recharts vs chart.js vs d3
Data Visualization Libraries Comparison
1 Year
rechartschart.jsd3Similar Packages:
What's Data Visualization Libraries?

Data visualization libraries are essential tools for developers to create interactive and visually appealing representations of data. These libraries enable users to transform complex data sets into understandable charts, graphs, and other visual formats, enhancing data analysis and decision-making processes. They cater to various needs, from simple charts to complex visualizations, and are widely used in web applications to improve user engagement and data interpretation.

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recharts9,805,03924,9874.64 MB4458 days agoMIT
chart.js4,458,15965,6804.95 MB4772 months agoMIT
d33,970,864110,341871 kB21a year agoISC
Feature Comparison: recharts vs chart.js vs d3

Ease of Use

  • recharts:

    Recharts is user-friendly for React developers, providing a declarative approach to building charts. Its integration with React makes it easy to manage state and props, allowing for quick development of responsive charts.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js is designed for simplicity and ease of use, making it accessible for beginners. It provides a straightforward API and comes with built-in chart types that can be easily configured with minimal code.

  • d3:

    D3.js has a steeper learning curve due to its powerful capabilities and flexibility. It requires a good understanding of both JavaScript and SVG, which may be challenging for beginners but offers unparalleled customization for advanced users.

Customization

  • recharts:

    Recharts provides a good balance of customization options while maintaining simplicity. It allows for customization of chart components and styles, but may not reach the level of detail that D3 offers.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js offers a decent level of customization through options and plugins, allowing developers to tweak chart appearances and behaviors. However, it may not support highly complex visualizations as effectively as D3.

  • d3:

    D3.js excels in customization, enabling developers to create virtually any type of visualization. It allows for detailed control over every aspect of the chart, from data binding to transitions and animations, making it the go-to choice for bespoke visualizations.

Performance

  • recharts:

    Recharts is built on React and benefits from React's virtual DOM for performance. It is efficient for rendering charts, especially when dealing with updates and state changes, making it suitable for dynamic data.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js is optimized for performance with a focus on rendering speed for standard chart types. It handles large datasets reasonably well, but performance may degrade with highly complex or numerous charts on a single page.

  • d3:

    D3.js can handle large datasets efficiently, but performance largely depends on how well the developer manages the data binding and rendering process. Custom optimizations may be necessary for very large datasets or complex visualizations.

Community and Ecosystem

  • recharts:

    Recharts benefits from the React community, with good documentation and examples specifically for React developers. While its ecosystem is smaller than D3's, it is growing as more developers adopt it for React applications.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js has a strong community and a wealth of plugins and examples available, making it easier for developers to find resources and support. However, its ecosystem is more limited compared to D3.

  • d3:

    D3.js boasts a large and active community, with extensive documentation, tutorials, and examples. Its ecosystem is rich, with many plugins and integrations available, making it a popular choice for data visualization experts.

Integration

  • recharts:

    Recharts is specifically designed for React applications, making it easy to integrate into any React project. Its component-based architecture aligns well with React's design principles, facilitating seamless use.

  • chart.js:

    Chart.js can be easily integrated into various web applications and frameworks, including vanilla JavaScript, Angular, and Vue. Its simplicity makes it a versatile choice for many projects.

  • d3:

    D3.js can be integrated into any web application but may require more effort to set up, especially in frameworks like React or Angular. It is highly flexible, allowing for integration with various data sources and formats.

How to Choose: recharts vs chart.js vs d3
  • recharts:

    Choose Recharts if you are working within a React ecosystem and want a library that integrates seamlessly with React components. It offers a simple API for building charts while leveraging the power of React's component model.

  • chart.js:

    Choose Chart.js if you need a simple, easy-to-use library for creating responsive and animated charts quickly. It is ideal for projects that require standard chart types and straightforward implementation without extensive customization.

  • d3:

    Choose D3.js if you require maximum flexibility and control over your visualizations. D3 is suitable for complex data-driven documents and allows for custom visualizations that can be tailored to specific needs. It is best for projects that demand intricate interactions and animations.

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.