TabReliBench: Evaluating Tabular Foundation Models Beyond Predictive Accuracy
Organizations: Renmin University of China · Cerebras Systems, Inc. · National University of Singapore · Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence
Abstract
Tabular foundation models (TFMs) are increasingly popular for their strong predictive performance. Many also provide posterior predictive distributions (PPDs), whose reliability remains less studied. We assess reliability through point prediction, distributional quality, marginal and subgroup calibration, and interval efficiency. We then introduce TabReliBench, a large classification and regression benchmark for these comparisons and dataset-level analyses. We find that TFMs' rankings change between TabArena and our benchmark and across reliability metrics. Regression TFMs usually achieve near-nominal marginal coverage and retain narrow intervals, but this favorable marginal behavior does not imply valid conditional coverage. Dataset-level analyses show that classification difficulty often accompanies poor calibration, whereas regression predictive performance is not a reliable indicator of calibration. Ensembling improves predictive performance but does not consistently improve calibration of PPDs; TFMs also benefit little from conformal post-processing, which does not reliably resolve subgroup gaps. Reliable TFM selection therefore requires multidimensional evaluation beyond aggregate rankings. Code is available at https://github.com/Tianqi-Zhao/TabReliBench.
Figures & tables
| Property | Classification | Regression |
|---|---|---|
| Point prediction | Accuracy | Predictive |
| Proper score | Brier score | CRPS |
| Marginal calibration | Confidence ECE | PIT–KS , marginal coverage nominal |
| Classwise / subgroup calibration | Classwise ECE | Worst-slab coverage nominal |
| Sharpness | – | Interval width |
Appendix figures & tables54 assets
Supplementary material from the paper’s appendix.
Appendix
| Task | Dataset identifiers |
|---|---|
| Classification | 3, 11, 20, 23, 24, 35, 38, 39, 43, 50, 56, 57, 60, 156, 333, 334, 335, 377, 446, 451, 455, 460, 464, 1049, 1050, 1056, 1063, 1065, 1067, 1068, 1069, 1071, 1100, 1112, 1114, 1120, 1460, 1462, 1475, 1479, 1480, 1495, 1496, 1498, 1499, 1507, 1510, 1511, 1512, 1523, 1547, 1548, 1551, 1553, 1554, 1555, 1565, 1567, 1590, 1600, 4329, 23381, 40497, 40646, 40647, 40648, 40649, 40650, 40668, 40677, 40682, 40693, 40706, 40707, 40708, 40711, 40713, 40945, 40994, 41027, 41150, 41162, 41919, 42395, 42585, 42742, 43786, 43896, 43897, 43920, 43921, 43938, 44095, 44155, 44227, 45547, 45548, 45550, 45563, 45568, 45570, 45660, 46298, 46331, 46334, 46483, 46752, 46758, 46801, 46831, 46839, 46846, 46856, 46857, 46859, 46866, 46868, 46869, 46905, 46906, 46908, 46910, 46911, 46912, 46913, 46915, 46916, 46918, 46919, 46920, 46921, 46922, 46924, 46927, 46929, 46930, 46932, 46933, 46935, 46937, 46938, 46939, 46940, 46941, 46944, 46947, 46950, 46951, 46952, 46955, 46956, 46958, 46959, 46960, 46962, 46963, 46969, 46979, 46980, 46999 |
| Regression | 8, 196, 202, 204, 215, 225, 229, 230, 308, 344, 509, 511, 525, 529, 534, 538, 558, 560, 561, 564, 572, 583, 586, 588, 589, 590, 592, 593, 595, 598, 599, 606, 607, 608, 609, 612, 618, 620, 622, 623, 628, 699, 1097, 41265, 42224, 42352, 42563, 42571, 42723, 42724, 43141, 43714, 44223, 44960, 44967, 44980, 44981, 44984, 44993, 45042, 45702, 46295, 46299, 46612, 46613, 46904, 46907, 46914, 46917, 46923, 46928, 46931, 46934, 46942, 46946, 46949, 46953, 46954, 46961, 46964, 46976 |
