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Comparison · Analytics
EpiNow2 vs textplot
A side-by-side editorial comparison of EpiNow2 and textplot — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
EpiNow2 vs textplot: at a glance
What is EpiNow2?
EpiNow2 unified its model interface, then went back to deepen the estimators behind it
EpiNow2 estimates reproduction numbers, infections and delay distributions from incomplete epidemiological reporting data. 1.8.0 was the structural turning point: every main modelling function now returns a consistent S3 object with `fit`, `args` and `observations`, reachable through shared accessors. The releases either side of it work on estimator quality — accumulation of irregularly reported data in 1.7.0, and a substantial expansion of `estimate_truncation()` in 1.9.0.
What is textplot?
A bnosac plotting utility in maintenance mode, shipping once every few years
textplot is the visualisation member of the bnosac NLP family, providing plot methods for dependency parses, biterm topic clusters, co-occurrence graphs, correlation lines and word embeddings. The function surface has been stable since 0.2.0 added textplot_embedding_2d in 2021. The 2026 release touches only documentation links and a vignette guard.
EpiNow2 vs textplot: editorial side-by-side
EpiNow2
0.0ANALYTICS
EpiNow2 unified its model interface, then went back to deepen the estimators behind it
◆ Current state
EpiNow2 estimates reproduction numbers, infections and delay distributions from incomplete epidemiological reporting data. 1.8.0 was the structural turning point: every main modelling function now returns a consistent S3 object with `fit`, `args` and `observations`, reachable through shared accessors. The releases either side of it work on estimator quality — accumulation of irregularly reported data in 1.7.0, and a substantial expansion of `estimate_truncation()` in 1.9.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The package spent this window paying down interface debt and is now extending from the tidier base. Options that existed only for `estimate_infections()` have been propagated outward: `estimate_truncation()` gained the full `dist_spec` delay families, `obs_opts()` observation model selection between Poisson and negative binomial, and the `likelihood` and `return_likelihood` settings that make prior-only fits and loo-compatible output possible. Hardcoded assumptions are being replaced by specifiable ones in the same motion — the truncation model's additive noise term was a fixed `sigma ~ normal(0, 1)` prior and is now a `dist_spec` argument.
◆ Prediction
Expect the remaining modelling functions to keep converging on the shared options interface, since the last two releases have each moved another function onto it. A new `estimate_dist()` for interval-censored linelist data suggests delay estimation is the area still gaining surface.
textplot
0.0ANALYTICS
A bnosac plotting utility in maintenance mode, shipping once every few years
◆ Current state
textplot is the visualisation member of the bnosac NLP family, providing plot methods for dependency parses, biterm topic clusters, co-occurrence graphs, correlation lines and word embeddings. The function surface has been stable since 0.2.0 added textplot_embedding_2d in 2021. The 2026 release touches only documentation links and a vignette guard.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a settled package, not a developing one. Releases since 0.2.0 have been reactive: a topic-assignment bug, a layout argument, and now cleanup after the archival of a dependency it linked to. The cadence — four years between 0.2.2 and 0.2.3 — tracks CRAN housekeeping on the wider bnosac stack rather than any roadmap of its own.
◆ Prediction
Expect the same pattern: the next release will most likely be another CRAN-compliance pass triggered by a change in udpipe, BTM or another sibling package, rather than a new textplot_* function.
Alternatives to EpiNow2 and textplot
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 EpiNow2 or textplot.
epikit
epikit narrows to field-epidemiology helpers, handing proportions to a sibling package
SimInf
SimInf 10.0 turns an epidemic simulator into a tool that fits models to real time series
mutagen
A young package porting Stata's egen row-wise helpers to the tidyverse, one function per release
broman
A statistician's personal toolbox, growing one plotting utility at a time
qtl
R/qtl is in pure custodial mode: every recent release answers a compiler, not a user
See all EpiNow2 alternatives → · See all textplot alternatives →
Recent activity from EpiNow2 and textplot
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agoEpiNow2estimate_truncation gains full delay and observation options
- 6mo agoEpiNow2Unified return objects and shared accessors across all models ⚡
- 6mo agotextplotDrop link to archived ggalt, guard vignette model download
- 1y agoEpiNow2Patch for an upstream rstan issue
- 1y agoEpiNow2Accumulation for irregularly reported data; unified priors
- 1y agoEpiNow2Matern kernel spectral density fix and GP prior revert
- 1y agoEpiNow2Gaussian Process model improvements and explicit defaults
- 4y agotextplotDependency-parse plots gain a layout argument
- 4y agotextplotFix biterm topic assignment in cluster plots
- 4y agotextplotAdds 2D embedding plots
- 5y agotextplotMake example conditional on udpipe availability
- 6y agotextplotPlot functions become generic; igraph moved to Suggests
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between EpiNow2 and textplot?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. EpiNow2 and textplot 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 EpiNow2 better than textplot?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. EpiNow2 and textplot 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 EpiNow2?
Top EpiNow2 alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "EpiNow2 alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/epinow2 for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to textplot?
Top textplot alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "textplot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/textplot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.