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Comparison · Infra & APIs
nmfspalette vs PowerTOST
A side-by-side editorial comparison of nmfspalette and PowerTOST — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
nmfspalette vs PowerTOST: at a glance
What is nmfspalette?
A NOAA Fisheries colour palette that ships when the branding guide changes
nmfspalette supplies the NOAA Fisheries colour palette as an R package, for figures that have to follow agency branding. Its five releases track the branding guide rather than any software need: a first version in 2020, a breaking switch to CSS-compatible colour names in 2021, an update to the 2022 branding colours applied in July 2023, and a 2024 release whose stated purpose is to mint a DOI. There is no functionality here beyond supplying colours.
What is PowerTOST?
A bioequivalence sample-size workhorse whose news is which regulator it now covers
PowerTOST computes power and sample size for bioequivalence and its changelog reads as a record of regulatory divergence more than statistical development. Version 1.5-3 added the Gulf Co-operation Council as a regulator setting; 1.5-4 and 1.5-6 stripped 'FDA' out of the narrow-therapeutic-index function names once China's CDE began requiring the same evaluation. The most recent release, 1.5-7, is a single fix to how nvec() splits a total sample size across sequences.
nmfspalette vs PowerTOST: editorial side-by-side
nmfspalette
0.0INFRA · APIS
A NOAA Fisheries colour palette that ships when the branding guide changes
◆ Current state
nmfspalette supplies the NOAA Fisheries colour palette as an R package, for figures that have to follow agency branding. Its five releases track the branding guide rather than any software need: a first version in 2020, a breaking switch to CSS-compatible colour names in 2021, an update to the 2022 branding colours applied in July 2023, and a 2024 release whose stated purpose is to mint a DOI. There is no functionality here beyond supplying colours.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a package whose release schedule is set outside the project — it changes when NOAA publishes new branding, and the 2022 guide took until 2023 to land here. The one release with real user impact was the 2021 breaking change, which replaced the branding guide's colour names with CSS-compatible ones and would have broken any code naming a colour directly. The DOI release indicates the maintainer expects it to be cited in publications, which is the natural end state for an agency-standard palette.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release when NOAA Fisheries revises its branding guide again; on the 2022-to-2023 precedent, it will follow the guide by several months.
PowerTOST
0.0INFRA · APIS
A bioequivalence sample-size workhorse whose news is which regulator it now covers
◆ Current state
PowerTOST computes power and sample size for bioequivalence and its changelog reads as a record of regulatory divergence more than statistical development. Version 1.5-3 added the Gulf Co-operation Council as a regulator setting; 1.5-4 and 1.5-6 stripped 'FDA' out of the narrow-therapeutic-index function names once China's CDE began requiring the same evaluation. The most recent release, 1.5-7, is a single fix to how nvec() splits a total sample size across sequences.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is in long maintenance with a widening regulatory surface: the statistical methods are settled, and releases arrive when an agency publishes a framework that can be expressed as a settings variant of an existing method. Function naming has been deliberately decoupled from any single agency, with the deprecated FDA-suffixed aliases carried for years before removal. Cadence has slowed to roughly one release every eighteen months.
◆ Prediction
The next release is most likely another regulator setting or a small fix; on the deprecation notice already given, the power.NTIDFDA()-style aliases are the obvious removal candidate.
Alternatives to nmfspalette and PowerTOST
Other Infra & APIs 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 nmfspalette or PowerTOST.
Cursor
Cursor's agents stop waiting to be asked - they subscribe, and they hold a goal until it's done.
incident.io
Nexus does the diagnosis; the agent is now reaching into the status page too.
Warp
Warp turned its quarter of software-factory essays into infrastructure you can buy.
Okta
Okta's developer blog is a Cross App Access campaign, now diluted by advocacy-team storytelling.
tealeaves
A leaf-temperature model that finished its job in 2020 and has stayed finished
See all nmfspalette alternatives → · See all PowerTOST alternatives →
Recent activity from nmfspalette and PowerTOST
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 10mo agoPowerTOSTFix for splitting total sample size across sequences
- 2y agonmfspaletteMinor updates and DOI
- 2y agoPowerTOSTNTID functions renamed off the FDA acronym; GCC guidance in vignettes
- 2y agonmfspaletteUpdate to new 2022 colors
- 4y agoPowerTOSTpower.NTID() aliases added; FDA-suffixed names deprecated
- 5y agonmfspaletteRelease with CSS compatible names
- 5y agoPowerTOSTGulf Co-operation Council added as a regulator setting
- 5y agoPowerTOSTMaintenance release with vignette and documentation clarifications
- 5y agonmfspaletteRelease update to work with r-cmd-check
- 5y agonmfspaletteThe first release of nmfspalette
- 5y agoPowerTOSTstringsAsFactors fix for older R in a vignette example
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between nmfspalette and PowerTOST?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. nmfspalette and PowerTOST 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 nmfspalette better than PowerTOST?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. nmfspalette and PowerTOST 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to nmfspalette?
Top nmfspalette alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "nmfspalette alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/nmfspalette for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to PowerTOST?
Top PowerTOST alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "PowerTOST alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/powertost for the full list with editorial commentary on each.