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gtsummary vs kernelshap

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

gtsummary vs kernelshap: at a glance

Featuregtsummarykernelshap
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesclinical-tables, analysis-results-data, regression-summaries, reproducible-reportingshap, model explainability, sampling algorithms, numerical correctness
Last editorial update1h ago4h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is gtsummary?

gtsummary is quietly rebuilding itself around analysis results data, one table verb at a time.

gtsummary builds publication-ready summary, regression and survival tables for clinical and epidemiological work. Across this window it has grown in two directions at once: table composition primitives — splitting tables by rows and columns, stacking with labeled IDs, nested strata stacks, flexible merge columns — and a steadily deepening ARD layer, where tbl_ard_* functions, gather_ard() and the hierarchical table family expose the underlying analysis results data as a first-class object.

Read the full gtsummary trajectory →

What is kernelshap?

kernelshap makes permutation SHAP practical past eight features, then fixes the kernel weights it had wrong.

kernelshap computes model-agnostic SHAP values in R through Kernel SHAP, permutation SHAP and an exact additive explainer. Version 0.8.0 added a sampling permutation-SHAP algorithm with standard errors and early stopping, lifting the practical feature ceiling past what the exact method allows. Version 0.9.0 then corrected a bug in how kernel weights were computed — exact Kernel SHAP now agrees with exact permutation SHAP — and moved parallelism from foreach to doFuture.

Read the full kernelshap trajectory →

gtsummary vs kernelshap: editorial side-by-side

G
gtsummary
ANALYTICS
0.0

gtsummary is quietly rebuilding itself around analysis results data, one table verb at a time.

◆ Current state

gtsummary builds publication-ready summary, regression and survival tables for clinical and epidemiological work. Across this window it has grown in two directions at once: table composition primitives — splitting tables by rows and columns, stacking with labeled IDs, nested strata stacks, flexible merge columns — and a steadily deepening ARD layer, where tbl_ard_* functions, gather_ard() and the hierarchical table family expose the underlying analysis results data as a first-class object.

◆ Where it's heading

The ARD work is the through-line. Table IDs exist so gather_ard() can return a named list; hierarchical tables gained per-level sorting and targeted filtering; ARD inputs are pre-processed so sorting applies to non-standard shapes. The package is becoming a structured-results engine that happens to render tables, rather than a renderer alone. Alongside that, 2.2.0 restored data pre-processing that 2.0 had removed after the reduced functionality hurt users — a maintainer willing to reverse a major-version decision.

◆ Prediction

Expect the hierarchical and ARD functions, introduced as a preview without a full deprecation cycle, to keep stabilizing toward a settled API rather than new table types appearing.

K
kernelshap
ANALYTICS
0.0

kernelshap makes permutation SHAP practical past eight features, then fixes the kernel weights it had wrong.

◆ Current state

kernelshap computes model-agnostic SHAP values in R through Kernel SHAP, permutation SHAP and an exact additive explainer. Version 0.8.0 added a sampling permutation-SHAP algorithm with standard errors and early stopping, lifting the practical feature ceiling past what the exact method allows. Version 0.9.0 then corrected a bug in how kernel weights were computed — exact Kernel SHAP now agrees with exact permutation SHAP — and moved parallelism from foreach to doFuture.

◆ Where it's heading

Two concerns drive this package: making exact methods reach further, and being demonstrably right. The first shows in the additive explainer, the optional background dataset and the sampling permutation algorithm; the second in unit tests written against Python's shap, credited fixes from outside contributors, and a willingness to ship a correctness fix that changes numbers people have already published. Speed work runs continuously underneath — direct solves replacing the Moore-Penrose pseudo-inverse, roughly 10% less memory.

◆ Prediction

The 0.6.0 and 0.7.0 notes each promised a stable 1.0.0 that has not arrived; with the weighting bug fixed and parallelism reworked, a 1.0 release is the most plausible next step.

Alternatives to gtsummary and kernelshap

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 gtsummary or kernelshap.

See all gtsummary alternatives → · See all kernelshap alternatives →

Recent activity from gtsummary and kernelshap

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

  1. 2mo agogtsummaryTheme elements no longer evaluated by default
  2. 8mo agogtsummaryARD strata functions and finer theme control
  3. 11mo agogtsummaryPer-level hierarchical sorting and labeled stacking
  4. 1y agokernelshapKernel weight bug fixed; parallelism moves to doFuture
  5. 1y agokernelshapSampling permutation SHAP with standard errors
  6. 1y agogtsummaryTable splitting, ID labeling, and add_difference_row
  7. 1y agogtsummaryData pre-processing restored after the 2.0 removal
  8. 1y agogtsummarytbl_merge gains explicit merge columns
  9. 1y agokernelshapBackground data now optional; ranger survival support
  10. 2y agokernelshapFactor-valued predictions dropped
  11. 2y agokernelshapadditive_shap() explains additive models exactly
  12. 2y agokernelshapFaster on plain data.frames

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between gtsummary and kernelshap?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. gtsummary and kernelshap 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 gtsummary better than kernelshap?

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

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

What are the best alternatives to kernelshap?

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