pr2database
The protist reference database keeps widening past the rRNA gene it was built on.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
metagroup vs PowerTOST
A side-by-side editorial comparison of metagroup and PowerTOST — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
metagroup vs PowerTOST: at a glance
What is metagroup?
A first release that turns meta-analytic heterogeneity into interpretable subgroups.
metagroup reached CRAN in late August with a complete first release: eight grouping functions covering binary, continuous, correlational, proportion, incidence and generic inverse-variance data, plus interpretation and plotting on top. The two releases since are CRAN review housekeeping. The package has shipped nothing but its launch.
What is PowerTOST?
A bioequivalence sample-size workhorse whose news is which regulator it now covers
PowerTOST computes power and sample size for bioequivalence and its changelog reads as a record of regulatory divergence more than statistical development. Version 1.5-3 added the Gulf Co-operation Council as a regulator setting; 1.5-4 and 1.5-6 stripped 'FDA' out of the narrow-therapeutic-index function names once China's CDE began requiring the same evaluation. The most recent release, 1.5-7, is a single fix to how nvec() splits a total sample size across sequences.
metagroup vs PowerTOST: editorial side-by-side
metagroup
0.0INFRA · APIS
A first release that turns meta-analytic heterogeneity into interpretable subgroups.
◆ Current state
metagroup reached CRAN in late August with a complete first release: eight grouping functions covering binary, continuous, correlational, proportion, incidence and generic inverse-variance data, plus interpretation and plotting on top. The two releases since are CRAN review housekeeping. The package has shipped nothing but its launch.
◆ Where it's heading
The design is a two-step pipeline, partitioning studies into homogeneous clusters and then characterising what those clusters have in common, which puts interpretation rather than detection at the centre. The follow-up releases suggest the author is still clearing the CRAN intake process rather than extending the method.
◆ Prediction
The next substantive release most likely broadens the interpretation side, since the grouping functions already cover the standard effect-size types.
PowerTOST
0.0INFRA · APIS
A bioequivalence sample-size workhorse whose news is which regulator it now covers
◆ Current state
PowerTOST computes power and sample size for bioequivalence and its changelog reads as a record of regulatory divergence more than statistical development. Version 1.5-3 added the Gulf Co-operation Council as a regulator setting; 1.5-4 and 1.5-6 stripped 'FDA' out of the narrow-therapeutic-index function names once China's CDE began requiring the same evaluation. The most recent release, 1.5-7, is a single fix to how nvec() splits a total sample size across sequences.
◆ Where it's heading
The package is in long maintenance with a widening regulatory surface: the statistical methods are settled, and releases arrive when an agency publishes a framework that can be expressed as a settings variant of an existing method. Function naming has been deliberately decoupled from any single agency, with the deprecated FDA-suffixed aliases carried for years before removal. Cadence has slowed to roughly one release every eighteen months.
◆ Prediction
The next release is most likely another regulator setting or a small fix; on the deprecation notice already given, the power.NTIDFDA()-style aliases are the obvious removal candidate.
Alternatives to metagroup and PowerTOST
Other Infra & APIs 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 metagroup or PowerTOST.
ggalign
Composable aligned layouts, rebuilt on S7 while ggplot2 4.0 lands underneath.
prioritizr
Conservation planning absorbs the literature's target-setting rules as code.
jSDM
Joint species distribution models in Gibbs-sampled C++, quiet since 2023.
rsofun
An ecosystem model starts tracking carbon isotopes and land-use change.
usmap
Ten years in, US mapping splits its data out and finally adds Puerto Rico.
See all metagroup alternatives → · See all PowerTOST alternatives →
Recent activity from metagroup and PowerTOST
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 10mo agoPowerTOSTFix for splitting total sample size across sequences
- 11mo agometagroupCRAN review feedback: description and documentation polish
- 11mo agometagroupLICENSE file removed for CRAN submission
- 11mo agometagroupFirst release: homogeneity-based subgrouping for meta-analysis ⚡
- 2y agoPowerTOSTNTID functions renamed off the FDA acronym; GCC guidance in vignettes
- 4y agoPowerTOSTpower.NTID() aliases added; FDA-suffixed names deprecated
- 5y agoPowerTOSTGulf Co-operation Council added as a regulator setting
- 5y agoPowerTOSTMaintenance release with vignette and documentation clarifications
- 5y agoPowerTOSTstringsAsFactors fix for older R in a vignette example
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between metagroup and PowerTOST?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. metagroup and PowerTOST 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 metagroup better than PowerTOST?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. metagroup and PowerTOST 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 Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to metagroup?
Top metagroup alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "metagroup alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/metagroup for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to PowerTOST?
Top PowerTOST alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "PowerTOST alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/powertost for the full list with editorial commentary on each.