rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
modeldata vs osmdata
A side-by-side editorial comparison of modeldata and osmdata — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
modeldata vs osmdata: at a glance
What is modeldata?
The tidymodels example-data package grows one dataset at a time, on nobody's schedule
modeldata exists to supply the datasets and simulation functions that tidymodels documentation, tests, and teaching material depend on. Releases arrive roughly once or twice a year and consist almost entirely of new data sets plus occasional simulation methods. The most recent work adds a Worley (1987) regression simulation and moves the package off the magrittr pipe onto base R's.
What is osmdata?
osmdata keeps tightening its Overpass query surface, breaking small things to get types right.
The last two releases are the substantive ones. 0.4.0 lets `getbb()` resolve OSM relations via Wikidata ids, adds `filter_osm_user()` to Overpass query objects, and corrects metadata typing so timestamps are POSIXct rather than locale-dependent strings. 0.3.0 dropped the re-exported magrittr pipe, raised the R floor to 4.1 for the base pipe, and fixed polygon output to follow the OGC simple-features model instead of treating every ring as an independent polygon. Earlier entries are CRAN repairs and query-construction fixes.
modeldata vs osmdata: editorial side-by-side
modeldata
0.0ANALYTICS
The tidymodels example-data package grows one dataset at a time, on nobody's schedule
◆ Current state
modeldata exists to supply the datasets and simulation functions that tidymodels documentation, tests, and teaching material depend on. Releases arrive roughly once or twice a year and consist almost entirely of new data sets plus occasional simulation methods. The most recent work adds a Worley (1987) regression simulation and moves the package off the magrittr pipe onto base R's.
◆ Where it's heading
Two lines run through the history: broadening coverage of task types — ordinal classification, multinomial, regression, QSAR-style chemistry data — and building out synthetic simulation so tutorials can demonstrate a method without shipping a real dataset for it. The simulation side has grown from a single regression generator into a family with logistic and multinomial variants and a keep_truth option that exposes the error-free outcome. Infrastructure changes appear only when the wider tidyverse moves, as the base-pipe transition shows.
◆ Prediction
The pattern points to another simulation method or a dataset filling a task type the collection still lacks, rather than any change in what the package does.
osmdata
0.0ANALYTICS
osmdata keeps tightening its Overpass query surface, breaking small things to get types right.
◆ Current state
The last two releases are the substantive ones. 0.4.0 lets `getbb()` resolve OSM relations via Wikidata ids, adds `filter_osm_user()` to Overpass query objects, and corrects metadata typing so timestamps are POSIXct rather than locale-dependent strings. 0.3.0 dropped the re-exported magrittr pipe, raised the R floor to 4.1 for the base pipe, and fixed polygon output to follow the OGC simple-features model instead of treating every ring as an independent polygon. Earlier entries are CRAN repairs and query-construction fixes.
◆ Where it's heading
The pattern is deliberate correctness work: each release accepts a small breaking change to make returned objects match the standard they claim to follow, whether that is OGC polygon structure, POSIXct timestamps, or UTF-8 metadata columns. Alongside it, the Overpass query builder keeps gaining filters — by area, by out type, by osm_types, now by user and via Wikidata. The package is maturing rather than expanding.
◆ Prediction
More Overpass filter and query-object composition helpers are the likeliest next additions, since that is where both recent releases put their new surface.
Alternatives to modeldata and osmdata
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 modeldata or osmdata.
writexl
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
rgbif
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
rstanarm
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
taxa
taxa started a ground-up rewrite in 2021 and has published almost nothing since.
rotl
rotl's whole release history is keeping name matching honest against a moving taxonomy.
See all modeldata alternatives → · See all osmdata alternatives →
Recent activity from modeldata and osmdata
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agoosmdataosmdata 0.4.0
- 11mo agoosmdataosmdata 0.3.0
- 11mo agomodeldatamodeldata 1.5.1 fixes documentation and column-name typos
- 1y agomodeldatamodeldata 1.5.0 adds a Worley (1987) regression simulation
- 2y agomodeldatamodeldata 1.4.0 adds the cat_adoption data set
- 2y agomodeldatamodeldata 1.3.0 adds the deliveries data set
- 2y agoosmdataosmdata 0.2.5 resubmitted after CRAN removal
- 3y agomodeldatamodeldata 1.2.0 adds eight data sets across regression and classification
- 3y agoosmdataosmdata 0.2.3 fixes test broken by sp deprecation
- 3y agoosmdataosmdata 0.2.2 adds out:csv queries and centre coordinates
- 3y agoosmdataosmdata 0.2.1 deprecates nodes_only, fixes memory leaks
- 3y agomodeldatamodeldata 1.1.0 adds logistic and multinomial simulation plus keep_truth
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between modeldata and osmdata?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. modeldata and osmdata 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 modeldata better than osmdata?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. modeldata and osmdata 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 modeldata?
Top modeldata alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "modeldata alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/modeldata for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to osmdata?
Top osmdata alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "osmdata alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/osmdata for the full list with editorial commentary on each.