tidytext
Finished, widely taught, and shipping roxygen fixes.
Comparison · Analytics
loo vs see
A side-by-side editorial comparison of loo and see — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
loo vs see: at a glance
What is loo?
loo keeps rewriting the diagnostics Bayesian modellers read off model comparison
loo computes leave-one-out cross-validation and model comparison for Bayesian models in the Stan ecosystem. Two releases in this window changed what users actually read: 2.7.0 replaced the fixed Pareto-k thresholds with sample-size-dependent ones and dropped the middle category, and 2.10.0 reshaped loo_compare's output into a data.frame with new uncertainty columns. The releases between are diagnostic robustness fixes and moment-matching corrections.
What is see?
see grows wherever easystats adds a diagnostic, one plot method at a time.
see is the visualization layer for the easystats ecosystem, supplying plot() methods for performance, parameters and datawizard objects. Each release adds methods for whatever those packages shipped — prior predictive checks, DAG diagrams, factor-analysis graphs — alongside steady theme and geom refinement.
loo vs see: editorial side-by-side
loo
2.5ANALYTICS
loo keeps rewriting the diagnostics Bayesian modellers read off model comparison
◆ Current state
loo computes leave-one-out cross-validation and model comparison for Bayesian models in the Stan ecosystem. Two releases in this window changed what users actually read: 2.7.0 replaced the fixed Pareto-k thresholds with sample-size-dependent ones and dropped the middle category, and 2.10.0 reshaped loo_compare's output into a data.frame with new uncertainty columns. The releases between are diagnostic robustness fixes and moment-matching corrections.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is being brought in line with the current PSIS literature rather than extended with new features, and the practical effect is that the numbers practitioners quote in papers keep changing meaning. Work is increasingly delegated to posterior for shared computations, and the project has added contributor process, benchmarks and a published AI contribution policy.
◆ Prediction
Expect further work on comparison diagnostics — the p_worse and diag_* columns are new enough that their defaults and documentation will likely be revised next.
see
0.0ANALYTICS
see grows wherever easystats adds a diagnostic, one plot method at a time.
◆ Current state
see is the visualization layer for the easystats ecosystem, supplying plot() methods for performance, parameters and datawizard objects. Each release adds methods for whatever those packages shipped — prior predictive checks, DAG diagrams, factor-analysis graphs — alongside steady theme and geom refinement.
◆ Where it's heading
Growth here is downstream-driven rather than self-directed: see expands to cover new diagnostics as easystats produces them. Running alongside that is a sustained investment in presentation control — theme arguments on plot methods, elements that scale with base_size — which suits users embedding these plots in documents rather than glancing at them interactively.
◆ Prediction
Expect new plot methods to keep arriving in step with performance and parameters releases, with continued theming work rather than any change in the package's scope.
Alternatives to loo and see
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 loo or see.
textrecipes
Text features finally stay sparse all the way to the model.
probably
The package that made calibration a step instead of an afterthought.
workflowsets
workflowsets keeps widening what counts as a model worth comparing.
workflows
The tidymodels pipeline grew a third stage, and it happens after the model runs.
vetiver
Posit's MLOps package went quiet for two years, then came back to keep up with recipes.
Recent activity from loo and see
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 20d agoloopsis_smooth_tail revert and simplify arg restored
- 1mo agoseesee 0.14.1 adds plots for prior checks and grouped means
- 1mo agolooloo_compare returns a data.frame with new uncertainty columns ⚡
- 2mo agoseesee 0.14.0 renders factor loadings as node-edge graphs
- 6mo agoseesee 0.13.0 fixes reversed plot sorting, adds theme arguments
- 7mo agolooStacking overflow fixes and posterior-based ESS
- 11mo agoseesee 0.12.0 extends normality checks to psych factor models
- 1y agoseesee 0.11.0 scales theme elements with base_size
- 1y agoseesee 0.10.0 plots random-effect group levels for mixed models
- 2y agolooMore robust Pareto-k diagnostics and moment matching
- 2y agolooPareto-k thresholds now depend on sample size ⚡
- 3y agolooLOO predictive metrics and CRPS scoring functions
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between loo and see?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. loo 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 loo better than see?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. loo 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 loo?
Top loo alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "loo alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/loo for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to see?
Top see alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "see alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/see-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.