metatools
SDTM supplemental-qualifier merging got sturdier, then the package went quiet for two years.
Comparison · Analytics
ggsurvfit vs nestcolor
A side-by-side editorial comparison of ggsurvfit and nestcolor — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:ggplot2
ggsurvfit vs nestcolor: 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 nestcolor?
A ggplot theme package for the NEST stack, effectively finished since its CRAN release.
nestcolor supplies a standard colour palette and ggplot2 theme so plots across the insightsengineering/NEST packages look consistent. Its CRAN release in January 2025 contained no functional change beyond declaring minimum dependency versions; everything before it is version bumps. The package does one small thing and appears to have finished doing it.
ggsurvfit vs nestcolor: 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.
nestcolor
0.0ANALYTICS
A ggplot theme package for the NEST stack, effectively finished since its CRAN release.
◆ Current state
nestcolor supplies a standard colour palette and ggplot2 theme so plots across the insightsengineering/NEST packages look consistent. Its CRAN release in January 2025 contained no functional change beyond declaring minimum dependency versions; everything before it is version bumps. The package does one small thing and appears to have finished doing it.
◆ Where it's heading
There is no development arc to read here. The substantive content sits in the initial 2022 release — the colour palette, the NEST theme, tern registered as a downstream dependency — and later entries are workflow propagation from the organisation's shared CI templates.
◆ Prediction
A theme package with a settled palette has little reason to change; expect releases only when a dependency floor or CRAN policy forces one.
Alternatives to ggsurvfit and nestcolor
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 nestcolor.
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.
giscoR
giscoR's 1.0 moved its dataset index into the cache, so new Eurostat releases arrive without a package update.
See all ggsurvfit alternatives → · See all nestcolor alternatives →
Recent activity from ggsurvfit and nestcolor
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 20d agoggsurvfitGray-test p-values matched to the plotted outcome by name
- 10mo agoggsurvfitggplot2 v4.0.0 compatibility and multi-state CI label fix
- 1y agonestcolorCRAN release declaring minimum dependency versions
- 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
- 3y agonestcolor2023_03_29
- 3y agonestcolor2022_10_13
- 3y agonestcolor2022_08_16
- 4y agonestcolorFirst package: NEST colour palette and ggplot theme
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ggsurvfit and nestcolor?
Both compete on the same themes — ggplot2 — within Analytics. 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 nestcolor?
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 nestcolor?
Top nestcolor alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "nestcolor alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/nestcolor for the full list with editorial commentary on each.