tidytext
Finished, widely taught, and shipping roxygen fixes.
Comparison · Analytics
probably vs readxl
A side-by-side editorial comparison of probably and readxl — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
probably vs readxl: at a glance
What is probably?
The package that made calibration a step instead of an afterthought.
probably started as a small utility for class predictions and equivocal zones, and version 1.0.0 turned it into tidymodels' calibration and uncertainty package: cal_plot_*, cal_estimate_*, cal_validate_* and cal_apply across binary, multiclass and regression problems, plus conformal prediction intervals. Since then the work has been consolidation — a large internal refactor with no API change, split conformal and conformal quantile regression, bound_prediction(), and required_pkgs() and butcher methods so conformal objects can be deployed and stripped.
What is readxl?
readxl has shipped almost nothing but vendored-dependency upkeep since 2022.
readxl reads Excel files into R without requiring Excel, bundling the libxls and RapidXML C libraries. Four of its last six releases state outright that they contain no user-facing changes, existing instead to satisfy CRAN, silence a sanitizer warning, or re-embed a patched libxls.
probably vs readxl: editorial side-by-side
probably
0.0ANALYTICS
The package that made calibration a step instead of an afterthought.
◆ Current state
probably started as a small utility for class predictions and equivocal zones, and version 1.0.0 turned it into tidymodels' calibration and uncertainty package: cal_plot_*, cal_estimate_*, cal_validate_* and cal_apply across binary, multiclass and regression problems, plus conformal prediction intervals. Since then the work has been consolidation — a large internal refactor with no API change, split conformal and conformal quantile regression, bound_prediction(), and required_pkgs() and butcher methods so conformal objects can be deployed and stripped.
◆ Where it's heading
The recent releases are about making these objects survive leaving the session. butcher and required_pkgs() methods are what a model needs to be pinned, containerised and served, and their arrival alongside workflows adding a tailor postprocessing stage and vetiver adding probably support points the same way: calibration is being moved out of analysis scripts and into the deployed pipeline. The cal_*_none() reference implementations are the tell that calibration is now something people tune rather than apply once.
◆ Prediction
Expect the calibration functions to be reachable directly from a tuned workflow's postprocessing stage rather than applied to predictions afterwards, following the tailor integration that workflows just shipped.
readxl
0.0ANALYTICS
readxl has shipped almost nothing but vendored-dependency upkeep since 2022.
◆ Current state
readxl reads Excel files into R without requiring Excel, bundling the libxls and RapidXML C libraries. Four of its last six releases state outright that they contain no user-facing changes, existing instead to satisfy CRAN, silence a sanitizer warning, or re-embed a patched libxls.
◆ Where it's heading
The real work has become stewardship of vendored C code: absorbing libxls security fixes and keeping the package compiling across Alpine, UBSAN and successive cpp11 versions. 1.5.0 breaks the streak only slightly, with a network-drive permission warning fix and a cpp11 floor raised to dodge a segfault.
◆ Prediction
Expect the same rhythm — releases triggered by toolchain breakage or an upstream libxls patch rather than new spreadsheet-reading capability.
Alternatives to probably and readxl
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 probably or readxl.
textrecipes
Text features finally stay sparse all the way to the model.
workflowsets
workflowsets keeps widening what counts as a model worth comparing.
workflows
The tidymodels pipeline grew a third stage, and it happens after the model runs.
vetiver
Posit's MLOps package went quiet for two years, then came back to keep up with recipes.
patchwork
patchwork stopped being a ggplot composer and became a page composer.
See all probably alternatives → · See all readxl alternatives →
Recent activity from probably and readxl
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2mo agoreadxlreadxl 1.5.0 stops false access-denied warnings on network drives
- 10mo agoprobablyConformal objects gain required_pkgs() and butcher methods
- 1y agoprobablyggplot2 test updates and a clearer validation-set error
- 1y agoprobablyCalibration internals refactored; isotonic bootstrap bug fixed
- 1y agoreadxlreadxl 1.4.5 clears a gcc UBSAN warning
- 1y agoreadxlreadxl 1.4.4 embeds libxls 1.6.3 with vulnerability fixes
- 2y agoprobablyFix grouping sensitivity to variable type
- 3y agoreadxlreadxl 1.4.3 ships with no user-facing changes
- 3y agoprobablySplit conformal and conformal quantile regression added
- 3y agoprobablyCalibration and conformal inference arrive in tidymodels ⚡
- 3y agoreadxlreadxl 1.4.2 embeds a libxls build fixing CVE-2021-27836
- 3y agoreadxlreadxl 1.4.1 regenerates help files for valid HTML5
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between probably and readxl?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. probably and readxl 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 probably better than readxl?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. probably and readxl 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 probably?
Top probably alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "probably alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/probably for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to readxl?
Top readxl alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "readxl alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/readxl for the full list with editorial commentary on each.