recharts vs chart.js vs d3 vs highcharts vs apexcharts vs victory vs plotly.js vs ag-charts-enterprise
JavaScript Charting Libraries Comparison
1 Year
rechartschart.jsd3highchartsapexchartsvictoryplotly.jsag-charts-enterpriseSimilar Packages:
What's JavaScript Charting Libraries?

JavaScript charting libraries are tools that allow developers to create interactive and visually appealing charts and graphs for web applications. These libraries provide a variety of chart types, customization options, and data visualization capabilities, enabling developers to present data in a clear and engaging manner. They are essential for data analysis, reporting, and enhancing user experience through visual storytelling.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
Github Stars Ranking
Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
Issues
Publish
License
recharts6,838,07625,1384.64 MB45022 days agoMIT
chart.js4,417,35265,8504.96 MB47725 days agoMIT
d33,958,050110,578871 kB20a year agoISC
highcharts1,330,41523561.2 MB3a month agohttps://www.highcharts.com/license
apexcharts986,19514,7464.95 MB31116 days agoMIT
victory237,69111,1432.28 MB924 months agoMIT
plotly.js214,36217,55097.2 MB7053 months agoMIT
ag-charts-enterprise192,35130513.5 MB1123 days agoCommercial
Feature Comparison: recharts vs chart.js vs d3 vs highcharts vs apexcharts vs victory vs plotly.js vs ag-charts-enterprise

Customization

  • recharts:

    Recharts provides a straightforward way to customize components and styles, making it easy to adjust chart appearance within React applications. It supports responsive design and allows for the integration of custom components for enhanced functionality.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js allows basic customization through simple options for colors, scales, and legends. While it may not be as flexible as some other libraries, it provides enough customization for standard charting needs without overwhelming complexity.

  • d3:

    D3.js is known for its unparalleled customization capabilities, allowing developers to create completely unique visualizations. It provides low-level access to SVG elements, enabling intricate designs and animations tailored to specific data sets.

  • highcharts:

    Highcharts offers a wide range of customization options, including themes, colors, and interactive features. It also supports responsive design, ensuring charts look good on all devices, and provides built-in options for exporting charts.

  • apexcharts:

    ApexCharts provides a user-friendly API for customization, enabling developers to easily adjust chart styles, colors, and labels. It also supports dynamic updates, making it easy to reflect real-time data changes without complex configurations.

  • victory:

    Victory offers a modular approach to customization, allowing developers to compose charts from various components. This makes it easy to create tailored visualizations that can be adjusted for different data sets and presentation styles.

  • plotly.js:

    Plotly.js allows for extensive customization of charts, including annotations, hover effects, and layout adjustments. It is particularly strong in creating interactive visualizations that can be easily tailored to user needs.

  • ag-charts-enterprise:

    AG Charts Enterprise offers extensive customization options, allowing developers to modify almost every aspect of the charts, including colors, labels, tooltips, and animations. This flexibility is ideal for creating tailored visualizations that fit specific branding requirements.

Learning Curve

  • recharts:

    Recharts is built for React developers, making it easy to learn for those familiar with React concepts. Its component-based architecture allows for quick integration and customization within React applications.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js is beginner-friendly, with a gentle learning curve. Developers can quickly create basic charts using simple configuration options, making it an excellent choice for those new to charting libraries.

  • d3:

    D3.js has a steep learning curve due to its complexity and the need for a solid understanding of JavaScript and SVG. However, once mastered, it offers unparalleled flexibility for creating custom visualizations.

  • highcharts:

    Highcharts is relatively easy to learn, especially for those with prior experience in JavaScript. Its comprehensive documentation and examples facilitate a smooth onboarding process for new users.

  • apexcharts:

    ApexCharts is designed to be easy to learn, with a simple API that allows developers to create charts with minimal setup. Its straightforward documentation and examples make it accessible for beginners.

  • victory:

    Victory has a moderate learning curve, especially for those familiar with React. Its modular design allows developers to gradually learn and implement components, making it approachable for new users.

