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fabletools vs mapsf

A side-by-side editorial comparison of fabletools and mapsf — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:r-package

fabletools vs mapsf: at a glance

Featurefabletoolsmapsf
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesforecasting, tidyverts, model-combination, reconciliationcartography, thematic-maps, spatial, base-graphics
Last editorial update1h ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is fabletools?

The tidyverts forecasting core rebuilt model combination on full residual covariance.

fabletools is the framework layer under fable and fpp3 — mables, fables, accuracy measures, reconciliation, and the model arithmetic that lets forecasters express ensembles as expressions. Version 0.8.0 reworked that arithmetic: combination now uses a joint N-way convolution accounting for the full residual covariance across components rather than composing pairwise, and every arithmetic operator collapses to a single model_combination with correctly implied weights, so nested expressions like ((m1 + m2)/2 + m3)/2 flatten automatically. In parallel, the package has been shedding graphics to {ggtime} on a deliberately slow deprecation clock.

Read the full fabletools trajectory →

What is mapsf?

Thematic mapping in base R that finally got a theming system, then spent two years polishing legends.

mapsf produces thematic maps on R's base graphics device — choropleths, proportional symbols, typology maps, rasters, and their combinations, with legends, scale bars, north arrows, and insets as composable elements. Version 1.0.0 was the structural release, introducing a theming system that deprecated eight scattered styling arguments and adding mf_png() and mf_svg() export helpers plus alpha transparency across map types. The 1.1.x and 1.2.x line since then has been steady refinement: background and extent control on the drawing functions, decimal and thousands-separator control in legends, and label placement arguments.

Read the full mapsf trajectory →

fabletools vs mapsf: editorial side-by-side

F
fabletools
ANALYTICS
0.0

The tidyverts forecasting core rebuilt model combination on full residual covariance.

◆ Current state

fabletools is the framework layer under fable and fpp3 — mables, fables, accuracy measures, reconciliation, and the model arithmetic that lets forecasters express ensembles as expressions. Version 0.8.0 reworked that arithmetic: combination now uses a joint N-way convolution accounting for the full residual covariance across components rather than composing pairwise, and every arithmetic operator collapses to a single model_combination with correctly implied weights, so nested expressions like ((m1 + m2)/2 + m3)/2 flatten automatically. In parallel, the package has been shedding graphics to {ggtime} on a deliberately slow deprecation clock.

◆ Where it's heading

The framework is being narrowed and deepened at the same time. Narrowed, because plotting is moving out to a dedicated package over an announced two-year deprecation, leaving fabletools to modeling infrastructure. Deepened, because the recent statistical work targets correctness in places users could not easily inspect — combination weights, inverse-variance weighting computed on response rather than innovation residuals, reconciliation coherency matrices exposed via coherent_smat() and coherent_cmat(). Class hygiene follows the same instinct, with mdl_lst replacing lst_mdl and gaining augment(), glance(), and tidy() so global and reconciliation models report statistics like any other.

◆ Prediction

With combination and reconciliation infrastructure freshly reworked, the remaining announced work is the ggtime separation, so expect the graphics re-exports to keep degrading toward removal while modeling changes stay incremental.

M
mapsf
ANALYTICS
0.0

Thematic mapping in base R that finally got a theming system, then spent two years polishing legends.

◆ Current state

mapsf produces thematic maps on R's base graphics device — choropleths, proportional symbols, typology maps, rasters, and their combinations, with legends, scale bars, north arrows, and insets as composable elements. Version 1.0.0 was the structural release, introducing a theming system that deprecated eight scattered styling arguments and adding mf_png() and mf_svg() export helpers plus alpha transparency across map types. The 1.1.x and 1.2.x line since then has been steady refinement: background and extent control on the drawing functions, decimal and thousands-separator control in legends, and label placement arguments.

◆ Where it's heading

The package has been consolidating control into fewer, more consistent places. Legend handling moved out to the maplegend package in 0.8.0 and the per-element mf_legend_* functions were deprecated in favor of arguments on the map calls themselves; theming replaced ad-hoc style arguments in 1.0.0; and recent releases keep propagating the same argument vocabulary — bg, extent, leg_val_rnd, leg_val_dec, leg_val_big — across every function that should accept it. Determinism is a visible concern too, with 1.2.1 fixing a seed so mf_distr() point positions stop moving between runs.

◆ Prediction

The recent releases are almost entirely argument-parity work across existing functions, so expect that to continue until the vocabulary is uniform rather than any new map type appearing.

Alternatives to fabletools and mapsf

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 fabletools or mapsf.

See all fabletools alternatives → · See all mapsf alternatives →

Recent activity from fabletools and mapsf

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 1mo agofabletoolsModel combination rebuilt on joint N-way convolution
  2. 1mo agomapsfLabel placement arguments and deterministic distribution plots
  3. 2mo agomapsfBackground and extent control across the drawing functions
  4. 3mo agofabletoolsCoherency matrices exposed, mdl_lst gains tidier methods
  5. 5mo agofabletoolsGraphics methods now require fabletools to be attached
  6. 6mo agofabletoolsTime series graphics migrating out to ggtime
  7. 7mo agomapsfPNG resolution control and legend number formatting
  8. 8mo agofabletoolsggplot2 4.0.0 compatibility patch
  9. 8mo agofabletoolsIRF() generic and multivariate bootstrap sample paths
  10. 1y agomapsf1.0.0 introduces theming and deprecates eight style arguments
  11. 1y agomapsfPencil-sketch layers, ckmeans breaks, and border extraction
  12. 2y agomapsfGraticule label display fix

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between fabletools and mapsf?

Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. fabletools and mapsf 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 fabletools better than mapsf?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. fabletools and mapsf 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 fabletools?

Top fabletools alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fabletools alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fabletools for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to mapsf?

Top mapsf alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "mapsf alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mapsf for the full list with editorial commentary on each.