← Back to home
Comparison · Analytics

ggcorrplot vs gridpattern

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

ggcorrplot vs gridpattern: at a glance

Featureggcorrplotgridpattern
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score2.50.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themescorrelation, r, ggplot2, visualizationr-graphics, pattern-fills, grid, data-visualization
Last editorial update3h ago48m ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is ggcorrplot?

ggcorrplot came back after four years and found its significance markers had been lying

ggcorrplot draws correlation matrices in ggplot2 with optional significance marking and hierarchical reordering. It sat untouched from late 2022 until mid-2026, then shipped 0.2.0 and 0.3.0 sixteen days apart. Between them they added the display options users had been requesting since 2016 and repaired a set of bugs where hc.order = TRUE silently changed which cells were marked significant.

Read the full ggcorrplot trajectory →

What is gridpattern?

gridpattern keeps widening its catalogue, and the newest patterns finally use the device's own line rendering.

An R package supplying pattern fills for grid graphics — stripes, weaves, polygon tilings, images and placeholders. Releases are infrequent and irregular, roughly one or two a year with an eighteen-month gap before the most recent. The work divides between adding pattern types and making the existing ones behave consistently, particularly around units and how spacing parameters are interpreted.

Read the full gridpattern trajectory →

ggcorrplot vs gridpattern: editorial side-by-side

G
ggcorrplot
ANALYTICS
2.5

ggcorrplot came back after four years and found its significance markers had been lying

◆ Current state

ggcorrplot draws correlation matrices in ggplot2 with optional significance marking and hierarchical reordering. It sat untouched from late 2022 until mid-2026, then shipped 0.2.0 and 0.3.0 sixteen days apart. Between them they added the display options users had been requesting since 2016 and repaired a set of bugs where hc.order = TRUE silently changed which cells were marked significant.

◆ Where it's heading

Both releases chase the same target: parity with the older corrplot package inside a ggplot2 object. Significance stars appended to coefficient labels, circle scaling, decimal control, then boxed cells and glyphs sized by absolute correlation — these are corrplot's visual vocabulary reimplemented where they can be composed with other ggplot2 layers. The bug fixes point the other way, at foundations: p-values matched to cells by name rather than row position, clustering computed on the unrounded matrix, tl.col actually applied.

◆ Prediction

With the corrplot look largely reproduced and the correctness backlog cleared, the remaining gap is the mixed upper/lower display corrplot supports; that is the natural next argument if the current release pace holds.

G
gridpattern
ANALYTICS
0.0

gridpattern keeps widening its catalogue, and the newest patterns finally use the device's own line rendering.

◆ Current state

An R package supplying pattern fills for grid graphics — stripes, weaves, polygon tilings, images and placeholders. Releases are infrequent and irregular, roughly one or two a year with an eighteen-month gap before the most recent. The work divides between adding pattern types and making the existing ones behave consistently, particularly around units and how spacing parameters are interpreted.

◆ Where it's heading

Two long-running efforts are visible. The first is unit consistency: v1.2.1 gave the geometry patterns a units parameter, v1.2.2 extended it to weave and fixed polygon tiling to respect it — the slow propagation of one design decision through a family of functions. The second is integration with R's own graphics capabilities, which reaches its clearest expression in v1.4.2's line pattern: rather than filling bands with solid colour as stripe does, it draws stroked lines through the device, so every built-in linetype including dotdash, twodash and custom hex specifications works. The package is also visibly maintaining its external dependencies, having rotated placeholder image services as hosts disappeared.

◆ Prediction

Expect further pattern types and continued propagation of the units parameter to any function still missing it; the entries give no indication of a change in the package's scope beyond pattern fills.

Alternatives to ggcorrplot and gridpattern

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 ggcorrplot or gridpattern.

See all ggcorrplot alternatives → · See all gridpattern alternatives →

Recent activity from ggcorrplot and gridpattern

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

  1. 21d agoggcorrplotggcorrplot 0.3.0 adds boxed cells and correlation-sized squares
  2. 1mo agoggcorrplotggcorrplot 0.2.0 fixes significance markers broken by hc.order
  3. 1mo agogridpatternHatch and line patterns added; wave gains ten new types
  4. 1y agogridpatternaRtsy generative patterns available as fills
  5. 2y agogridpatternunits parameter reaches weave; polygon tiling honours it
  6. 2y agogridpatternpatternFill() returns a grid pattern object; patterns can nest
  7. 2y agogridpatternText pattern example skipped on devices lacking the glyphs
  8. 2y agogridpatternreset_image_cache() added; R 4.1 feature detection offered standalone
  9. 3y agoggcorrplotggcorrplot 0.1.4
  10. 6y agoggcorrplotggcorrplot 0.1.3
  11. 7y agoggcorrplotggcorrplot 0.1.2
  12. 10y agoggcorrplotggcorrplot's first release: correlograms in ggplot2

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ggcorrplot and gridpattern?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. ggcorrplot 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 ggcorrplot better than gridpattern?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ggcorrplot 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 ggcorrplot?

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

What are the best alternatives to gridpattern?

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