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mantis vs silx

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

mantis vs silx: at a glance

Featuremantissilx
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score0.05.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themestime-series, reporting, ropensci, api-stabilityscientific-computing, data-visualization, synchrotron, qt
Last editorial update4d ago2h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is mantis?

Thirteen months of rOpenSci review turned a pre-release into a 1.0 with a stable API

mantis builds interactive time-series reports — heatmaps, multipanel plots, alert tables — over routinely collected data, and its release history is essentially an rOpenSci peer-review log. The package went from a January 2025 pre-release that warned of breaking changes ahead, through submission and CRAN acceptance, to a 1.0.0 in October 2025 that locked the API. Since then it has shipped only two small fixes, the most recent chasing a dplyr 1.2.0 deprecation.

Read the full mantis trajectory →

What is silx?

silx settles into maintenance a release after its PySide6 migration

silx is in the quiet phase after a generational release. 3.1.1 is a single fix to FitWidget loading a fit function from file. The release before it, 3.1.0, was the first real feature work since the migration - asinh axis scaling, twilight colormaps, and dark-theme icons - and 3.0.1 was similarly small. The 3.0.0 cut that reset the Qt binding and Python floor still defines what the line is doing.

Read the full silx trajectory →

mantis vs silx: editorial side-by-side

M
mantis
ANALYTICS
0.0

Thirteen months of rOpenSci review turned a pre-release into a 1.0 with a stable API

◆ Current state

mantis builds interactive time-series reports — heatmaps, multipanel plots, alert tables — over routinely collected data, and its release history is essentially an rOpenSci peer-review log. The package went from a January 2025 pre-release that warned of breaking changes ahead, through submission and CRAN acceptance, to a 1.0.0 in October 2025 that locked the API. Since then it has shipped only two small fixes, the most recent chasing a dplyr 1.2.0 deprecation.

◆ Where it's heading

The breaking changes cluster entirely below 1.0.0 and stop there: `period` became `timepoint_unit`, `save_directory`/`save_filename` became `file`, `function_call` became `expression`. Post-1.0 the work is defensive — stricter POSIXt validation, timepoint limits that clamp to the data rather than inventing plot points, daylight-savings handling. The feed reads as a package that has finished defining itself and is now maintaining compatibility with the tidyverse underneath it.

◆ Prediction

With the API frozen and review complete, expect the next release to be another upstream-compatibility fix rather than new report types. There is no signal in these entries about planned feature work.

S
silx
ANALYTICS
5.0

silx settles into maintenance a release after its PySide6 migration

◆ Current state

silx is in the quiet phase after a generational release. 3.1.1 is a single fix to FitWidget loading a fit function from file. The release before it, 3.1.0, was the first real feature work since the migration - asinh axis scaling, twilight colormaps, and dark-theme icons - and 3.0.1 was similarly small. The 3.0.0 cut that reset the Qt binding and Python floor still defines what the line is doing.

◆ Where it's heading

The cadence has slowed markedly since April, and the content has shifted from structural change to plotting and colormap refinement. That is the expected shape after a binding migration: downstream beamline code needs a stable target, so the project trades feature velocity for a quiet surface. The gap between 3.0.1 in May and 3.1.0 in August is the clearest signal of the deliberate slowdown.

◆ Prediction

Expect further point releases servicing the plotting and fitting widgets rather than another structural change, with feature work continuing to arrive in the 3.1.x minors rather than patches.

Alternatives to mantis and silx

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 mantis or silx.

See all mantis alternatives → · See all silx alternatives →

Recent activity from mantis and silx

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

  1. 5h agosilxFitWidget fix for loading a fit function from file
  2. 9d agosilx3.1.0: asinh axis scaling, twilight colormaps, dark-theme icons
  3. 3mo agosilx3.0.1: silx view fails to disable HDF5 file locking
  4. 3mo agosilx3.0.0: PySide6 becomes the default Qt binding, Python 3.10 required
  5. 3mo agosilx3.0.0rc1: release candidate for the PySide6 migration
  6. 6mo agomantisdplyr 1.2.0 compatibility fix
  7. 7mo agomantisrOpenSci acceptance, plus an NA timepoint-limit fix
  8. 9mo agomantis1.0.0 locks the API and tightens timepoint handling
  9. 1y agomantisBespoke reports return to the CRAN build
  10. 1y agomantisFirst CRAN submission, standard reports only
  11. 1y agomantisrOpenSci submission; period renamed to timepoint_unit
  12. 1y agosilx2.2.2: plot axes limits, OpenGL axes and libhdf5 1.14 fixes

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between mantis and silx?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. silx is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 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 mantis better than silx?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. silx is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 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 mantis?

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

What are the best alternatives to silx?

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