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Comparison · Infra & APIs
estimatr vs legendry
A side-by-side editorial comparison of estimatr and legendry — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
estimatr vs legendry: at a glance
What is estimatr?
Fast design-based estimators for experiments, coasting on CRAN patches.
estimatr provides the design-based regression estimators the DeclareDesign ecosystem is built on — robust and cluster-robust standard errors, blocked and clustered randomization inference — implemented for speed rather than generality. The last three releases carry no substantive notes: each is a merge commit for a CRAN patch, one of them accompanied by a typo fix.
What is legendry?
A ggplot2 extension quietly turning axes and legends into a place where other plots can live.
legendry extends ggplot2's guide system, letting axes and legends be composed from primitives and keys rather than accepted as given. The most recent release added guides for user-defined keys, upset matrices, arbitrary symbol placement, freeform annotations, and side-plots attached to an axis, plus a run-length-encoded range key and subtitles on custom axes. Between feature releases the package ships small patches, several of them tracking ggplot2's own changes.
estimatr vs legendry: editorial side-by-side
estimatr
0.0INFRA · APIS
Fast design-based estimators for experiments, coasting on CRAN patches.
◆ Current state
estimatr provides the design-based regression estimators the DeclareDesign ecosystem is built on — robust and cluster-robust standard errors, blocked and clustered randomization inference — implemented for speed rather than generality. The last three releases carry no substantive notes: each is a merge commit for a CRAN patch, one of them accompanied by a typo fix.
◆ Where it's heading
Direction cannot be read from this feed. The release notes are unedited merge-commit messages, so the only signal is cadence — roughly annual, each release framed as a CRAN patch rather than as feature work. That pattern is consistent with a package whose estimators are considered finished and which now moves only when CRAN policy requires it.
◆ Prediction
On the evidence here the next release is another CRAN compliance patch, but the notes are too thin to support a confident read of what the maintainers are actually working on.
legendry
0.0INFRA · APIS
A ggplot2 extension quietly turning axes and legends into a place where other plots can live.
◆ Current state
legendry extends ggplot2's guide system, letting axes and legends be composed from primitives and keys rather than accepted as given. The most recent release added guides for user-defined keys, upset matrices, arbitrary symbol placement, freeform annotations, and side-plots attached to an axis, plus a run-length-encoded range key and subtitles on custom axes. Between feature releases the package ships small patches, several of them tracking ggplot2's own changes.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is toward treating a guide as a rendering slot rather than a label strip. Dendrogram scales arrived in 0.2.0 with a matching axis guide; the newest release adds side-plots and upset symbol matrices to the same position. Each of these puts real graphical content where an axis used to be, and each one ships with a key function so the composition stays user-controllable. Note that this feed's order is unreliable: 0.2.1 was published eight months after 0.2.4 and minutes before 0.3.0, so neither version numbers nor timestamps indicate release order here.
◆ Prediction
The pattern of pairing each new guide with a matching key function is consistent enough that the next feature release will likely follow it again; the recurring forwards-compatibility patches also suggest another ggplot2-tracking release whenever upstream moves.
Alternatives to estimatr and legendry
Other Infra & APIs 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 estimatr or legendry.
WPML
WPML made machine translation the default, and its point releases keep chasing WordPress and page builders.
forestploter
A forest plot package that keeps handing users control of one more graphical detail.
ggInterval
Interval-valued data plotting, spending 2026 making its function names and examples survive CRAN.
rgm
A microbiome network model that got itself un-archived by deleting the dependency that killed it.
contagionchannels
Three releases in ten days, every one of them a CRAN reviewer's correction rather than a code change.
See all estimatr alternatives → · See all legendry alternatives →
Recent activity from estimatr and legendry
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3mo agolegendryFive new guides, including side-plots and upset matrices on axes
- 3mo agolegendryPatch release: guide placement, sizing and gizmo key fixes
- 11mo agolegendryCRAN fix for undeclared S7 imports
- 11mo agolegendryColourbar sizing fix; sandwich guides gain label suppression
- 1y agolegendryForwards-compatibility patch for an upcoming ggplot2 release
- 1y agoestimatrCRAN version 1.0.4
- 1y agolegendryDendrogram scales and axis guide, plus a circle size guide
- 2y agoestimatrCRAN version 1.0.2
- 3y agoestimatrCRAN version 1.0.0
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between estimatr and legendry?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Infra & APIs. estimatr and legendry 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 estimatr better than legendry?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. estimatr and legendry 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to estimatr?
Top estimatr alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "estimatr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/estimatr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to legendry?
Top legendry alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "legendry alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/legendry for the full list with editorial commentary on each.