The best r packages, according to hackers
3 r packages were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 3 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended r packages with the badge. Each figure is 2 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Readable code that reads like intent
Widely recommended for readable, productive data work in R, especially with dplyr and ggplot2. Critics say it departs from base R and adds redundant functions.
Good developer experience and simplicity
Fast, high-throughput R package for large data tables that many prefer over pandas. Its syntax is hard to learn and remember.
Easy for beginners to learn
People recommend dplyr for its readable verb-based syntax for filtering, selecting and transforming data, especially for beginners learning data analysis in R.
All 3 r packages, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tidyverse | 23 | 9 | 72% | 6 | — | Approved |
| 2 | data.table | 15 | 2 | 88% | 7 | — | Approved |
| 3 | dplyr | 13 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same r package in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to r packages that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
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