mlr3proba
mlr3proba is shedding weight as its survival work moves into sibling packages
Comparison · Analytics
feasts vs workflows
A side-by-side editorial comparison of feasts and workflows — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
feasts vs workflows: at a glance
What is feasts?
feasts is splitting itself in two, moving every plot into ggtime
feasts provides feature extraction and statistics for tsibble time series. The last two releases are dominated by one decision: all of its gg_*() plotting functions are being moved out into a separate ggtime package. 0.4.2 announced the deprecation and 0.5.0 makes ggtime a dependency with soft-deprecation messages on every re-export.
What is workflows?
The tidymodels pipeline grew a third stage, and it happens after the model runs.
workflows bundles a preprocessor and a model into one object that tidymodels can fit, tune and extract from. Version 1.3.0 added a post stage backed by the tailor package, wired through every generic a workflow supports — augment, tidy, tunable, tune_args, required_pkgs and parameter extraction. Version 1.2.0 added sparse data support so fit() and predict() accept dgCMatrix and sparse tibbles. Earlier releases in view are boundary tightening: erroring on unknown model modes, on trained recipes, and on silently ignored formula offsets.
feasts vs workflows: editorial side-by-side
feasts
0.0ANALYTICS
feasts is splitting itself in two, moving every plot into ggtime
◆ Current state
feasts provides feature extraction and statistics for tsibble time series. The last two releases are dominated by one decision: all of its gg_*() plotting functions are being moved out into a separate ggtime package. 0.4.2 announced the deprecation and 0.5.0 makes ggtime a dependency with soft-deprecation messages on every re-export.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is narrowing to its stated purpose — features and statistics — and shedding graphics entirely over a deliberately slow two-year window. Everything else in the recent history is ggplot2 compatibility work and narrow seasonal-plot bug fixes, which is consistent with a maintainer trimming surface area rather than growing it.
◆ Prediction
The next releases should be compatibility upkeep while the ggtime deprecation runs its course; the re-exports stay until the announced window closes.
workflows
0.0ANALYTICS
The tidymodels pipeline grew a third stage, and it happens after the model runs.
◆ Current state
workflows bundles a preprocessor and a model into one object that tidymodels can fit, tune and extract from. Version 1.3.0 added a post stage backed by the tailor package, wired through every generic a workflow supports — augment, tidy, tunable, tune_args, required_pkgs and parameter extraction. Version 1.2.0 added sparse data support so fit() and predict() accept dgCMatrix and sparse tibbles. Earlier releases in view are boundary tightening: erroring on unknown model modes, on trained recipes, and on silently ignored formula offsets.
◆ Where it's heading
The object is filling out into a complete pipeline description rather than a preprocessing-plus-model pair. Postprocessing is the structural addition — calibration and threshold selection were previously done by hand after prediction, outside anything tidymodels could tune or record — and the fact that it arrived integrated with tunable() and tune_args() rather than as a standalone step is the point. The rest of the arc is the steady tidymodels habit of converting silent guesses into errors.
◆ Prediction
Expect tailor postprocessors to spread through tune and workflowsets next, since the parameter and tuning generics were wired up first, and expect sparse support to extend to more engines after lightgbm.
Alternatives to feasts and workflows
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 feasts or workflows.
mlr3viz
mlr3viz keeps the ecosystem's plots working while the plots themselves move out
mlr3tuning
mlr3tuning is rebuilding its async machinery under a stable public surface
timetk
timetk swallowed anomalize whole, then went quiet for two years
modelbased
modelbased is turning marginal effects into a full contrast grammar
parameters
easystats' parameters package absorbs one more model class every few weeks
See all feasts alternatives → · See all workflows alternatives →
Recent activity from feasts and workflows
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 6mo agofeastsfeasts moves its plots to ggtime behind a 2-year deprecation ⚡
- 11mo agoworkflowsWorkflows gain a postprocessing stage via tailor ⚡
- 11mo agofeastsggplot2 4.0.0 compatibility and the ggtime deprecation notice
- 1y agoworkflowsSparse matrices work through fit() and predict()
- 1y agofeastsgg_season() fix for sub-weekly daily data
- 1y agofeastsImpulse-response plots and Johansen cointegration tests
- 2y agofeastsPatch for ggplot2 3.5.0 breaking changes
- 2y agoworkflowsaugment() aligns with parsnip; censored regression supported
- 3y agofeastsCRAN patch for S3 method consistency
- 3y agoworkflowsRegister tuning generics unconditionally
- 3y agoworkflowsMissing parsnip extensions now error early; unsupervised specs supported
- 3y agoworkflowsMode guessing removed; silent offset handling now errors
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between feasts and workflows?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. feasts and workflows 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 feasts better than workflows?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. feasts and workflows 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 feasts?
Top feasts alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "feasts alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/feasts for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to workflows?
Top workflows alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "workflows alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/workflows-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.