rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
ggspatial vs rotl
A side-by-side editorial comparison of ggspatial and rotl — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
ggspatial vs rotl: at a glance
What is ggspatial?
ggspatial finishes its move off raster and onto terra
ggspatial puts spatial data into ggplot2. Its recent history is a single multi-year migration: terra support arrived alongside raster in 1.1.6, and by 1.1.10 terra is the default in the bundled data loaders while raster is described as deprecated. Everything between those two releases is ggplot2 compatibility patching.
What is rotl?
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
Nearly every entry concerns `tnrs_match_names()`, the function that maps user-supplied names onto Open Tree taxonomy ids. 3.1.0 changed which taxon wins a multi-way match — highest matching score rather than lowest OTT id, reversing the rule 3.0.4 introduced. 3.0.12 defaulted `context_name` to 'All life' so a context inferred from the first name could not silently skew later ones. 3.0.11 made a total failure to match return an empty tibble with a warning instead of an error. The rest are small fixes tracking Open Tree API changes.
ggspatial vs rotl: editorial side-by-side
ggspatial
0.0ANALYTICS
ggspatial finishes its move off raster and onto terra
◆ Current state
ggspatial puts spatial data into ggplot2. Its recent history is a single multi-year migration: terra support arrived alongside raster in 1.1.6, and by 1.1.10 terra is the default in the bundled data loaders while raster is described as deprecated. Everything between those two releases is ggplot2 compatibility patching.
◆ Where it's heading
The package tracks the R spatial stack's own generational shift rather than setting direction itself — sf and stars support, then terra, then preparing S3 methods for the next ggplot2. Feature work is rare; the value it delivers is staying current with the layers underneath it.
◆ Prediction
The likely next step is completing the ggplot2 S3 method preparation that 1.1.10 started, with raster support eventually dropped rather than maintained in parallel.
rotl
0.0ANALYTICS
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
◆ Current state
Nearly every entry concerns `tnrs_match_names()`, the function that maps user-supplied names onto Open Tree taxonomy ids. 3.1.0 changed which taxon wins a multi-way match — highest matching score rather than lowest OTT id, reversing the rule 3.0.4 introduced. 3.0.12 defaulted `context_name` to 'All life' so a context inferred from the first name could not silently skew later ones. 3.0.11 made a total failure to match return an empty tibble with a warning instead of an error. The rest are small fixes tracking Open Tree API changes.
◆ Where it's heading
The recurring problem is ambiguity: names match several taxa, and the package has changed its tie-breaking rule twice while making failures and edge cases return predictable objects rather than errors. Nothing here expands what rotl can retrieve; it makes what it retrieves reproducible. The feed also stops in mid-2023, so the package appears dormant.
◆ Prediction
Nothing in the window suggests new capability. If a release comes, the pattern says it will follow an Open Tree API change or another matching-behaviour correction.
Alternatives to ggspatial and rotl
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 ggspatial or rotl.
writexl
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
rgbif
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
rstanarm
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
taxa
taxa started a ground-up rewrite in 2021 and has published almost nothing since.
taxize
taxize spends its releases absorbing other people's API changes, one dead source at a time.
See all ggspatial alternatives → · See all rotl alternatives →
Recent activity from ggspatial and rotl
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 11mo agoggspatialterra becomes the default raster backend
- 2y agoggspatialExample fixes for the updated raster/terra stack
- 3y agorotlrotl 3.1.0 matches on score instead of lowest OTT id
- 3y agoggspatialannotation_spatial() fix for the latest ggplot2
- 3y agoggspatialFix for behaviour deprecated in ggplot2
- 3y agoggspatialterra support, categorical rasters and better stars handling
- 4y agorotlrotl 3.0.12 defaults matching context to All life
- 5y agorotlrotl 3.0.11 returns empty tibble when no names match
- 6y agorotlrotl 3.0.10 tracks Open Tree API updates
- 7y agorotlrotl 3.0.9 tracks Open Tree API updates
- 7y agorotlrotl 3.0.7 updates vignette for TNRS endpoint change
- 8y agoggspatialPackage size and CRAN check time reduced
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ggspatial and rotl?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. ggspatial and rotl are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is ggspatial better than rotl?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ggspatial and rotl are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 0.0 vs 0.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to ggspatial?
Top ggspatial alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ggspatial alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ggspatial for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to rotl?
Top rotl alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rotl alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rotl for the full list with editorial commentary on each.