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forestly vs ggsurvfit

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

forestly vs ggsurvfit: at a glance

Featureforestlyggsurvfit
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesclinical-safety, adverse-events, data-visualization, r-languagesurvival-analysis, ggplot2, competing-risks, clinical-plots
Last editorial update39m ago4h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is forestly?

forestly built an interactive safety review tool, then taught it to produce submission-ready RTF.

forestly renders adverse-event forest plots as interactive reactable widgets — filterable by AE category, with sliders for incidence thresholds and a toggle for the risk-difference column. Version 0.1.3 added `rtf_static_forestly()` for static RTF output, and 0.1.4 has been about giving the display owner control over what reviewers see: the CSV download button, the AE filter label, and the diff toggle can each be switched off.

Read the full forestly trajectory →

What is ggsurvfit?

ggsurvfit is in correctness-and-compatibility mode, not feature mode.

The package draws survival and cumulative-incidence curves on a ggplot2 grammar, with risk tables, p-values and quantile annotations. Recent releases are entirely fixes and upstream tracking: ggplot2 v4.0.0 compatibility in 2025, and a 2026 patch correcting a Gray-test p-value that could be reported for the wrong competing event.

Read the full ggsurvfit trajectory →

forestly vs ggsurvfit: editorial side-by-side

F
forestly
ANALYTICS
0.0

forestly built an interactive safety review tool, then taught it to produce submission-ready RTF.

◆ Current state

forestly renders adverse-event forest plots as interactive reactable widgets — filterable by AE category, with sliders for incidence thresholds and a toggle for the risk-difference column. Version 0.1.3 added `rtf_static_forestly()` for static RTF output, and 0.1.4 has been about giving the display owner control over what reviewers see: the CSV download button, the AE filter label, and the diff toggle can each be switched off.

◆ Where it's heading

The arc runs from a fixed interactive widget toward a configurable one with two output modes. Nearly every new argument in the last two releases exists to remove something from the display or relabel it, which suggests the users driving development are producing outputs for others to review under conventions they do not control. The x-axis range, column header, figure header and slider range arguments point the same way — this is a tool being fitted into standardised reporting rather than used ad hoc.

◆ Prediction

Given that the last two releases have consisted almost entirely of display-control arguments, the next is likely more of the same, applied to whichever parts of the interactive layout are still fixed.

G
ggsurvfit
ANALYTICS
2.5

ggsurvfit is in correctness-and-compatibility mode, not feature mode.

◆ Current state

The package draws survival and cumulative-incidence curves on a ggplot2 grammar, with risk tables, p-values and quantile annotations. Recent releases are entirely fixes and upstream tracking: ggplot2 v4.0.0 compatibility in 2025, and a 2026 patch correcting a Gray-test p-value that could be reported for the wrong competing event.

◆ Where it's heading

The feature surface settled around 1.0.0, when risk-table alignment was exported and colour and linetype defaults became configurable. Since then the work is keeping pace with survival, ggplot2 and tidycmprsk changes, and closing cases where the plotted curve and the annotation disagreed — the p-value matched by position rather than name, confidence limits swapped for multi-state models, quantiles read off a plateau.

◆ Prediction

Expect the next release to track upstream survival or ggplot2 changes rather than add plotting features; the CDISC censoring convention adopted in Surv_CNSR() suggests further alignment with clinical data standards is the likelier direction.

Alternatives to forestly and ggsurvfit

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 forestly or ggsurvfit.

See all forestly alternatives → · See all ggsurvfit alternatives →

Recent activity from forestly and ggsurvfit

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

  1. 20d agoggsurvfitGray-test p-values matched to the plotted outcome by name
  2. 5mo agoforestlyDownload button, AE filter label and diff toggle become optional
  3. 10mo agoggsurvfitggplot2 v4.0.0 compatibility and multi-state CI label fix
  4. 11mo agoforestlyStatic RTF forest plots join the interactive output
  5. 1y agoforestlyreactR 0.6.0 rendering fix and slider label control
  6. 2y agoforestlyTreatment group selection and rough-edge fixes
  7. 2y agoggsurvfitNegative follow-up times and a cloglog transformation
  8. 2y agoggsurvfitAesthetic defaults become switchable and alignment is exported
  9. 2y agoggsurvfitConfidence limits corrected for monotonicity-reversing transforms
  10. 3y agoforestlyFirst release on GitHub and CRAN
  11. 3y agoggsurvfitGlue syntax in risk tables and coxph model support

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between forestly and ggsurvfit?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. ggsurvfit is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is forestly better than ggsurvfit?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ggsurvfit is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to forestly?

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

What are the best alternatives to ggsurvfit?

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