paleobuddy
paleobuddy can now simulate trait-dependent diversification, not just birth-death.
Comparison · Analytics
EvoPhylo vs timeplyr
A side-by-side editorial comparison of EvoPhylo and timeplyr — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
EvoPhylo vs timeplyr: at a glance
What is EvoPhylo?
EvoPhylo added BEAST2 alongside MrBayes, then went quiet for two years.
EvoPhylo handles post-processing for Bayesian evolutionary rate and fossilized birth-death analyses, originally against MrBayes output. The 0.3.2 release added BEAST2 support for both FBD functions and rates analysis, making it usable by labs on either platform. Since then there has been one clock-partition fix and, in August 2025, a release whose notes say only that there are updated functions and bug fixes.
What is timeplyr?
timeplyr cut everything that wasn't time, then rebuilt intervals as fixed-width vectors.
timeplyr is a time-aware companion to dplyr and data.table, built around a fixed-width time_interval vector class. The 1.0.0 rewrite removed most non-time functions and pushed the C++ layer out into the separate cheapr package, leaving a narrower surface than the 0.8.x line. Releases since have been small: one feature batch in 1.1.1 and a pair of bug fixes in 1.1.2.
EvoPhylo vs timeplyr: editorial side-by-side
EvoPhylo
0.0ANALYTICS
EvoPhylo added BEAST2 alongside MrBayes, then went quiet for two years.
◆ Current state
EvoPhylo handles post-processing for Bayesian evolutionary rate and fossilized birth-death analyses, originally against MrBayes output. The 0.3.2 release added BEAST2 support for both FBD functions and rates analysis, making it usable by labs on either platform. Since then there has been one clock-partition fix and, in August 2025, a release whose notes say only that there are updated functions and bug fixes.
◆ Where it's heading
The package's substantive arc ended with the 0.3.2 publication release, which arrived with peer-review revisions and three first-time contributors — the shape of software built to accompany a paper. What follows is thin: a MrBayes plotting correction in 0.3.3, then a two-year gap and a release with no described contents. The August 2025 entry may contain real work, but the notes give a reader nothing to judge.
◆ Prediction
Without release notes on the latest version there is no observable basis for predicting the next move; the two-year gap before it suggests activity tied to specific research needs rather than a maintenance cadence.
timeplyr
0.0ANALYTICS
timeplyr cut everything that wasn't time, then rebuilt intervals as fixed-width vectors.
◆ Current state
timeplyr is a time-aware companion to dplyr and data.table, built around a fixed-width time_interval vector class. The 1.0.0 rewrite removed most non-time functions and pushed the C++ layer out into the separate cheapr package, leaving a narrower surface than the 0.8.x line. Releases since have been small: one feature batch in 1.1.1 and a pair of bug fixes in 1.1.2.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc is consolidation, not expansion. Each release since 1.0.0 trims arguments, renames functions toward a single vocabulary (width, timespan, grid), or fixes an interaction with data.table's own rolling functions. The package increasingly acts as a thin time layer over cheapr and data.table rather than carrying its own implementation.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued small releases tracking cheapr and data.table changes rather than new function families; the entries show no in-progress feature work beyond the ggplot2-friendly breakpoint helpers introduced in 1.1.1.
Alternatives to EvoPhylo and timeplyr
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 EvoPhylo or timeplyr.
geodist
geodist stays dependency-free and fast, and warns you when 'cheap' distances stop being honest.
errors
errors keeps making uncertainty print the way each scientific field expects.
CMAQ
CMAQ went global in v5.5, and has been patching that surface ever since.
enpls
enpls has not changed its statistics since 2016 — only its website, twice.
grex
grex is a lookup table with a version number — it ships when the annotation moves.
See all EvoPhylo alternatives → · See all timeplyr alternatives →
Recent activity from EvoPhylo and timeplyr
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agotimeplyrLeap-day and time_complete(.by=) bug fixes
- 10mo agotimeplyrtime_breakpoints added; rolling calcs realigned to data.table
- 11mo agoEvoPhyloEvoPhylo v. 0.3.5
- 1y agotimeplyrFixed-width time intervals; non-time functions removed ⚡
- 1y agotimeplyrtime_intervals on by default; year_month/year_quarter ggplot2 scales
- 2y agotimeplyrRegression fixes after the 0.8.0 refactor
- 2y agotimeplyrC++ layer moved to cheapr; time_interval class introduced
- 3y agoEvoPhyloEvoPhylo 0.3.3 fixes back-rate plots for MrBayes
- 3y agoEvoPhyloEvoPhylo 0.3.2 adds BEAST2 support for FBD and rates
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between EvoPhylo and timeplyr?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. EvoPhylo and timeplyr 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 EvoPhylo better than timeplyr?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. EvoPhylo and timeplyr 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 EvoPhylo?
Top EvoPhylo alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "EvoPhylo alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/evophylo for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to timeplyr?
Top timeplyr alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "timeplyr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/timeplyr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.