n2kanalysis
n2kanalysis has spent eight years wiring INLA models to an S3 bucket.
Comparison · Analytics
mrbayes vs trias
A side-by-side editorial comparison of mrbayes and trias — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
mrbayes vs trias: 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 trias?
Belgium's invasive-species indicator toolkit is in steady refinement, one plotting edge case at a time.
trias computes and visualizes indicators for the Belgian Tracking Invasive Alien Species project — emergence detection via GAMs, introduction pathway breakdowns following CBD categories, and native range trends. The recent releases are narrow: GAM plots can now be produced without textual annotation when the model cannot be fitted, and apply_decision_rules() no longer supplies a default for a required argument.
mrbayes vs trias: 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.
trias
0.0ANALYTICS
Belgium's invasive-species indicator toolkit is in steady refinement, one plotting edge case at a time.
◆ Current state
trias computes and visualizes indicators for the Belgian Tracking Invasive Alien Species project — emergence detection via GAMs, introduction pathway breakdowns following CBD categories, and native range trends. The recent releases are narrow: GAM plots can now be produced without textual annotation when the model cannot be fitted, and apply_decision_rules() no longer supplies a default for a required argument.
◆ Where it's heading
Development runs in small, fast patches concentrated on making the indicator functions survive imperfect real-world input — pathways absent from the data, GAMs that will not converge, checklist files with unexpected columns. A second thread trims the package's own surface in favor of the data it ships, deprecating pathways_cbd() in favor of using the pathwayscbd data frame directly, while get_nubkeys() extends reach into GBIF Backbone taxon key resolution.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued patch-level hardening of the visualization functions and further reliance on GBIF services for taxon resolution, with no sign of a structural change to the indicator set.
Alternatives to mrbayes and trias
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 trias.
n1qn1c
A Fortran-descended optimizer got thread-safe, then found two flags that never worked.
ggstatsplot
ggstatsplot reached 1.0 by adding tests, having outsourced its statistics years ago.
collapse
collapse got a JSS paper and a 7x fmean speedup in the same release.
gtsummary
gtsummary is quietly rebuilding itself around analysis results data, one table verb at a time.
broadcast
broadcast is filling in NumPy-style array broadcasting for R, operator by operator.
See all mrbayes alternatives → · See all trias alternatives →
Recent activity from mrbayes and trias
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1mo agomrbayesEstimator audit fixes MVMR-Egger loops and radial Egger sigma
- 3mo agotriasGAM plots survive models that cannot be fitted
- 5mo agotriasColumn validation added to the download list update
- 6mo agotriasY-axis tick values corrected in pathway plots
- 6mo agotriasZenodo integration patch removes the DOI badge
- 6mo agotriasget_nubkeys() resolves GBIF Backbone taxon keys
- 6mo agotriaspathways_cbd() deprecated in favor of its data frame
- 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
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between mrbayes and trias?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. mrbayes and trias 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 trias?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. mrbayes and trias 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 trias?
Top trias alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "trias alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/trias-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.