qqman
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
Comparison · Analytics
mrbayes vs quantities
A side-by-side editorial comparison of mrbayes and quantities — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:r-package
mrbayes vs quantities: at a glance
What is mrbayes?
mrbayes spent 2026 auditing its own Bayesian MR estimators for coding errors.
mrbayes wraps Stan and JAGS implementations of Bayesian Mendelian randomization estimators — IVW, MR-Egger, radial Egger, and their multivariable forms. Most of the visible history is packaging work: dependency trimming, conditional examples so the package installs where JAGS will not compile, a maintainer handover. The 0.5.3 release in July 2026 breaks that pattern with a dense list of fixes inside the model code itself.
What is quantities?
The glue package that makes R carry units and uncertainty through the same calculation.
quantities combines the units and errors packages into one class so values keep both their measurement units and their uncertainty through arithmetic, subsetting and data frame operations. Recent releases have been narrow: fixes to the covariance and correlation implementations, and performance work on the data.frame methods. Most of the release traffic is coordination with its two parent packages.
mrbayes vs quantities: editorial side-by-side
mrbayes
0.0ANALYTICS
mrbayes spent 2026 auditing its own Bayesian MR estimators for coding errors.
◆ Current state
mrbayes wraps Stan and JAGS implementations of Bayesian Mendelian randomization estimators — IVW, MR-Egger, radial Egger, and their multivariable forms. Most of the visible history is packaging work: dependency trimming, conditional examples so the package installs where JAGS will not compile, a maintainer handover. The 0.5.3 release in July 2026 breaks that pattern with a dense list of fixes inside the model code itself.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has moved from packaging upkeep into a correctness-audit phase. 0.5.3 fixes a hardcoded three-exposure loop in MVMR-Egger reporting, a broken joint-prior branch, a sigma parameterization error in radial Egger, and several prior specifications — the profile of a maintainer reading their own model files closely rather than responding to bug reports. Platform work continues underneath: an R 4.3.0 floor inherited through a transitive dependency chain, and segfault fixes on macOS ARM.
◆ Prediction
Expect further audit-driven patches to the remaining rjags and Stan model files rather than new estimators; the fixes in 0.5.3 cluster in the Egger variants, which suggests that is where the reading is still in progress.
quantities
0.0ANALYTICS
The glue package that makes R carry units and uncertainty through the same calculation.
◆ Current state
quantities combines the units and errors packages into one class so values keep both their measurement units and their uncertainty through arithmetic, subsetting and data frame operations. Recent releases have been narrow: fixes to the covariance and correlation implementations, and performance work on the data.frame methods. Most of the release traffic is coordination with its two parent packages.
◆ Where it's heading
The design settled with 0.2.0, which made uncertainty unit-aware and added correlation and covariance support for quantities objects. Since then the package behaves like the integration layer it is — releasing when units, errors, dplyr or ggplot2 shift underneath it rather than on its own schedule. Several releases consist only of test repairs against upstream changes.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to follow a units or errors change rather than introduce new behaviour of its own.
Alternatives to mrbayes and quantities
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 mrbayes or quantities.
constants
The R package for CODATA constants rebuilt its symbol table on NIST's naming so future updates stop being hand work.
austraits
The R client for AusTraits spends its releases chasing the dataset it reads.
ggdemetra
A ggplot2 layer for seasonal adjustment output, filling in one plot type at a time.
fossilsim
A fossil-record simulator that quietly grew a trait-evolution engine.
tern.rbmi
Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.
See all mrbayes alternatives → · See all quantities alternatives →
Recent activity from mrbayes and quantities
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agomrbayesEstimator audit fixes MVMR-Egger loops and radial Egger sigma
- 1y agoquantitiesFixes covariance and correlation implementations
- 1y agomrbayesMVMR rjags example gated on rjags being installed
- 1y agomrbayesExamples and tests skip when rstan or rjags is missing
- 1y agomrbayespkgdown site updated
- 1y agomrbayesHelper command added for installing JAGS
- 1y agomrbayesDependency surface trimmed; maintainer handover
- 2y agoquantitiesFaster data.frame methods
- 3y agoquantitiesTest fixes for an upstream units change
- 3y agoquantitiesUncertainty becomes unit-aware; adds correlation support
- 5y agoquantitiesCompatibility fix for units 0.7-0
- 6y agoquantitiesFixes uncertainty propagation for offset unit conversions
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between mrbayes and quantities?
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. mrbayes and quantities 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 mrbayes better than quantities?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. mrbayes and quantities 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 mrbayes?
Top mrbayes alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "mrbayes alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mrbayes for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to quantities?
Top quantities alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "quantities alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/quantities for the full list with editorial commentary on each.