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Comparison · Infra & APIs

funcharts vs inlabru

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

Shared themes:r-package

funcharts vs inlabru: at a glance

Featurefunchartsinlabru
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score0.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesfunctional-data, control-charts, statistical-process-control, r-packagebayesian-modelling, spatial-statistics, r-package, api-consolidation
Last editorial update1h ago8h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is funcharts?

One paper, one release: the functional control chart package ships methods as they get published.

funcharts implements control charts for functional data — statistical process control where each observation is a curve rather than a number. Its release cadence maps one-to-one onto its authors' publication record: 1.4.0 delivered the robust multivariate framework from Capezza et al. (2022), 1.7.0 the adaptive chart from Centofanti et al. (2025) as it was accepted at Technometrics. Each release adds Phase I and Phase II functions for one named method.

Read the full funcharts trajectory →

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.

Read the full inlabru trajectory →

funcharts vs inlabru: editorial side-by-side

F
funcharts
INFRA · APIS
0.0

One paper, one release: the functional control chart package ships methods as they get published.

◆ Current state

funcharts implements control charts for functional data — statistical process control where each observation is a curve rather than a number. Its release cadence maps one-to-one onto its authors' publication record: 1.4.0 delivered the robust multivariate framework from Capezza et al. (2022), 1.7.0 the adaptive chart from Centofanti et al. (2025) as it was accepted at Technometrics. Each release adds Phase I and Phase II functions for one named method.

◆ Where it's heading

The early releases were about the package as software — vectorised tensor products, precomputed B-spline inner products, faster cross-validation — and about removing assumptions, most consequentially the assumption that functional data is represented in a B-spline basis. Since 1.4.0 the software work has stopped and the package has become a delivery vehicle for the research group's methods. Robustness came first, adaptivity second, both arriving with the paper rather than ahead of it.

◆ Prediction

The next release will most likely implement whatever this group publishes next, following the same Phase I / Phase II function pairing; nothing in the feed suggests infrastructure work resuming.

I
inlabru
INFRA · APIS
2.5

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 funcharts 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 funcharts or inlabru.

See all funcharts alternatives → · See all inlabru alternatives →

Recent activity from funcharts and inlabru

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

  1. 23d agoinlabruPredictor linearisation rewritten; broom tidiers, truncated families
  2. 3mo agoinlabruBugfix release: factor contrasts, raster extraction, error classes
  3. 5mo agoinlabruNew mappers, standardised cgeneric support, bru_obs storage refactor
  4. 1y agoinlabruMapper classes shortened to bm_*, experimental predictor aggregation
  5. 1y agofunchartsAdaptive multivariate functional control chart added
  6. 1y agoinlabruDrops sp and ggmap for an sf-native spatial stack
  7. 2y agofunchartsRobust multivariate framework: filtering, imputation, and both phases
  8. 3y agofunchartsAll fda basis systems accepted, not just B-splines
  9. 3y agofunchartsVectorised inner products and cross-validation, seed argument dropped

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between funcharts and inlabru?

Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Infra & APIs. 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 funcharts 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 funcharts?

Top funcharts alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "funcharts alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/funcharts 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.