| Model | Checkpoint / implementation | Source | C | R | D | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tabular foundation models | ||||||
| TabPFNv2 | v2 default; tabpfn 8.0.2 | code | ( Hollmann et al.,, 2025 ) | |||
| TabPFNv2.5 | v2.5 default; tabpfn 8.0.2 | code | ( Grinsztajn et al., 2026a, ) | |||
| TabPFNv3 | v3 default; tabpfn 8.0.2 | code | ( Grinsztajn et al., 2026b, ) | |||
| TabPFNv3.5 | 20260909 checkpoint; tabpfn 9.1.0 | code | ( Jäger et al.,, 2026 ) | |||
| TabICLv1 | classifier-v1.1-20250506 ; tabicl 2.1.0 | code | – | – | ( Qu et al.,, 2025 ) | |
| Index | Numeric transform | Categorical encoding | Permutation | Additional features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Quantile-normal, all data | Strict shuffled ordinal | Rotation | Fingerprint |
| 1 | Quantile-uniform, 10 | Numeric | Shuffle | Original, SVD (64) |
| 2 | Quantile-normal, 5; discrete | Shuffled ordinal | Shuffle | Fingerprint |
| 3 | KDI-uniform | One-hot | Rotation | 10 interactions, fingerprint |
| 4 | Quantile-normal, 5 | Shuffled ordinal | Shuffle | — |
| 5 | Robust | Strict shuffled ordinal | Rotation | SVD (32), fingerprint |
| Parameter | Distribution |
|---|---|
| Learning rate | |
| Maximum depth | |
| Minimum child weight | |
| Row subsampling | |
| Column sampling by level / node | Independently |
| / penalties | Independently |
| Model | Accuracy | Brier | Conf. ECE | Classwise ECE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LimiX-2 | 4.66 [4.07, 5.28] | 4.13 [3.59, 4.69] | 6.24 [5.61, 6.88] | 6.33 [5.71, 6.99] |
| TabPFNv3.5 | 4.91 [4.47, 5.38] | 3.77 [3.38, 4.19] | 5.31 [4.71, 5.91] | 5.21 [4.64, 5.80] |
| Causilo | 5.46 [5.04, 5.88] | 4.83 [4.44, 5.22] | 5.11 [4.62, 5.61] | 5.24 [4.76, 5.72] |
| TabFM | 4.77 [4.23, 5.32] | 3.82 [3.38, 4.31] | 5.92 [5.35, 6.51] | 5.42 [4.88, 5.98] |
| TabPFNv3 | 6.74 [6.34, 7.17] | 6.77 [6.42, 7.11] | 7.34 [6.78, 7.91] | 7.19 [6.64, 7.76] |
| TabICLv2 | 6.66 [6.20, 7.13] | 6.34 [5.92, 6.77] | 6.29 [5.78, 6.81] | 6.03 [5.54, 6.53] |
| Model | CRPS | PIT–KS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LimiX-2 | 3.30 [2.58, 4.05] | – | – |
| TabPFNv3.5 | 4.05 [3.52, 4.62] | 2.33 [1.98, 2.72] | 4.37 [3.86, 4.88] |
| Causilo | 4.54 [4.09, 5.00] | 3.21 [2.85, 3.58] | 3.32 [2.94, 3.72] |
| TabFM | 4.42 [3.91, 4.94] | – | – |
| TabPFNv3 | 5.02 [4.54, 5.51] | 3.46 [3.11, 3.81] | 4.54 [4.14, 4.95] |
| TabICLv2 | 7.25 [6.69, 7.79] | 5.65 [5.26, 6.04] | 3.49 [3.02, 3.96] |
| Model | MC error | WSC error | Total error |
|---|---|---|---|
| LimiX-2 | – | – | – |
| TabPFNv3.5 | 4.67 [4.14, 5.21] | 4.27 [3.79, 4.76] | 4.40 [3.98, 4.83] |
| Causilo | 3.90 [3.44, 4.36] | 3.85 [3.33, 4.40] | 3.67 [3.19, 4.19] |
| TabFM | – | – | – |
| TabPFNv3 | 5.35 [4.70, 6.00] | 5.46 [4.89, 6.07] | 5.20 [4.64, 5.78] |
| TabICLv2 | 4.31 [3.77, 4.88] | 4.60 [4.09, 5.14] | 4.06 [3.58, 4.57] |
| Model | MC error | WSC error | Total error |
|---|---|---|---|
| LimiX-2 | – | – | – |
| TabPFNv3.5 | 4.31 [3.78, 4.89] | 4.34 [3.76, 4.94] | 4.10 [3.58, 4.65] |
| Causilo | 3.86 [3.36, 4.39] | 4.02 [3.54, 4.52] | 3.80 [3.32, 4.31] |
| TabFM | – | – | – |
| TabPFNv3 | 5.41 [4.84, 5.99] | 5.71 [5.14, 6.27] | 5.44 [4.87, 5.99] |
| TabICLv2 | 4.31 [3.81, 4.80] | 4.28 [3.74, 4.85] | 4.01 [3.52, 4.53] |
| Model | MC error | WSC error | Total error |
|---|---|---|---|
| LimiX-2 | – | – | – |
| TabPFNv3.5 | 4.57 [4.07, 5.10] | 4.64 [4.08, 5.22] | 4.45 [3.90, 5.01] |
