CRAN

What CRAN is

CRAN official site is the Comprehensive R Archive Network, the R Project's archive for R software, contributed packages, documentation, and related distribution files. The R Project homepage directs users to choose a CRAN mirror when they want to download R. CRAN is both a public website and an ecosystem service. It gives R users a consistent place to install packages from, read package documentation, fetch R source or binaries, and find mirrors closer to their location.

R packages and archives

CRAN hosts contributed packages that extend R for statistics, data science, graphics, modeling, databases, reporting, teaching, and many other workflows. Package pages typically include source archives, metadata, documentation, checks, and links useful to users deciding whether to install or update a package. The archive role matters because reproducible research and long-running analytical projects often depend on specific package versions and documentation. CRAN gives the R ecosystem a stable public distribution point.

Downloads, mirrors, and documentation

CRAN is also where many users begin installing R. The R Project homepage says R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics and points users to a CRAN mirror for downloads. Beyond package files, CRAN links to manuals, FAQs, contributed documentation, task views, package indexes, checks, and source materials. That makes it a reference hub as well as a download site.

Package checks and expectations

CRAN packages are expected to follow R packaging conventions and pass automated checks before publication or update. Those checks help catch installation problems, documentation errors, dependency issues, and platform-specific failures. Passing CRAN checks is not the same as proving a package is perfect, secure, or statistically appropriate. It does, however, create shared baseline expectations for package structure and installability.

Relationship to the R Project

CRAN is closely tied to the R Project for Statistical Computing and the R Foundation. The R Project site links CRAN under Download, and the official R logo page provides the project logo and license terms. That connection is why CRAN is usually treated as the default public package source for R, even though the R ecosystem also includes GitHub, Bioconductor, R-Forge, Posit Package Manager, and other distribution channels.

Who uses CRAN

CRAN is used by R programmers, statisticians, data scientists, academic researchers, package authors, educators, students, reproducibility reviewers, system administrators, and teams maintaining statistical or analytical software. Some users visit the website directly, while many access CRAN through R commands such as `install.packages()`.

Why it matters

CRAN matters because R's usefulness depends heavily on reusable packages. A central archive makes it easier to find, install, cite, update, and preserve packages across operating systems and research environments. It also gives the R community a shared quality checkpoint. Package checks, documentation expectations, and archive conventions help reduce friction for users who depend on contributed code.

WHOIS domain data

Data pulled: May 24, 2026 · View current WHOIS record

Website host

cran.r-project.org

Registrable domain

r-project.org

WHOIS source note

CRAN uses a subdomain, so Who.is registration data is shown for r-project.org from the Who.is RDAP view.

IP address

137.208.57.37

Registrar

Gandi SAS

Registrar handle

81

Created

October 27, 1999

Transferred

September 23, 2008

Updated

October 30, 2025

RDAP database updated

October 30, 2025

Expires

October 27, 2032

Nameservers

ns1.urbanek.info (169.60.149.197); ns1.wu-wien.ac.at (137.208.10.10); ns2.urbanek.info (109.75.176.188); ns2.wu-wien.ac.at (137.208.20.10)

Domain status

client transfer prohibited

Contact privacy

Registrant, administrative, technical, and billing contact names are redacted for privacy; registrant organization is listed as R Foundation for Statistical Computing.