  • plotly.js:

    Plotly.js has a moderate learning curve, as it combines both charting and statistical concepts. However, its documentation and examples provide a solid foundation for developers to build upon.

  • ag-charts-enterprise:

    AG Charts Enterprise has a moderate learning curve due to its extensive features and configuration options. However, its well-documented API and examples help developers get up to speed quickly, especially for those familiar with charting concepts.

Performance

  • recharts:

    Recharts is built on React and performs well with moderate datasets. It leverages React's rendering capabilities to ensure smooth updates and interactions, making it suitable for dynamic applications.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js is lightweight and performs well for basic charting needs. However, performance may degrade with very large datasets or complex charts, requiring optimization techniques to maintain responsiveness.

  • d3:

    D3.js performance can vary significantly based on implementation. While it can handle complex visualizations, developers need to be mindful of performance optimizations, especially with large datasets and intricate DOM manipulations.

  • highcharts:

    Highcharts is designed for high performance, capable of rendering complex charts quickly and efficiently. It includes optimizations for large datasets and offers features like lazy loading to enhance performance further.

  • apexcharts:

    ApexCharts performs well with moderate datasets and offers smooth animations and transitions. It is designed to be lightweight, ensuring quick loading times and responsiveness in web applications.

  • victory:

    Victory is designed for performance within React applications, providing smooth rendering and updates. It is optimized for handling moderate datasets and offers a responsive design for various screen sizes.

  • plotly.js:

    Plotly.js is optimized for interactive visualizations, but performance may be impacted with very large datasets. It provides options for simplifying visualizations to maintain responsiveness and interactivity.

  • ag-charts-enterprise:

    AG Charts Enterprise is optimized for performance, capable of handling large datasets and real-time updates efficiently. Its architecture ensures smooth rendering and interaction, making it suitable for enterprise-level applications.

Chart Types

  • recharts:

    Recharts provides a selection of common chart types, including line, bar, area, and pie charts. It is designed for simplicity and ease of use, making it suitable for standard data visualization tasks.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js provides a good variety of basic chart types, including line, bar, radar, doughnut, and polar area charts. While it may not cover every type, it meets the needs of most standard applications.

  • d3:

    D3.js allows developers to create virtually any type of chart or visualization, limited only by their creativity. It supports complex and custom visualizations, making it the go-to choice for unique data representation.

  • highcharts:

    Highcharts boasts an extensive collection of chart types, including standard charts like line and bar, as well as specialized types like stock charts, maps, and more. This variety makes it suitable for a wide range of applications.

  • apexcharts:

    ApexCharts offers a diverse selection of chart types, including line, area, bar, pie, and mixed charts. It also supports unique visualizations like radial and candlestick charts, making it versatile for different applications.

  • victory:

    Victory offers a range of chart types, including line, bar, pie, and scatter plots. Its modular approach allows developers to create custom visualizations by combining different chart components.

  • plotly.js:

    Plotly.js supports a comprehensive array of chart types, including 3D charts, contour plots, and statistical charts. It is particularly strong in scientific and analytical visualizations, catering to advanced data representation needs.

  • ag-charts-enterprise:

    AG Charts Enterprise supports a wide range of chart types, including line, bar, pie, scatter, and more advanced types like heatmaps and tree maps. This versatility makes it suitable for various data visualization needs.

How to Choose: recharts vs chart.js vs d3 vs highcharts vs apexcharts vs victory vs plotly.js vs ag-charts-enterprise
  • recharts:

    Opt for Recharts if you are using React and want a simple yet powerful solution for building charts. It is built specifically for React and allows for easy integration and customization within React applications.

  • chart.js:

    Opt for Chart.js if you are looking for a lightweight library that is easy to use and offers a good selection of chart types. It is perfect for smaller projects or when you need basic charting capabilities without the overhead of more complex libraries.

  • d3:

    Choose D3.js if you require maximum flexibility and control over your visualizations. D3 is a powerful library that allows you to bind data to the DOM and create complex, custom visualizations. It is best suited for experienced developers who need to create unique data-driven graphics.