| Causilo | 3.96 [3.46, 4.49] | 4.33 [3.77, 4.91] | 3.85 [3.31, 4.42] |
| TabFM | – | – | – |
| TabPFNv3 | 5.62 [5.05, 6.20] | 5.64 [5.02, 6.24] | 5.49 [4.94, 6.04] |
| TabICLv2 | 4.10 [3.58, 4.64] | 4.07 [3.56, 4.60] | 3.75 [3.33, 4.20] |
| Model | MC error | WSC error | Total error |
|---|---|---|---|
| LimiX-2 | – | – | – |
| TabPFNv3.5 | 4.83 [4.29, 5.39] | 4.60 [4.01, 5.20] | 4.52 [3.98, 5.09] |
| Causilo | 4.15 [3.61, 4.70] | 3.83 [3.33, 4.35] | 3.43 [2.96, 3.94] |
| TabFM | – | – | – |
| TabPFNv3 | 5.61 [5.07, 6.16] | 5.62 [5.05, 6.19] | 5.61 [5.06, 6.15] |
| TabICLv2 | 3.63 [3.19, 4.08] | 4.51 [3.94, 5.07] | 3.99 [3.49, 4.49] |
| Model | Accuracy | Brier | Conf. ECE | Classwise ECE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TabPFNv3.5 | 0.902 [0.785, 0.970] | 0.153 [0.045, 0.301] | 0.0184 [0.0077, 0.0502] | 0.0170 [0.0073, 0.0455] |
| TabPFNv3 | 0.897 [0.781, 0.970] | 0.158 [0.045, 0.310] | 0.0204 [0.0092, 0.0537] | 0.0191 [0.0086, 0.0455] |
| TabPFNv2.5 | 0.896 [0.784, 0.966] | 0.162 [0.048, 0.303] | 0.0206 [0.0112, 0.0502] | 0.0198 [0.0095, 0.0478] |
| TabPFNv2 | 0.899 [0.779, 0.966] | 0.161 [0.056, 0.309] | 0.0241 [0.0130, 0.0548] | 0.0225 [0.0110, 0.0478] |
| TabICLv2 | 0.899 [0.781, 0.970] | 0.158 [0.046, 0.306] | 0.0210 [0.0099, 0.0474] | 0.0189 [0.0087, 0.0451] |
| TabICLv1 | 0.890 [0.776, 0.964] | 0.170 [0.054, 0.312] | 0.0212 [0.0117, 0.0495] | 0.0203 [0.0101, 0.0471] |
| Model | Norm. CRPS | PIT–KS | Total error | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TabPFNv3.5 | 0.881 [0.563, 0.972] | 0.134 [0.088, 0.299] | 0.0473 [0.0352, 0.0867] | 0.0559 [0.0356, 0.0761] |
| TabPFNv3 | 0.869 [0.556, 0.972] | 0.135 [0.087, 0.304] | 0.0463 [0.0349, 0.0796] | 0.0610 [0.0437, 0.0808] |
| TabPFNv2.5 | 0.864 [0.465, 0.973] | 0.144 [0.088, 0.306] | 0.0444 [0.0317, 0.0795] | 0.0607 [0.0405, 0.0813] |
| TabPFNv2 | 0.866 [0.544, 0.972] | 0.152 [0.088, 0.309] | 0.0440 [0.0363, 0.0855] | 0.0553 [0.0361, 0.0831] |
| TabICLv2 | 0.871 [0.547, 0.969] | 0.145 [0.093, 0.304] | 0.0471 [0.0311, 0.0653] | 0.0541 [0.0315, 0.0799] |
| TabDPT1.3 | 0.888 [0.544, 0.969] | 0.148 [0.092, 0.310] | 0.0541 [0.0407, 0.0822] | 0.0583 [0.0365, 0.0924] |
| Task | Metric | Original (%) | Corrected (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | Accuracy | 2.28 | 2.13 | 0.733 | 0.932 |
| Classification | Brier | 1.63 | 1.60 | 0.906 | 0.980 |
| Classification | Confidence ECE | 11.29 | 8.78 | 0.412 | 0.778 |
| Classification | Classwise ECE | 10.94 | 8.52 | 0.413 | 0.779 |
| Regression | 4.50 | 3.81 | 0.528 | 0.848 | |
| Regression | PIT-KS | 13.20 | 12.26 | 0.722 | 0.929 |
| Group added | Information supplied |
|---|---|
| Sample size, dimensionality, missingness, numeric feature moments, inter-feature correlations, and categorical cardinality and frequency summaries. | |
| Class balance and entropy for classification; response shape, entropy, outlier frequency, and response-bin dispersion for regression. | |
| Direct feature–response association, mutual information, neighborhood label mixing or response variation, and class separation. | |
| Aux | Scores of auxiliary linear and nonlinear predictors, supervised tree structure, and hierarchical-shrinkage tree summaries. |
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classification | 27 | |||
| Regression | 27 |
| Meta-feature family | Count | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Size and dimensionality | 4 | , , , and the number of principal components needed for 95% explained variance divided by . |
