rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
modeldata vs rstanarm
A side-by-side editorial comparison of modeldata and rstanarm — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
modeldata vs rstanarm: 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 rstanarm?
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
2.32.2 is entirely infrastructure and dependency work: formula machinery migrated from lme4 to reformulas, `r_eff` no longer computed for loo by default, the Stan R packages repo replaced by R-Universe, rstantools adopted to fix build and export errors, and CRAN NOTE cleanups — contributed largely by four first-time contributors. 2.32.1 and 2.26.1 follow the same pattern, tracking rstan syntax and adding `posterior::as_draws()` support. The last release with substantive modelling content is 2.21.1, which changed how default priors are determined and flipped `autoscale` to FALSE outside default priors.
modeldata vs rstanarm: 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.
rstanarm
0.0ANALYTICS
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
◆ Current state
2.32.2 is entirely infrastructure and dependency work: formula machinery migrated from lme4 to reformulas, `r_eff` no longer computed for loo by default, the Stan R packages repo replaced by R-Universe, rstantools adopted to fix build and export errors, and CRAN NOTE cleanups — contributed largely by four first-time contributors. 2.32.1 and 2.26.1 follow the same pattern, tracking rstan syntax and adding `posterior::as_draws()` support. The last release with substantive modelling content is 2.21.1, which changed how default priors are determined and flipped `autoscale` to FALSE outside default priors.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has moved from feature development into ecosystem maintenance, and the contributor list shows why it survives: outside developers keep it compiling against a moving Stan, lme4 and CRAN. The `as_draws()` support and the reformulas migration both point the same way — rstanarm increasingly consumes shared infrastructure (posterior, reformulas, rstantools) instead of carrying its own.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to track another upstream change — rstan, reformulas or CRAN policy — rather than add model families. The pre-fit model surface looks settled.
Alternatives to modeldata and rstanarm
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 rstanarm.
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.
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.
taxize
taxize spends its releases absorbing other people's API changes, one dead source at a time.
See all modeldata alternatives → · See all rstanarm alternatives →
Recent activity from modeldata and rstanarm
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 10mo agorstanarmrstanarm 2.32.2 migrates formula machinery to reformulas
- 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 agorstanarmrstanarm 2.32.1 fixes unit_vector error, enables LTO
- 2y agomodeldatamodeldata 1.3.0 adds the deliveries data set
- 2y agorstanarmrstanarm 2.26.1 adopts new rstan syntax and as_draws()
- 3y agomodeldatamodeldata 1.2.0 adds eight data sets across regression and classification
- 3y agomodeldatamodeldata 1.1.0 adds logistic and multinomial simulation plus keep_truth
- 4y agorstanarmrstanarm 2.21.3 fixes loo() and adds stan_jm offsets
- 6y agorstanarmrstanarm 2.21.1 changes default prior behaviour
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between modeldata and rstanarm?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. modeldata and rstanarm 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 rstanarm?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. modeldata and rstanarm 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 rstanarm?
Top rstanarm alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rstanarm alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rstanarm for the full list with editorial commentary on each.