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rstatix vs vellumplot

A side-by-side editorial comparison of rstatix and vellumplot — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

rstatix vs vellumplot: at a glance

Featurerstatixvellumplot
SectorAnalyticsAnalytics
Velocity score2.56.3
Sparks · 30d01
Top themesstatistics, r, effect sizes, confidence intervalsr-graphics, grammar-of-graphics, accessibility, data-visualization
Last editorial update3h ago47m ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is rstatix?

rstatix hit 1.0 by unrounding every p-value it has ever returned

rstatix is the pipe-friendly test wrapper behind most ggpubr annotation workflows — t-tests, Wilcoxon, ANOVA, post-hoc comparisons, effect sizes, all returning tidy data frames. After three quiet years of CRAN-compat patching, it shipped 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 three weeks apart in mid-2026. Both releases push in the same direction: interval estimates and full-precision output for numbers the package previously rounded or omitted.

Read the full rstatix trajectory →

What is vellumplot?

vellumplot tags its first release with a bet most R grammars don't make: the static figure and the widget are the same object.

A new grammar of graphics built on the vellum vector engine, developing fast — ten releases in roughly three weeks — and now at its first tagged release. The distinguishing architectural claim is that the compiled plot is the scene, so a static export and an interactive widget cannot drift apart, and that it renders without a graphics device because vellum measures text itself. Accessibility is treated as a first-class output rather than an afterthought: tagged PDF with a navigable structure tree and alt text, a plot_lint() check, and colour-vision-deficiency simulation at render time.

Read the full vellumplot trajectory →

rstatix vs vellumplot: editorial side-by-side

R
rstatix
ANALYTICS
2.5

rstatix hit 1.0 by unrounding every p-value it has ever returned

◆ Current state

rstatix is the pipe-friendly test wrapper behind most ggpubr annotation workflows — t-tests, Wilcoxon, ANOVA, post-hoc comparisons, effect sizes, all returning tidy data frames. After three quiet years of CRAN-compat patching, it shipped 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 three weeks apart in mid-2026. Both releases push in the same direction: interval estimates and full-precision output for numbers the package previously rounded or omitted.

◆ Where it's heading

The work is about matching what dedicated effect-size packages give you without taking on their dependencies. Confidence intervals for partial eta squared and for Cohen's d are both computed in base R from noncentral distributions and both check against effectsize; compact letter displays are computed in base R against multcompView. The pattern is deliberate — reproduce the reference implementation, add no imports. Alongside that, the package has started correcting statistical hygiene it got wrong for years, most visibly by no longer rounding p-values before adjusting them.

◆ Prediction

The analytic-interval machinery now exists for eta squared and Cohen's d; the untouched effect sizes in the package — eta squared for nonparametric tests, Cramer's V, rank-biserial correlation — are the obvious next targets for the same base-R noncentral treatment.

V
vellumplot
ANALYTICS
6.3

vellumplot tags its first release with a bet most R grammars don't make: the static figure and the widget are the same object.

◆ Current state

A new grammar of graphics built on the vellum vector engine, developing fast — ten releases in roughly three weeks — and now at its first tagged release. The distinguishing architectural claim is that the compiled plot is the scene, so a static export and an interactive widget cannot drift apart, and that it renders without a graphics device because vellum measures text itself. Accessibility is treated as a first-class output rather than an afterthought: tagged PDF with a navigable structure tree and alt text, a plot_lint() check, and colour-vision-deficiency simulation at render time.

◆ Where it's heading

The release sequence shows a grammar filling in ggplot2-parity features and specialist marks in parallel. Parity work landed as secondary axes, rich legend titles, and Sankey styling; the specialist end added categorical datashading, image marks, flow maps and edge bundling for dense graphs. Version 0.7.0 shows a willingness to break early — vsunburst() was removed outright in favour of one vhierarchy() constructor covering sunburst, icicle, treemap and circlepack — which is the right time to do it and suggests the API is still being consolidated toward fewer, more general constructors.

◆ Prediction

Expect more consolidation of near-duplicate constructors under type arguments and continued expansion of the declarative interactivity introduced in 0.7.0, now that the first tagged release has fixed a public API surface.

Alternatives to rstatix and vellumplot

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 rstatix or vellumplot.

See all rstatix alternatives → · See all vellumplot alternatives →

Recent activity from rstatix and vellumplot

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 14d agovellumplotFirst tagged release: one spec compiles to PNG, SVG, tagged PDF and a widget
  2. 19d agovellumplotFlow maps and edge bundling for dense graph plots
  3. 22d agorstatixrstatix 1.1.0 gives Cohen's d a deterministic confidence interval
  4. 24d agovellumplotvhierarchy() replaces vsunburst(); declarative interactivity arrives
  5. 26d agovellumplotSankey crossing minimisation and per-branch sunburst colouring
  6. 29d agovellumplotSecondary axes land; rich legend titles stop clipping
  7. 1mo agovellumplotCategorical datashading in one call, plus image marks at data points
  8. 1mo agorstatixrstatix 1.0.0 stops rounding p-values before adjusting them
  9. 9mo agorstatixrstatix 0.7.3
  10. 3y agorstatixrstatix 0.7.2
  11. 3y agorstatixrstatix 0.7.1
  12. 5y agorstatixrstatix 0.7.0

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between rstatix and vellumplot?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. vellumplot is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is rstatix better than vellumplot?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. vellumplot is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to rstatix?

Top rstatix alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "rstatix alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/rstatix for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to vellumplot?

Top vellumplot alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "vellumplot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/vellumplot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.