| Feature types / missingness | 3 | Fractions of nonnumeric columns, columns with exactly two observed values, and missing cells. |
| Near-constant features | 1 | Fraction of numeric columns with standard deviation divided by range below 0.01; columns with at most one observation also count. The range denominator is floored at . |
| Inter-feature dependence | 2 | Mean/max absolute Pearson correlation over distinct pairs of nonconstant numeric columns. |
| Neighborhood geometry | 1 | Mean distance to five non-self nearest neighbors, divided by its mean under five independent column-wise permutations. |
| Feature skewness | 2 | Mean/max absolute skewness across qualifying numeric columns. |
| Task / family | Count | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Classification | 6 | Number of classes ; entropy ; largest and smallest class frequencies; their ratio; normalized class Gini . |
| Regression shape | 4 | Signed skewness, excess kurtosis, standard deviation divided by absolute mean, and . |
| Regression normality / tails | 3 | KS distance between standardized responses and , and fractions with absolute standardized response above two and three. |
| Regression entropy | 1 | Entropy of the response histogram using ten equal-width bins from its minimum to maximum. |
| Response-bin dispersion | 1 | Partition responses at their 20th, 40th, 60th, and 80th percentiles. Among bins with more than five observations, divide the largest standard deviation by the smallest, flooring the denominator at . |
| Task / family | Count | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Both: MI summaries | 5 | Mean and maximum MI (entropy-normalized for classification), MI entropy, MI Gini concentration, and weak-signal fraction. |
| Classification: ANOVA | 2 | Mean/max , where is the finite one-way ANOVA statistic and is complete-case sample size. |
| Classification: neighbors | 2 | Mean fraction of the five nearest neighbors having another label; fraction of observations with at least one such neighbor. |
| Classification: N2 | 1 | Sum of nearest same-class distances divided by sum of nearest other-class distances, over observations with both distances defined. |
| Classification: range overlap | 2 | For each class pair, form each feature’s 5–95% ranges. F2 averages intersection length divided by total span over features and pairs. F3 averages over pairs the maximum fraction of their observations outside a feature’s intersection. |
| Classification: clustering | 4 | Silhouette, Davies–Bouldin, Calinski–Harabasz, and mean within-class radius divided by mean inter-centroid distance, each divided by its mean under five label permutations. Silhouette uses . |
| Classification | Regression | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Abbreviation | Meta-feature | Abbreviation | Meta-feature |
| NLD | Neighbor label disagreement | Mean feature-outlier fraction | |
| NBF | Neighborhood boundary fraction | Maximum feature–target MI | |
| N2 | Within/between-class distance | Mean feature–target MI | |
| Maximum normalized MI | Mean feature skewness | ||
| Permutation-normalized silhouette | Mean feature kurtosis | ||
Tabular Foundation Models
Tabular foundation models learn reusable representations or in-context prediction skills for structured data such as spreadsheets and databases.
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