metatools
SDTM supplemental-qualifier merging got sturdier, then the package went quiet for two years.
Comparison · Analytics
ggsurvfit vs giscoR
A side-by-side editorial comparison of ggsurvfit and giscoR — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
ggsurvfit vs giscoR: at a glance
What is ggsurvfit?
ggsurvfit is in correctness-and-compatibility mode, not feature mode.
The package draws survival and cumulative-incidence curves on a ggplot2 grammar, with risk tables, p-values and quantile annotations. Recent releases are entirely fixes and upstream tracking: ggplot2 v4.0.0 compatibility in 2025, and a 2026 patch correcting a Gray-test p-value that could be reported for the wrong competing event.
What is giscoR?
giscoR's 1.0 moved its dataset index into the cache, so new Eurostat releases arrive without a package update.
giscoR downloads Eurostat GISCO administrative and statistical geodata — countries, NUTS regions, LAUs, urban audit units — as sf objects. The 1.0.0 release in December 2025 rebuilt the package on httr2, preferred GeoPackage downloads, reorganised the cache into topic folders, and moved the dataset database itself into the cache so it can be refreshed independently. Releases since have been a cache-persistence fix, a configurable timeout and an internals refactor.
ggsurvfit vs giscoR: editorial side-by-side
ggsurvfit
2.5ANALYTICS
ggsurvfit is in correctness-and-compatibility mode, not feature mode.
◆ Current state
The package draws survival and cumulative-incidence curves on a ggplot2 grammar, with risk tables, p-values and quantile annotations. Recent releases are entirely fixes and upstream tracking: ggplot2 v4.0.0 compatibility in 2025, and a 2026 patch correcting a Gray-test p-value that could be reported for the wrong competing event.
◆ Where it's heading
The feature surface settled around 1.0.0, when risk-table alignment was exported and colour and linetype defaults became configurable. Since then the work is keeping pace with survival, ggplot2 and tidycmprsk changes, and closing cases where the plotted curve and the annotation disagreed — the p-value matched by position rather than name, confidence limits swapped for multi-state models, quantiles read off a plateau.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to track upstream survival or ggplot2 changes rather than add plotting features; the CDISC censoring convention adopted in Surv_CNSR() suggests further alignment with clinical data standards is the likelier direction.
giscoR
0.0ANALYTICS
giscoR's 1.0 moved its dataset index into the cache, so new Eurostat releases arrive without a package update.
◆ Current state
giscoR downloads Eurostat GISCO administrative and statistical geodata — countries, NUTS regions, LAUs, urban audit units — as sf objects. The 1.0.0 release in December 2025 rebuilt the package on httr2, preferred GeoPackage downloads, reorganised the cache into topic folders, and moved the dataset database itself into the cache so it can be refreshed independently. Releases since have been a cache-persistence fix, a configurable timeout and an internals refactor.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is decoupling itself from Eurostat's publication calendar. Historically each new GISCO vintage required a release that bumped default years and rebuilt an internal dataset; after 1.0.0 a user can call gisco_get_cached_db(update_cache = TRUE) and reach new data without waiting. The follow-up releases are consistent with a project in consolidation — fixing the cache it just introduced, exposing a timeout for slow downloads, and tidying internals.
◆ Prediction
With the database now self-updating, expect releases to shift toward download reliability and new GISCO endpoints rather than annual dataset bumps; the timeout option in 1.1.0 suggests large downloads are the current pain point.
Alternatives to ggsurvfit and giscoR
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 ggsurvfit or giscoR.
marquee
marquee is filling in the typographic details — outlines, border types, real font metrics for underlines.
logrx
A clinical-script logger that stopped shipping after its 0.2 line, changelogs made of merged PRs.
lobstr
R's object inspector is losing its view of the internals as CRAN closes off the private C API.
GSODR
A weather-station data client that broke one return type to hand back distances instead of bare IDs.
FedData
FedData has spent two major versions migrating US federal geodata off R's retiring spatial stack.
See all ggsurvfit alternatives → · See all giscoR alternatives →
Recent activity from ggsurvfit and giscoR
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 20d agoggsurvfitGray-test p-values matched to the plotted outcome by name
- 1mo agogiscoRInternal refactor with faster mocked tests
- 4mo agogiscoRDownload timeout becomes configurable
- 6mo agogiscoRCache persistence fixed; urban audit defaults to 2024
- 7mo agogiscoR1.0 caches the dataset index so new vintages need no release ⚡
- 10mo agoggsurvfitggplot2 v4.0.0 compatibility and multi-state CI label fix
- 1y agogiscoRSource filtering fixed in gisco_get_lau()
- 1y agogiscoR2024 datasets and year arguments for education and healthcare
- 2y agoggsurvfitNegative follow-up times and a cloglog transformation
- 2y agoggsurvfitAesthetic defaults become switchable and alignment is exported
- 2y agoggsurvfitConfidence limits corrected for monotonicity-reversing transforms
- 3y agoggsurvfitGlue syntax in risk tables and coxph model support
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ggsurvfit and giscoR?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. ggsurvfit 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 ggsurvfit better than giscoR?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. ggsurvfit 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 ggsurvfit?
Top ggsurvfit alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ggsurvfit alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ggsurvfit for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to giscoR?
Top giscoR alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "giscoR alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/giscor for the full list with editorial commentary on each.