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Comparison · Analytics
fmtr vs Omni
A side-by-side editorial comparison of fmtr and Omni — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
fmtr vs Omni: at a glance
What is fmtr?
Rebuilding SAS's formatting layer in R, one format specification at a time
fmtr applies formats to R data the way SAS applies them: named format catalogues, format lists, and an fapply() that maps a specification onto a vector. It is part of a family of packages that reconstruct SAS reporting idioms in R, and it shares infrastructure with them — labels.data.frame() was moved out to the common package, which fmtr now depends on. The recent releases have been closing specific gaps against SAS's own format vocabulary.
What is Omni?
Omni ships weekly, and almost every week the headline item is an AI feature.
Omni publishes a dated weekly digest whose body is a single line listing that week's items, so each entry compresses several releases into a sentence. Across the window the pattern is unmistakable: AI-powered semantic model generation reaching general availability, AI Routines creatable from chat and deliverable to Slack, AI model suggestion endpoints, AI credit controls scoped to embed entity groups and individual users, AI Evals on Azure, and MCP surfaces appearing both in-app and as a searchDashboards tool. The most recent week breaks that streak — default filters on composite topics, stopping a running dashboard query, full-screen preview editing — the first digest in two months led by conventional BI work.
fmtr vs Omni: editorial side-by-side
fmtr
0.0ANALYTICS
Rebuilding SAS's formatting layer in R, one format specification at a time
◆ Current state
fmtr applies formats to R data the way SAS applies them: named format catalogues, format lists, and an fapply() that maps a specification onto a vector. It is part of a family of packages that reconstruct SAS reporting idioms in R, and it shares infrastructure with them — labels.data.frame() was moved out to the common package, which fmtr now depends on. The recent releases have been closing specific gaps against SAS's own format vocabulary.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is parity, pursued in small increments. Quarter format codes were added because base R has none; the SAS best. format was reimplemented, then hardened against the variations people actually write; statistical summary helpers like fmt_mean_sd() and fmt_mean_stderr() cover the cell contents clinical tables need. The structural work is largely behind it, including the breaking 2022 move that handed labelling to a sibling package, so what remains is vocabulary coverage.
◆ Prediction
The pattern of adding a SAS format, then a release to handle its variants, suggests the next releases continue filling in format codes and summary helpers rather than changing how formats are applied.
Omni
6.3ANALYTICS
Omni ships weekly, and almost every week the headline item is an AI feature.
◆ Current state
Omni publishes a dated weekly digest whose body is a single line listing that week's items, so each entry compresses several releases into a sentence. Across the window the pattern is unmistakable: AI-powered semantic model generation reaching general availability, AI Routines creatable from chat and deliverable to Slack, AI model suggestion endpoints, AI credit controls scoped to embed entity groups and individual users, AI Evals on Azure, and MCP surfaces appearing both in-app and as a searchDashboards tool. The most recent week breaks that streak — default filters on composite topics, stopping a running dashboard query, full-screen preview editing — the first digest in two months led by conventional BI work.
◆ Where it's heading
Two things have been happening in parallel and they are related. Omni pushed AI into the modelling layer rather than only the query layer, which is what semantic model generation reaching GA signified, then built the commercial and access controls those features require — credit limits per user and per embed entity group arrived within weeks of the capabilities that consume them. The MCP work points at a third direction, exposing Omni's content to external agents rather than only serving its own chat. The latest week's return to filters and query controls suggests the AI surface has reached the point where the surrounding product has to catch up to it.
◆ Prediction
With searchDashboards already shipped as an MCP tool, more of Omni's catalog is the obvious next thing to expose that way, and credit controls should keep extending to cover newer AI surfaces. Whether the non-AI week is a pause or a genuine rebalancing is not something one digest can settle.
Alternatives to fmtr and Omni
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 fmtr or Omni.
Fulcrum
Fulcrum is betting its whole map stack on Esri, with a hard Google Maps cutoff on September 1.
Holistics
Holistics keeps fencing in the AI layer it spent the summer building.
Dovetail
Dovetail spent July opening doors to other tools and August making its own rooms easier to enter.
tulpa
The 0.0.x train stops at CRAN: tulpa's engine ships to the ecosystem it already anchors.
AgencyAnalytics
AgencyAI got skills three weeks ago; everything since has been making them routine.
Recent activity from fmtr and Omni
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoOmniOmni adds default filters on composite topics and query stopping
- 9d agoOmniOmni adds presentation mode and a searchDashboards MCP tool
- 16d agoOmniOmni adds AI credit controls per user and embed entity group
- 23d agoOmniAI semantic model generation goes generally available in Omni ⚡
- 1mo agoOmniOmni adds AI suggestion endpoints and OAuth for database connections
- 1mo agoOmniOmni brings AI routines to Slack and adds in-app MCP settings
- 10mo agofmtrMean and standard error helper, plus best-format variants
- 11mo agofmtrSAS best. format reimplemented in fapply()
- 2y agofmtrQuarter format codes %q and %Q added
- 2y agofmtrFormat lists become readable and writable files
- 2y agofmtrDocumentation and examples expanded
- 2y agofmtrvalue() can return results as a factor
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between fmtr and Omni?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Omni is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), 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 fmtr better than Omni?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Omni is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), 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 fmtr?
Top fmtr alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fmtr alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fmtr for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Omni?
Top Omni alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Omni alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/omni for the full list with editorial commentary on each.