mlr3proba
mlr3proba is shedding weight as its survival work moves into sibling packages
Comparison · Analytics
mlr3learners vs workflowsets
A side-by-side editorial comparison of mlr3learners and workflowsets — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
mlr3learners vs workflowsets: at a glance
What is mlr3learners?
mlr3learners spends its releases absorbing upstream churn
mlr3learners wraps the standard model packages — ranger, xgboost, glmnet, kknn — for mlr3. Its recent history is dominated by upstream events rather than its own plans: kknn was pulled from CRAN and its learners removed in 0.11.0, then restored in 0.12.0 when the package returned. The newest release absorbs glmnet 5.0 while adding a predict_raw flag across all learners and probit support to logistic regression.
What is workflowsets?
workflowsets keeps widening what counts as a model worth comparing.
workflowsets holds a grid of preprocessor and model combinations and evaluates all of them under one call to workflow_map(). The releases in view widen that grid — clustering specifications via tidyclust, censored regression via an eval_time argument, case weights — and fill in the accessors around it with collect_notes(), collect_extracts() and fit_best(). The long-running pull_*() deprecation finally reached the error stage in 1.1.1.
mlr3learners vs workflowsets: editorial side-by-side
mlr3learners
0.0ANALYTICS
mlr3learners spends its releases absorbing upstream churn
◆ Current state
mlr3learners wraps the standard model packages — ranger, xgboost, glmnet, kknn — for mlr3. Its recent history is dominated by upstream events rather than its own plans: kknn was pulled from CRAN and its learners removed in 0.11.0, then restored in 0.12.0 when the package returned. The newest release absorbs glmnet 5.0 while adding a predict_raw flag across all learners and probit support to logistic regression.
◆ Where it's heading
The package's job is insulation, and the changelog shows what that costs — compatibility-only releases interleaved with small capability additions that expose more of each upstream model. The direction of travel is toward giving users access to the raw upstream objects rather than hiding them.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to track another upstream version bump, with incremental exposure of learner-specific fields continuing alongside.
workflowsets
0.0ANALYTICS
workflowsets keeps widening what counts as a model worth comparing.
◆ Current state
workflowsets holds a grid of preprocessor and model combinations and evaluates all of them under one call to workflow_map(). The releases in view widen that grid — clustering specifications via tidyclust, censored regression via an eval_time argument, case weights — and fill in the accessors around it with collect_notes(), collect_extracts() and fit_best(). The long-running pull_*() deprecation finally reached the error stage in 1.1.1.
◆ Where it's heading
The package's job is comparison, so its direction is set by what tidymodels can express: every time a new model paradigm lands elsewhere, workflowsets has to learn to rank it. Clustering was the largest of those steps because it has no outcome column to score against. Alongside that runs a slower cleanup — named-only optional arguments, type checking on inputs, informative errors when someone passes a workflow set to fit() — that reads as a package hardening after its API settled.
◆ Prediction
Expect the tailor postprocessors that workflows added in 1.3.0 to need representation here next, since a workflow set that cannot vary the postprocessor cannot compare calibration choices.
Alternatives to mlr3learners and workflowsets
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 mlr3learners or workflowsets.
mlr3viz
mlr3viz keeps the ecosystem's plots working while the plots themselves move out
mlr3tuning
mlr3tuning is rebuilding its async machinery under a stable public surface
timetk
timetk swallowed anomalize whole, then went quiet for two years
modelbased
modelbased is turning marginal effects into a full contrast grammar
parameters
easystats' parameters package absorbs one more model class every few weeks
See all mlr3learners alternatives → · See all workflowsets alternatives →
Recent activity from mlr3learners and workflowsets
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agomlr3learnerspredict_raw across all learners, plus probit and ranger internals
- 8mo agomlr3learnersxgboost 3.1.2.1 compatibility
- 9mo agomlr3learnersUncertainty estimation methods for ranger regression
- 10mo agomlr3learnersDevelopment snapshot: LDA test adjustment
- 1y agoworkflowsetscollect_extracts() added; pull_*() functions now error
- 1y agomlr3learnerskknn learners restored after returning to CRAN
- 1y agomlr3learnerskknn learners removed after CRAN archival
- 2y agoworkflowsetsCensored regression evaluation; eval_time breaks positional args
- 3y agoworkflowsetsClustering models enter workflow sets via tidyclust ⚡
- 4y agoworkflowsetsCase weights supported across a workflow set
- 4y agoworkflowsetsUpdate models and recipes across a set; mixed inputs accepted
- 5y agoworkflowsetsextract_*() supersedes pull_*() across tidymodels
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between mlr3learners and workflowsets?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. mlr3learners and workflowsets 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 mlr3learners better than workflowsets?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. mlr3learners and workflowsets 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 mlr3learners?
Top mlr3learners alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "mlr3learners alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mlr3learners for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to workflowsets?
Top workflowsets alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "workflowsets alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/workflowsets for the full list with editorial commentary on each.