Anaconda Ends R Support — Here’s What It Means and How to Move Forward
As of November 4, 2025, Anaconda officially deprecated its R channel, ending support for new R packages, updates, and security fixes.
If your data science team relies on R for research, analytics, or production workloads, this change creates a critical gap in your open-source workflow.
Fortunately, there’s a path forward. Posit — the company behind RStudio — continues to fully support both R and Python, offering a stable, enterprise-grade ecosystem for open-source research and data science.
Why Anaconda’s R Support Deprecation Matters
Anaconda’s focus has shifted fully toward AI and Python, aligning with broader trends in machine learning and AI development.
But for thousands of organizations in life sciences, government, finance, and academia, R remains essential for reproducible statistical analysis and reporting.
Without a supported R channel, teams face:
- Security risks from unmaintained R packages
- Loss of reproducibility across environments
- Slower installations and dependency conflicts
- Governance gaps between R and Python teams
Meet Posit Package Manager — Your Reliable Alternative
Posit Package Manager unifies and secures R and Python package management across the enterprise.
Designed by data scientists for data science, it lets R users continue using familiar tools like install.packages(), renv, and pak — without vendor lock-in or retraining.
Since 2018, Fortune 500 companies and research organizations have trusted Posit to solve their package governance challenges through three key pillars:
Enterprise-Grade Security
- Block or curate packages with known vulnerabilities
- Create approved subsets of R and Python repositories
- Provide offline access for air-gapped environments
- Secure sensitive repositories via SSO authentication
Reproducibility That Lasts
Freeze repositories at specific points in time, ensuring that critical research and analyses can be reproduced years later — essential for regulated industries and scientific reproducibility standards.
Speed and Simplicity for IT and Data Teams
Install R packages faster with Posit-built binary CRAN packages, automate building internal packages, and serve both public and private sources from one control plane.
No workflow disruption — just a smoother experience for both data scientists and IT administrators.
Secure Your R and Python Package Infrastructure Today
If your organization is affected by Anaconda’s end of R support, we’re here to help you stay secure and productive.
Questions? Email us directly at rpackages@posit.co
FAQs
Why did Anaconda end R support?
As part of their strategic shift toward AI and Python, Anaconda has deprecated R-related builds and will no longer maintain or update the R package channel as of November 2025.
What’s the best alternative for R users after Anaconda?
Posit Package Manager provides a secure, enterprise-ready alternative with full support for R and Python packages, reproducibility, and vulnerability management.
Can I still use R with Anaconda?
You can continue using existing R environments in Anaconda, but no new updates or package builds will be released — increasing long-term security and compatibility risks.
How do I migrate from Anaconda to Posit?
Posit offers guidance, tooling, and support to help you succeed with R and Python. Let’s talk soon.
Can I bring my Python teams, too?
Indeed! We recently wrote about how Posit Package Manager provides a structured approach to securely managing Python libraries.
