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Comparison · Analytics
Fulcrum vs spmodel
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Fulcrum and spmodel — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Fulcrum vs spmodel: at a glance
| Feature | Fulcrum | spmodel |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Analytics | Analytics |
| Velocity score | 6.3 | 0.0 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Top themes | gis, esri-migration, offline-maps, field-data-capture | spatial-statistics, regression-modelling, kriging, r-package |
| Last editorial update | 6h ago | 1h ago |
| Website | — | Visit → |
What is Fulcrum?
Fulcrum is betting its whole map stack on Esri, with a hard Google Maps cutoff on September 1.
Fulcrum is a field data collection platform, and nearly every entry in the last month touches mapping. The web app ships weekly fix batches for layer rendering (KML/KMZ, MBTiles, ArcGIS Feature Services), while iOS and Android push near-weekly builds against the ArcGIS SDK. Feature work is thin right now; the visible surface is stabilization around a mapping engine migration already in flight.
What is spmodel?
Spatial regression in R, adding block kriging and then tuning the numerics underneath it
spmodel fits spatial linear and generalised linear models, for both point-referenced and areal data, with prediction and diagnostics attached. Block prediction arrived in 0.11.0 and the releases since have refined it. The most recent release changes optimiser behaviour: the default Nelder-Mead relative stopping tolerance tightens from 1e-4 to 1e-6 to reduce convergence on local rather than global maxima.
Fulcrum vs spmodel: editorial side-by-side
Fulcrum
6.3ANALYTICS
Fulcrum is betting its whole map stack on Esri, with a hard Google Maps cutoff on September 1.
◆ Current state
Fulcrum is a field data collection platform, and nearly every entry in the last month touches mapping. The web app ships weekly fix batches for layer rendering (KML/KMZ, MBTiles, ArcGIS Feature Services), while iOS and Android push near-weekly builds against the ArcGIS SDK. Feature work is thin right now; the visible surface is stabilization around a mapping engine migration already in flight.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is a full consolidation onto Esri. The legacy Google Maps engine is being retired on September 1 with automatic migration for anyone who hasn't switched, and Esri now carries Google's satellite and street basemaps so the imagery argument is neutralized. Underneath, the mobile SDK moved to ArcGIS 300.0.0 and ONNX on-device inference was dropped for a new INFERENCE format with labels.txt support. Offline is the second thread: downloadable layers can now be updated in place rather than deleted and recreated.
◆ Prediction
Expect the weeks before September 1 to stay dominated by migration-shaped fixes and Esri feature parity work, with the MMPK layer and Photo FastFill early-access programs the most likely to graduate to general availability next.
spmodel
0.0ANALYTICS
Spatial regression in R, adding block kriging and then tuning the numerics underneath it
◆ Current state
spmodel fits spatial linear and generalised linear models, for both point-referenced and areal data, with prediction and diagnostics attached. Block prediction arrived in 0.11.0 and the releases since have refined it. The most recent release changes optimiser behaviour: the default Nelder-Mead relative stopping tolerance tightens from 1e-4 to 1e-6 to reduce convergence on local rather than global maxima.
◆ Where it's heading
Two threads run in parallel. The first is expanding what can be predicted — point predictions, then areal averages over a region via block kriging, then better accuracy and efficiency for that path as the block size default moved from 1000 to 4000 in 0.12.0. The second is numerical trustworthiness, and it is unusually prominent here: a range-constraint option for stability in 0.9.0, a corrected log determinant of the fixed effects in the restricted log likelihood in 0.11.0, a cloud semivariogram that had been doubling the semivariance fixed in 0.11.1, and now a tighter optimiser tolerance. Several of these silently changed results before they were caught.
◆ Prediction
Expect the maintainers to keep publishing explicit reproduction instructions alongside numerical default changes, as 0.13.0 does by documenting the `control = list(reltol = 1e-4)` escape hatch. The entries give no signal of expansion beyond the current model families.
Alternatives to Fulcrum and spmodel
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 Fulcrum or spmodel.
kernelshap
kernelshap makes permutation SHAP practical past eight features, then fixes the kernel weights it had wrong.
filtro
filtro moves to S7 and multiplies its feature-scoring methods in a single release.
modeltime.resample
modeltime.resample exists to keep backtesting working as tidymodels shifts underneath it.
modeltime.ensemble
modeltime.ensemble wakes after four years, and the work is all tune 2.0 compatibility.
shapviz
shapviz refines its SHAP plots release by release while chasing ggplot2's moving target.
See all Fulcrum alternatives → · See all spmodel alternatives →
Recent activity from Fulcrum and spmodel
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 15h agoFulcrumWeb fixes: shared-view exports, MBTiles popups, KML and ArcGIS layers
- 2d agoFulcrumAndroid: update offline map layers in place, non-blocking Photo FastFill
- 3d agoFulcrumiOS fix: slow location resolution blocked record saves
- 8d agoFulcrumWeb: SSO email wording and ArcGIS/deck.gl version bumps
- 9d agoFulcrumAndroid fixes: ArcGIS stability, signature button, photo markup
- 9d agoFulcrumiOS fixes: basemap loading and black map screen
- 2mo agospmodelTighter optimiser tolerance to avoid local maxima
- 6mo agospmodelEmpirical autocovariance function and better block kriging accuracy
- 9mo agospmodelCloud semivariogram doubling fixed; geometry warnings added
- 1y agospmodelBlock kriging for areal averages and their uncertainty ⚡
- 1y agospmodelRobust semivariogram and new covariance types for areal models
- 1y agospmodelRange constraint option and redefined covariance type names
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Fulcrum and spmodel?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Fulcrum is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 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 Fulcrum better than spmodel?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Fulcrum is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 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 Fulcrum?
Top Fulcrum alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Fulcrum alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fulcrum for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to spmodel?
Top spmodel alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "spmodel alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/spmodel for the full list with editorial commentary on each.