RStudio
RStudio's first October patch is a branch merge, extending a long run of release-train upkeep.
Comparison · Analytics
Holistics vs ThingsBoard
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Holistics and ThingsBoard — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Holistics vs ThingsBoard: at a glance
What is Holistics?
Holistics lets admins put a key dashboard on everyone's Home page.
Holistics is shipping weekly changes on both the modeling and consumption sides of its BI product. Recent modeling work added Data Lineage in the IDE, two-way conversion between AML and Apache Ossie, and branches in place of the Production/Development switch. For viewers it added field descriptions on hover, in-dashboard trend and reference lines, and now an admin-configurable Home with a full-view dashboard and pinned shortcuts.
What is ThingsBoard?
ThingsBoard closes a script-sandbox file write and dozens of CVEs on its 4.3 and 4.2 lines.
ThingsBoard keeps three lines patched in parallel: 4.4, 4.3.1 and the 4.2 LTS. On October 27, 4.3.1.8 and 4.2.2.8 shipped a large security batch: dozens of dependency CVEs, a fix for arbitrary file writes from the TBEL script sandbox, and tamper protection for the OAuth2 authorization cookie. They also fix partitions lost after a ZooKeeper session expiry and unbounded Kafka topic growth from RPC and REST replies, and add IoT Hub search and filter changes.
Holistics vs ThingsBoard: editorial side-by-side
Holistics
6.3ANALYTICS
Holistics lets admins put a key dashboard on everyone's Home page.
◆ Current state
Holistics is shipping weekly changes on both the modeling and consumption sides of its BI product. Recent modeling work added Data Lineage in the IDE, two-way conversion between AML and Apache Ossie, and branches in place of the Production/Development switch. For viewers it added field descriptions on hover, in-dashboard trend and reference lines, and now an admin-configurable Home with a full-view dashboard and pinned shortcuts.
◆ Where it's heading
The release stream keeps putting analysis and context where business users already are, on dashboards and Home, rather than sending them into Explore. Modeling changes meanwhile make the semantic layer more portable and more like a code workflow.
◆ Prediction
Expect further admin-level controls over what viewers see first, and more semantic-layer metadata surfaced on dashboards.
ThingsBoard
5.0ANALYTICS
ThingsBoard closes a script-sandbox file write and dozens of CVEs on its 4.3 and 4.2 lines.
◆ Current state
ThingsBoard keeps three lines patched in parallel: 4.4, 4.3.1 and the 4.2 LTS. On October 27, 4.3.1.8 and 4.2.2.8 shipped a large security batch: dozens of dependency CVEs, a fix for arbitrary file writes from the TBEL script sandbox, and tamper protection for the OAuth2 authorization cookie. They also fix partitions lost after a ZooKeeper session expiry and unbounded Kafka topic growth from RPC and REST replies, and add IoT Hub search and filter changes.
◆ Where it's heading
After the 4.4 feature release the project is back to maintenance on all supported lines, mostly security and runtime fixes, with the IoT Hub catalogue getting steady UI work alongside. Feature work arrives in larger, infrequent releases.
◆ Prediction
A matching 4.4.0.x patch with the same security batch is the likely next entry; 4.4 got no patch in this batch.
Alternatives to Holistics and ThingsBoard
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 Holistics or ThingsBoard.
OpenReplay
OpenReplay moves its Go backend to pgx v5 and patches vulnerable deps across 1.25–1.27.
Basedash
Basedash automations can now attach scheduled CSV exports to Slack and email.
OpenPanel
OpenPanel tags three more note-free builds in one evening, reaching 3.16.4.
Fulcrum
Fulcrum turns on Insights, its AI assistant for field data, for every customer.
OpenHouse
OpenHouse locks down its column-defaults capability flag as default values near completion.
See all Holistics alternatives → · See all ThingsBoard alternatives →
Recent activity from Holistics and ThingsBoard
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2d agoThingsBoardThingsBoard 4.3.1.8 fixes TBEL sandbox file write and CVE batch
- 2d agoThingsBoardThingsBoard 4.2.2.8: LTS security backport
- 2d agoHolisticsPick your own color for the "Others" chart group
- 3d agoHolisticsCustom homepage: put key dashboards where everyone lands
- 7d agoThingsBoardThingsBoard 4.4.0.1: 2026 time zone data update
- 7d agoThingsBoardThingsBoard 4.3.1.7: 2026 time zone data update
- 7d agoThingsBoardThingsBoard 4.2.2.7: 2026 time zone data update
- 9d agoHolisticsDashboard viewers see field descriptions on column hover
- 10d agoHolisticsData Lineage panel traces models and dashboards in the IDE
- 12d agoHolisticsAML converts to and from Apache Ossie semantic models
- 15d agoHolisticsBranch selector replaces the Production/Development mode switch
- 1mo agoThingsBoardThingsBoard 4.4 Release
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Holistics and ThingsBoard?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Holistics is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 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 Holistics better than ThingsBoard?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Holistics is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 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 Holistics?
Top Holistics alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Holistics alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/holistics for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to ThingsBoard?
Top ThingsBoard alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "ThingsBoard alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/thingsboard for the full list with editorial commentary on each.