Insights
Trends across the CRAN archive over time. To see which packages arrived or left in a given year, visit that year's digest.
- 25,392
- Packages
- 75%
- All flavors OK
- +337
- Net growth (30d)
- 1997–2026
- Years covered
25,392
Packages on CRAN in 2026
The running population: births minus archivals, year by year.
3,592
Packages joined in 2026
First published that year, including packages since archived.
1,220
Packages archived in 2026
Removed from CRAN that year, for any reason.
+2,372
Net change in 2026
Joined minus archived. Negative years are real and rare.
4,138
First-time maintainers in 2026
People whose earliest package appeared that year, counted once.
16,237
Packages with a public repository in 2026
Packages with a known public repository each year. The latest year is a direct count and earlier years are reconstructed from events.
5.0
Median stars in 2026
Across packages with a public repository that year.
1.0
Median open issues in 2026
Across packages with a public repository that year.
6.0
Median direct dependencies in 2026
Across versions released that year, excluding the R version floor.
Year-by-year digests
Each digest lists the packages that arrived and left in a single year.
Period comparison
Pick any two years and see every measurement side by side.