rnaturalearth
rnaturalearth finished its sp exit and is now optimising how the data actually arrives.
Comparison · Analytics
rredlist vs rstanarm
A side-by-side editorial comparison of rredlist and rstanarm — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
rredlist vs rstanarm: at a glance
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.
What is rstanarm?
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
2.32.2 is entirely infrastructure and dependency work: formula machinery migrated from lme4 to reformulas, `r_eff` no longer computed for loo by default, the Stan R packages repo replaced by R-Universe, rstantools adopted to fix build and export errors, and CRAN NOTE cleanups — contributed largely by four first-time contributors. 2.32.1 and 2.26.1 follow the same pattern, tracking rstan syntax and adding `posterior::as_draws()` support. The last release with substantive modelling content is 2.21.1, which changed how default priors are determined and flipped `autoscale` to FALSE outside default priors.
rredlist vs rstanarm: editorial side-by-side
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.
rstanarm
0.0ANALYTICS
rstanarm is community-maintained now, tracking Stan and lme4 rather than adding models.
◆ Current state
2.32.2 is entirely infrastructure and dependency work: formula machinery migrated from lme4 to reformulas, `r_eff` no longer computed for loo by default, the Stan R packages repo replaced by R-Universe, rstantools adopted to fix build and export errors, and CRAN NOTE cleanups — contributed largely by four first-time contributors. 2.32.1 and 2.26.1 follow the same pattern, tracking rstan syntax and adding `posterior::as_draws()` support. The last release with substantive modelling content is 2.21.1, which changed how default priors are determined and flipped `autoscale` to FALSE outside default priors.
◆ Where it's heading
The package has moved from feature development into ecosystem maintenance, and the contributor list shows why it survives: outside developers keep it compiling against a moving Stan, lme4 and CRAN. The `as_draws()` support and the reformulas migration both point the same way — rstanarm increasingly consumes shared infrastructure (posterior, reformulas, rstantools) instead of carrying its own.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to track another upstream change — rstan, reformulas or CRAN policy — rather than add model families. The pre-fit model surface looks settled.
Alternatives to rredlist and rstanarm
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 rredlist or rstanarm.
writexl
writexl spent nine years refusing to do formatting, then shipped all of it in 2.0.0.
rgbif
rgbif is steadily pushing users off paged searching and onto real downloads.
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 rredlist alternatives → · See all rstanarm alternatives →
Recent activity from rredlist and rstanarm
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 10mo agorstanarmrstanarm 2.32.2 migrates formula machinery to reformulas
- 11mo agorredlistrredlist 1.1.1 extracts multiple assessment elements
- 1y agorredlistrredlist 1.1.0 adds bulk assessment retrieval and extraction
- 1y agorredlistrredlist 1.0.0 rebuilds on IUCN Red List API v4 ⚡
- 2y agorstanarmrstanarm 2.32.1 fixes unit_vector error, enables LTO
- 2y agorstanarmrstanarm 2.26.1 adopts new rstan syntax and as_draws()
- 3y agorredlistrredlist 0.7.1 changes maintainer
- 4y agorstanarmrstanarm 2.21.3 fixes loo() and adds stan_jm offsets
- 5y agorredlistrredlist 0.7.0 adds vignette and HTTPS base URL
- 6y agorstanarmrstanarm 2.21.1 changes default prior behaviour
- 6y agorredlistrredlist 0.6.0 improves docs and NA handling
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between rredlist and rstanarm?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. rredlist and rstanarm 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 rredlist better than rstanarm?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. rredlist and rstanarm 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 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.
What are the best alternatives to rstanarm?
Top rstanarm alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rstanarm alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rstanarm for the full list with editorial commentary on each.