r2rtf
The clinical-report table engine learned Chinese, then learned to leave RTF entirely
Comparison · Analytics
gMCPLite vs RBesT
A side-by-side editorial comparison of gMCPLite and RBesT — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:clinical-trialsr-language
gMCPLite vs RBesT: at a glance
What is gMCPLite?
gMCPLite exists to be gMCP without Java, and its releases guard that boundary rather than extend it.
gMCPLite is a fork of gMCP with the Java dependency removed and `hGraph()` ported over from gsDesign, giving R users graphical multiple comparison procedures and their visualisation without a JVM. Since that fork, no release has added a statistical capability. The visible history is compatibility work: ggplot2 3.5.0 argument naming, a cairo device for Unicode in examples, testthat 3.3.0 snapshot requirements, and a selective port of an upstream confidence-interval fix.
What is RBesT?
RBesT is teaching its Bayesian decision rules to answer two-sided questions.
RBesT builds meta-analytic-predictive priors — the machinery for borrowing historical control data into a new trial — and evaluates the operating characteristics of decisions made with them. The stable line has spent several releases on effective sample size: ESS for normal mixtures via a new `family` argument, boundary corrections when no responses or no non-responses are observed, and stabilised ELIR computations. The 1.9-0 release candidate extends the normal, binomial and Poisson outcome functions to two-sided decisions.
gMCPLite vs RBesT: editorial side-by-side
gMCPLite
0.0ANALYTICS
gMCPLite exists to be gMCP without Java, and its releases guard that boundary rather than extend it.
◆ Current state
gMCPLite is a fork of gMCP with the Java dependency removed and `hGraph()` ported over from gsDesign, giving R users graphical multiple comparison procedures and their visualisation without a JVM. Since that fork, no release has added a statistical capability. The visible history is compatibility work: ggplot2 3.5.0 argument naming, a cairo device for Unicode in examples, testthat 3.3.0 snapshot requirements, and a selective port of an upstream confidence-interval fix.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a package with a fixed job. The maintainers track two moving targets — the upstream gMCP it forked from, and the R graphics and testing stack underneath it — and pull across only what is needed. The addition of vdiffr visual regression tests for `hGraph()` is the most substantive recent change and fits the same posture: the plots are the deliverable, so pin them against accidental drift rather than redesign them.
◆ Prediction
Expect the pattern to continue — compatibility releases driven by ggplot2, testthat and pkgdown changes, with any statistical content arriving only as a selective port from upstream gMCP.
RBesT
0.0ANALYTICS
RBesT is teaching its Bayesian decision rules to answer two-sided questions.
◆ Current state
RBesT builds meta-analytic-predictive priors — the machinery for borrowing historical control data into a new trial — and evaluates the operating characteristics of decisions made with them. The stable line has spent several releases on effective sample size: ESS for normal mixtures via a new `family` argument, boundary corrections when no responses or no non-responses are observed, and stabilised ELIR computations. The 1.9-0 release candidate extends the normal, binomial and Poisson outcome functions to two-sided decisions.
◆ Where it's heading
Two currents run through the changelog. One is ESS hardening — nearly every release since 1.7-4 fixes another edge case where the ELIR calculation aborted or returned something unstable, which is what happens when a quantity used to justify prior strength to regulators gets scrutinised. The other is Stan and brms integration debt: array syntax updates, a minimum Stan version bump, truncated prior generation for `mixstanvar`, deterministic EM. The RC's contributor list shows a second active maintainer, and the work is broader than any recent stable release.
◆ Prediction
The release candidate covers all three outcome families and has already absorbed a round of review comments, so the next step is most likely the 1.9-0 CRAN release itself rather than further feature work.
Alternatives to gMCPLite and RBesT
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 gMCPLite or RBesT.
DoseFinding
New stewardship at openpharma, then two releases adding the methods MCP-Mod was missing
webmockr
The stubbing library added httr2 support, then spent a year cutting itself free of everything else
crul
crul took mocking back from webmockr and made it a property of the client itself
dendroNetwork
Six releases, six identical bodies — the feed carries the package abstract instead of release notes
chattr
chattr deleted every LLM integration it had written and outsourced the lot to ellmer
See all gMCPLite alternatives → · See all RBesT alternatives →
Recent activity from gMCPLite and RBesT
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5mo agoRBesTTwo-sided decisions across normal, binomial and Poisson outcomes ⚡
- 5mo agogMCPLiteSnapshot files bundled for testthat 3.3.0
- 11mo agogMCPLiteVisual regression tests added for hGraph()
- 1y agoRBesTJSON read and write for mixture objects
- 1y agoRBesTess() fixed inside apply functions
- 1y agoRBesTESS for normal mixtures in the exponential family
- 1y agoRBesTTruncated mixture priors for brms, plus faster Stan models
- 2y agogMCPLiteConfidence interval fix ported from upstream gMCP
- 2y agoRBesTStan array syntax update and CRAN system requirements
- 2y agogMCPLitecairo_pdf device for Unicode in examples
- 2y agogMCPLitepkgdown tabset rendering fixed
- 3y agogMCPLiteBuild ignores docs; typos corrected
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between gMCPLite and RBesT?
Both compete on the same themes — clinical-trials, r-language — within Analytics. gMCPLite and RBesT 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 gMCPLite better than RBesT?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. gMCPLite and RBesT 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 gMCPLite?
Top gMCPLite alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "gMCPLite alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/gmcplite for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to RBesT?
Top RBesT alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "RBesT alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rbest for the full list with editorial commentary on each.