← Back to home
Comparison · Analytics

gtsummary vs spmodel

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

Shared themes:r-package

gtsummary vs spmodel: at a glance

Featuregtsummaryspmodel
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.00.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesclinical-tables, analysis-results-data, regression-summaries, reproducible-reportingspatial-statistics, regression-modelling, kriging, r-package
Last editorial update1h ago5h 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 spmodel?

Spatial regression in R, adding block kriging and then tuning the numerics underneath it

spmodel fits spatial linear and generalised linear models, for both point-referenced and areal data, with prediction and diagnostics attached. Block prediction arrived in 0.11.0 and the releases since have refined it. The most recent release changes optimiser behaviour: the default Nelder-Mead relative stopping tolerance tightens from 1e-4 to 1e-6 to reduce convergence on local rather than global maxima.

Read the full spmodel trajectory →

gtsummary vs spmodel: 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.

S
spmodel
ANALYTICS
0.0

Spatial regression in R, adding block kriging and then tuning the numerics underneath it

◆ Current state

spmodel fits spatial linear and generalised linear models, for both point-referenced and areal data, with prediction and diagnostics attached. Block prediction arrived in 0.11.0 and the releases since have refined it. The most recent release changes optimiser behaviour: the default Nelder-Mead relative stopping tolerance tightens from 1e-4 to 1e-6 to reduce convergence on local rather than global maxima.

◆ Where it's heading

Two threads run in parallel. The first is expanding what can be predicted — point predictions, then areal averages over a region via block kriging, then better accuracy and efficiency for that path as the block size default moved from 1000 to 4000 in 0.12.0. The second is numerical trustworthiness, and it is unusually prominent here: a range-constraint option for stability in 0.9.0, a corrected log determinant of the fixed effects in the restricted log likelihood in 0.11.0, a cloud semivariogram that had been doubling the semivariance fixed in 0.11.1, and now a tighter optimiser tolerance. Several of these silently changed results before they were caught.

◆ Prediction

Expect the maintainers to keep publishing explicit reproduction instructions alongside numerical default changes, as 0.13.0 does by documenting the `control = list(reltol = 1e-4)` escape hatch. The entries give no signal of expansion beyond the current model families.

Alternatives to gtsummary and spmodel

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 spmodel.

See all gtsummary alternatives → · See all spmodel alternatives →

Recent activity from gtsummary and spmodel

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

  1. 2mo agospmodelTighter optimiser tolerance to avoid local maxima
  2. 2mo agogtsummaryTheme elements no longer evaluated by default
  3. 6mo agospmodelEmpirical autocovariance function and better block kriging accuracy
  4. 8mo agogtsummaryARD strata functions and finer theme control
  5. 9mo agospmodelCloud semivariogram doubling fixed; geometry warnings added
  6. 11mo agogtsummaryPer-level hierarchical sorting and labeled stacking
  7. 1y agogtsummaryTable splitting, ID labeling, and add_difference_row
  8. 1y agospmodelBlock kriging for areal averages and their uncertainty
  9. 1y agogtsummaryData pre-processing restored after the 2.0 removal
  10. 1y agospmodelRobust semivariogram and new covariance types for areal models
  11. 1y agogtsummarytbl_merge gains explicit merge columns
  12. 1y agospmodelRange constraint option and redefined covariance type names

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between gtsummary and spmodel?

Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. gtsummary and spmodel 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 spmodel?

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

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