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fabletools vs osmextract

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

fabletools vs osmextract: at a glance

Featurefabletoolsosmextract
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesforecasting, tidyverts, model-combination, reconciliationopenstreetmap, geospatial, r-language, gdal
Last editorial update1h ago42m 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 osmextract?

osmextract stopped throwing your OpenStreetMap downloads away at the end of every session.

osmextract downloads OpenStreetMap extracts from Geofabrik, BBBike and openstreetmap.fr and translates them into sf objects via GDAL. The 0.6.0 release moved its download cache from `tempdir()` to a persistent `tools::R_user_dir()` location and raised the R floor to 4.1.0 to get it. It also made spatial `place` inputs self-clipping: pass an sf or bbox object and the boundary is now set to match, so only the relevant slice of a country-sized extract is processed.

Read the full osmextract trajectory →

fabletools vs osmextract: 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.

O
osmextract
ANALYTICS
0.0

osmextract stopped throwing your OpenStreetMap downloads away at the end of every session.

◆ Current state

osmextract downloads OpenStreetMap extracts from Geofabrik, BBBike and openstreetmap.fr and translates them into sf objects via GDAL. The 0.6.0 release moved its download cache from `tempdir()` to a persistent `tools::R_user_dir()` location and raised the R floor to 4.1.0 to get it. It also made spatial `place` inputs self-clipping: pass an sf or bbox object and the boundary is now set to match, so only the relevant slice of a country-sized extract is processed.

◆ Where it's heading

Two threads run through every release. One is chasing GDAL — SQL syntax adjusted for 3.10, ogr2ogr options fixed for 3.9, and an `osmconf.ini` that 0.6.0 finally keeps automatically in sync with whatever sf or GDAL provides rather than shipping a snapshot. The other is the road-network extraction added experimentally in 0.3.1, which has been quietly accumulating real routing semantics since: `access = no` links retained when the mode-specific tag permits them, a `oneway` column by default for driving, and `motor_vehicle` always included.

◆ Prediction

Given that `oe_get_network()` has gained transport-mode detail in three separate releases while remaining flagged as experimental, the next substantive work is most likely there — either more modes or a formal exit from experimental status.

Alternatives to fabletools and osmextract

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 osmextract.

See all fabletools alternatives → · See all osmextract alternatives →

Recent activity from fabletools and osmextract

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

  1. 1mo agofabletoolsModel combination rebuilt on joint N-way convolution
  2. 3mo agofabletoolsCoherency matrices exposed, mdl_lst gains tidier methods
  3. 4mo agoosmextractDownloads move to a persistent cache outside tempdir
  4. 5mo agofabletoolsGraphics methods now require fabletools to be attached
  5. 6mo agofabletoolsTime series graphics migrating out to ggtime
  6. 8mo agofabletoolsggplot2 4.0.0 compatibility patch
  7. 8mo agofabletoolsIRF() generic and multivariate bootstrap sample paths
  8. 1y agoosmextractoe_match gains a version argument for historical extracts
  9. 1y agoosmextractRouting semantics sharpen for driving and restricted-access links
  10. 2y agoosmextract51 new openstreetmap.fr regions and a GDAL 3.9 fix
  11. 3y agoosmextractNon-Geofabrik downloads were saved under the wrong filename
  12. 3y agoosmextractHelp files regenerated for valid HTML5

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between fabletools and osmextract?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. fabletools and osmextract 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 osmextract?

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

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