ecosystem research network that went quiet after 2.0.
◆ Current state
ReLTER provides programmatic access to the eLTER network — the European long-term ecosystem research infrastructure — pulling site metadata, datasets and activities from DEIMS-SDR and enriching them with taxonomic resolution via PESI and WORMS and raster layers from European OpenDataScience. Version 1.0.0 consolidated the function surface and passed into rOpenSci review; 1.1.0 addressed the reviewers' feedback and added vignettes and a Docker install path. Version 2.0.0 was tagged in late 2022 with release notes consisting only of a merge commit message, and nothing has shipped since.
◆ Where it's heading
The visible arc runs from a scattered set of getSite* functions to a reviewed, documented package, and then stops. The absence of notes on the 2.0.0 tag makes it impossible to say from this feed what that major version changed, and the three-year silence afterwards is the more informative signal. What the package does remains useful — the eLTER data it wraps has no other R interface — but the release history gives no evidence of active development.
◆ Prediction
Nothing in these entries supports a confident prediction about future releases; the feed shows a major version with no notes followed by silence. Whether the package is dormant or simply publishing releases elsewhere cannot be determined from what is here.
Alternatives to epidemics and ReLTER
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 epidemics or ReLTER.
maplegend
The legend engine mapsf spun out, now covering legend types the parent map package can draw.
lang
R help pages translated on demand by whichever LLM you point it at.
mapsf
Thematic mapping in base R that finally got a theming system, then spent two years polishing legends.
qualtRics
qualtRics moved its contact functions onto XM Directory days before the old endpoints died.
fabletools
The tidyverts forecasting core rebuilt model combination on full residual covariance.
See all epidemics alternatives → · See all ReLTER alternatives →
Recent activity from epidemics and ReLTER
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 25d agoepidemicsODE models migrate to odin; contact matrices must no longer be transposed ⚡
- 2y agoepidemicsPeak timing and scenario comparison helpers; negative-susceptible bug fixed
- 2y agoepidemicsEbola model accepts vector inputs and defaults to 100 replicates
- 2y agoepidemicsODE models vectorised; every model function renamed
- 2y agoepidemicsFirst release: four composable compartmental model structures
- 3y agoReLTERReLTER an Interface for the 'eLTER' Community v2.0.0
- 4y agoReLTERReLTER v1.1.0
- 4y agoReLTERReLTER v1.0.0 ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between epidemics and ReLTER?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. epidemics is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 3.8 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is epidemics better than ReLTER?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. epidemics is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 3.8 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to epidemics?
Top epidemics alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "epidemics alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/epidemics for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ReLTER?
Top ReLTER alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ReLTER alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/relter for the full list with editorial commentary on each.