rollupTree
The recursive-computation engine under massProps grows the accessors its consumer needed
Comparison · Infra & APIs
formr vs inlabru
A side-by-side editorial comparison of formr and inlabru — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
formr vs inlabru: at a glance
What is formr?
formr's R client reached CRAN and moved its recommended path to the v1 REST API.
formr is the R-side client for formr.org, the open study framework used to run longitudinal and experience-sampling questionnaires. In May it reached CRAN for the first time, released in step with formr.org server v1.0.0, and the formr_api_* family built on the server's RESTful surface became the supported entry point. The three releases since have been repair work on the paths that move rendered output and API results.
What is inlabru?
A Bayesian spatial modelling package rebuilding its foundations one breaking release at a time
inlabru wraps INLA for spatial, point-process and latent-Gaussian models in R. It is mid-modernisation: since 2.12.0 cut the sp stack, each release has renamed part of the public surface, standardised how external packages attach custom mappers, or replaced internal machinery. 2.15.0 is the latest step, pairing a new predictor evaluation and linearisation implementation with broom's tidy(), glance() and augment() methods and four non-zero-truncated observation families.
formr vs inlabru: editorial side-by-side
formr
0.0INFRA · APIS
formr's R client reached CRAN and moved its recommended path to the v1 REST API.
◆ Current state
formr is the R-side client for formr.org, the open study framework used to run longitudinal and experience-sampling questionnaires. In May it reached CRAN for the first time, released in step with formr.org server v1.0.0, and the formr_api_* family built on the server's RESTful surface became the supported entry point. The three releases since have been repair work on the paths that move rendered output and API results.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is consolidation around the v1 API while the legacy Classic path is left running but demoted in the vignette. The complication is that CRAN's requirements and the OpenCPU server's requirements pull against each other: CRAN review pushed rendering into tempdir() with random filenames, which broke rforms.org because the server fetches a fixed knit.html, and 1.1.2 had to put it back. The 1.2.0 note describes the same write-directory problem being solved in an OpenCPU-aware way rather than reverted, alongside making dependencies installable under WASM.
◆ Prediction
Two of the last three releases were regressions in the render path, so the OpenCPU-aware write directory in 1.2.0 is the change most likely to need follow-up. The Classic formr_results() path remains in the package with no removal date announced, and nothing in these entries indicates when that ends.
inlabru
2.5INFRA · APIS
A Bayesian spatial modelling package rebuilding its foundations one breaking release at a time
◆ Current state
inlabru wraps INLA for spatial, point-process and latent-Gaussian models in R. It is mid-modernisation: since 2.12.0 cut the sp stack, each release has renamed part of the public surface, standardised how external packages attach custom mappers, or replaced internal machinery. 2.15.0 is the latest step, pairing a new predictor evaluation and linearisation implementation with broom's tidy(), glance() and augment() methods and four non-zero-truncated observation families.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc is consolidation of the extension surface rather than expansion of the model catalogue. Every release adds mappers or families with one hand and removes a dependency, a re-export or a deprecated path with the other — plyr in 2.15.0, fmesher's Depends entry in 2.14.1, sp and ggmap in 2.12.0. The compatibility flag bru_compat_pre_2_14_enable and the temporary fm_int/fm_pixels re-exports show a maintainer sequencing breaks across releases instead of landing them together.
◆ Prediction
The 2.14 compatibility flag is still defaulting to TRUE and the fmesher re-exports are described in the entries as temporary, so the next obvious move is a release that flips bru_compat_pre_2_14_enable off and drops those re-exports.
Alternatives to formr and inlabru
Other Infra & APIs 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 formr or inlabru.
massProps
A mass-properties rollup spends a year on documentation and follows its sibling's API
writeAlizer
Six months of releases and not one of them touched the scoring models
samplr
A cognitive-science sampling package ships once, then goes quiet for eighteen months
stochvol
A Bayesian volatility sampler in its maintenance decade, paying for its own speed
midr
A black-box interpreter reaches CRAN, then learns multi-class and survival responses
See all formr alternatives → · See all inlabru alternatives →
Recent activity from formr and inlabru
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 23d agoinlabruPredictor linearisation rewritten; broom tidiers, truncated families
- 1mo agoformrOpenCPU-aware render directory and WASM-installable dependencies
- 2mo agoformrHotfix: rendered output returns to knit.html
- 2mo agoformrcalculate items no longer coerced to NA by as.numeric()
- 2mo agoformrv1.0.0 — first CRAN release ⚡
- 3mo agoinlabruBugfix release: factor contrasts, raster extraction, error classes
- 5mo agoinlabruNew mappers, standardised cgeneric support, bru_obs storage refactor
- 1y agoinlabruMapper classes shortened to bm_*, experimental predictor aggregation
- 1y agoinlabruDrops sp and ggmap for an sf-native spatial stack ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between formr and inlabru?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. inlabru 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 formr better than inlabru?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. inlabru 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to formr?
Top formr alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "formr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/formr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to inlabru?
Top inlabru alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "inlabru alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/inlabru for the full list with editorial commentary on each.