  • highcharts:

    Select Highcharts if you want a robust library with a wide range of chart types and built-in features like exporting and accessibility. It is great for commercial applications and offers extensive documentation and support.

  • apexcharts:

    Select ApexCharts for its simplicity and ease of integration. It is ideal for projects that need responsive charts with minimal configuration and a modern look. It also supports a variety of chart types and is great for quick implementations.

  • victory:

    Select Victory if you are looking for a modular charting library that works well with React and React Native. It provides a set of composable components that allow for easy customization and is perfect for building responsive and interactive charts.

  • plotly.js:

    Choose Plotly.js for its advanced charting capabilities, especially for scientific and statistical data visualizations. It is ideal for applications that require interactive plots and dashboards with complex data representations.

  • ag-charts-enterprise:

    Choose AG Charts Enterprise if you need a comprehensive charting solution with advanced features like real-time updates, extensive customization, and support for large datasets. It is particularly suited for enterprise applications requiring high performance and detailed analytics.

README for recharts

Recharts

storybook Build Status Coverage Status npm version npm downloads MIT License

Introduction

Recharts is a Redefined chart library built with React and D3.

The main purpose of this library is to help you to write charts in React applications without any pain. Main principles of Recharts are:

  1. Simply deploy with React components.
  2. Native SVG support, lightweight depending only on some D3 submodules.
  3. Declarative components, components of charts are purely presentational.

Documentation at recharts.org and our storybook (WIP)

Please see the wiki for FAQ.

All development is done on the master branch. The current latest release and storybook documentation reflects what is on the release branch.

Examples

<LineChart width={400} height={400} data={data} margin={{ top: 5, right: 20, left: 10, bottom: 5 }}>
  <XAxis dataKey="name" />
  <Tooltip />
  <CartesianGrid stroke="#f5f5f5" />
  <Line type="monotone" dataKey="uv" stroke="#ff7300" yAxisId={0} />
  <Line type="monotone" dataKey="pv" stroke="#387908" yAxisId={1} />
</LineChart>

All the components of Recharts are clearly separated. The lineChart is composed of x axis, tooltip, grid, and line items, and each of them is an independent React Component. The clear separation and composition of components is one of the principle Recharts follows.

Installation

npm

NPM is the easiest and fastest way to get started using Recharts. It is also the recommended installation method when building single-page applications (SPAs). It pairs nicely with a CommonJS module bundler such as Webpack.

# latest stable
$ npm install recharts

umd

The UMD build is also available on unpkg.com:

<script src="https://unpkg.com/react/umd/react.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/react-dom/umd/react-dom.production.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://unpkg.com/recharts/umd/Recharts.min.js"></script>

Then you can find the library on window.Recharts.

dev build

$ git clone https://github.com/recharts/recharts.git
$ cd recharts
$ npm install
$ npm run build

Demo

To examine the demos in your local build, execute:

$ npm run[-script] demo

and then browse to http://localhost:3000.

Storybook

We are in the process of unifying documentation and examples in storybook. To run it locally, execute

$ npm run[-script] storybook

and then browse to http://localhost:6006.

Releases

Releases are automated via GH Actions - when a new release is created in GH, CI will trigger that:

  1. Runs a build
  2. Runs tests
  3. Runs npm publish

Version increments and tagging are not automated at this time.

Release testing

Until we can automate more, it should be preferred to test as close to the results of npm publish as we possibly can. This ensures we don't publish unintended breaking changes. One way to do that is using yalc - npm i -g yalc.

  1. Make your changes in recharts
  2. yalc publish in recharts
  3. yalc add recharts in your test package (ex: in a vite or webpack reach app with recharts installed, imported, and your recent changes used)
  4. npm install
  5. Test a local run, a build, etc.

Module Formats

  • babel-plugin-recharts A simple transform to cherry-pick Recharts modules so you don’t have to. Note: this plugin is out of date and may not work with 2.x

Thanks

Chromatic

Thanks to Chromatic for providing the visual testing platform that helps us review UI changes and catch visual regressions.

License

MIT

Copyright (c) 2015-2023 Recharts Group.