rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
rgbif vs rredlist
A side-by-side editorial comparison of rgbif and rredlist — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:api-migration
rgbif vs rredlist: at a glance
What is rgbif?
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
rgbif ships several times a year and the recent releases cluster around downloads. 3.8.1 added `occ_download_sql()` for SQL-based occurrence downloads; 3.8.2 added DOI-to-download-key resolution and institutionKey downloads; 3.8.3 relayed GBIF's new throttling of bulk paging through `occ_search()` with a message pointing users at `occ_download()`; 3.8.5 added a family of `occ_download_stats_*()` functions plus multiple-taxonomy and verbatim-extension downloads. Alongside that, `name_backbone()` moved to GBIF API v2, and 3.8.0 soft-deprecated `occ_data()`.
What is rredlist?
rredlist threw out its species-centric API in 1.0.0 and rebuilt around assessments.
rredlist 1.0.0 is a hard break: the IUCN Red List API moved to v4, and the package followed by dropping v3 support entirely, reorganising around assessments rather than species, renaming or removing most functions, changing returned data structures, and requiring users to generate a new API key. The two releases since are consolidation on that new shape — `rl_assessment_list()` and `rl_assessment_extract()` for retrieving and unpacking many assessments at once, a `scope` argument on the `*_latest()` functions, and NULL-safe extraction.
rgbif vs rredlist: editorial side-by-side
rgbif
0.0ANALYTICS
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
◆ Current state
rgbif ships several times a year and the recent releases cluster around downloads. 3.8.1 added `occ_download_sql()` for SQL-based occurrence downloads; 3.8.2 added DOI-to-download-key resolution and institutionKey downloads; 3.8.3 relayed GBIF's new throttling of bulk paging through `occ_search()` with a message pointing users at `occ_download()`; 3.8.5 added a family of `occ_download_stats_*()` functions plus multiple-taxonomy and verbatim-extension downloads. Alongside that, `name_backbone()` moved to GBIF API v2, and 3.8.0 soft-deprecated `occ_data()`.
◆ Where it's heading
Two things are happening at once. GBIF is discouraging bulk retrieval through the search API, and rgbif is building out the download path fast enough to absorb the traffic — SQL queries, DOI round-tripping, format description, and now statistics about the downloads themselves. Metadata coverage has expanded in parallel, with a dozen `dataset_*()` functions in 3.7.9 and GRSciColl institution search in 3.8.3. The deprecations are consistent: `occ_data()`, `occ_facet()`, `occ_count(type=)` all retired in favour of narrower replacements.
◆ Prediction
The download surface is where the next additions will land — likely more SQL-download tooling and further statistics endpoints, following 3.8.1 and 3.8.5.
rredlist
0.0ANALYTICS
rredlist threw out its species-centric API in 1.0.0 and rebuilt around assessments.
◆ Current state
rredlist 1.0.0 is a hard break: the IUCN Red List API moved to v4, and the package followed by dropping v3 support entirely, reorganising around assessments rather than species, renaming or removing most functions, changing returned data structures, and requiring users to generate a new API key. The two releases since are consolidation on that new shape — `rl_assessment_list()` and `rl_assessment_extract()` for retrieving and unpacking many assessments at once, a `scope` argument on the `*_latest()` functions, and NULL-safe extraction.
◆ Where it's heading
Post-1.0.0 work is clearly aimed at bulk use: fetch many assessments, pull a chosen field out of each. That is a different usage pattern from the one-species-at-a-time queries the v3-era functions encouraged, and it suits the conservation-analysis workloads the package is actually used for. Deprecated v3 functions are still present and flagged for eventual removal.
◆ Prediction
The deprecated v3-era functions are the obvious next thing to disappear, and further bulk-retrieval helpers are likely given both post-1.0 releases went that way.
Alternatives to rgbif and rredlist
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 rgbif or rredlist.
writexl
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
rstanarm
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
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 rgbif alternatives → · See all rredlist alternatives →
Recent activity from rgbif and rredlist
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4mo agorgbifrgbif 3.8.5 adds occurrence download statistics functions
- 8mo agorgbifrgbif 3.8.4 moves name matching to GBIF API v2
- 11mo agorgbifrgbif 3.8.3 adds GRSciColl search, relays GBIF paging throttle
- 11mo agorredlistrredlist 1.1.1 extracts multiple assessment elements
- 1y agorredlistrredlist 1.1.0 adds bulk assessment retrieval and extraction
- 1y agorgbifrgbif 3.8.2 resolves download DOIs to keys
- 1y agorredlistrredlist 1.0.0 rebuilds on IUCN Red List API v4 ⚡
- 1y agorgbifrgbif 3.8.1 adds SQL-based occurrence downloads ⚡
- 2y agorgbifrgbif 3.8.0 soft-deprecates occ_data(), adds download describe
- 3y agorredlistrredlist 0.7.1 changes maintainer
- 5y agorredlistrredlist 0.7.0 adds vignette and HTTPS base URL
- 6y agorredlistrredlist 0.6.0 improves docs and NA handling
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between rgbif and rredlist?
Both compete on the same themes — api-migration — within Analytics. rgbif and rredlist 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 rgbif better than rredlist?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. rgbif and rredlist 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 rgbif?
Top rgbif alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rgbif alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rgbif for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to rredlist?
Top rredlist alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rredlist alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rredlist for the full list with editorial commentary on each.