Head-to-Head: Highcharts vs Plotly.js Analysis

highcharts

v12.0.2(about 10 hours ago)

This package is actively maintained.Types definitions are bundled with the npm packageNumber of direct dependencies: 0Monthly npm downloads

Highcharts is a powerful JavaScript charting library that enables developers to create interactive and visually appealing charts for web applications. It offers a wide range of chart types, including line, bar, pie, and more, with extensive customization options for colors, labels, tooltips, and animations. Highcharts provides support for real-time data updates, exporting charts to various formats, and responsive design for seamless integration across devices.

Alternatives:
chart.js+
echarts+
d3+
plotly.js+
apexcharts+
nivo+
recharts+
c3+
vis-network+
billboard.js+

Tags: javascriptchartingvisualizationinteractivedata

plotly.js

v2.35.2(3 months ago)

This package is actively maintained.Types definitions are provided via a separate npm package: @types/plotly.jsNumber of direct dependencies: 52Monthly npm downloads

Plotly.js is a high-level JavaScript graphing library that allows you to create interactive, publication-quality graphs and charts. It provides a wide range of chart types, including scatter plots, bar charts, line charts, and more, with support for customization and interactivity. Plotly.js is known for its ease of use and flexibility, making it a popular choice for data visualization in web applications.

Alternatives:
chart.js+
echarts+
highcharts+
d3+
apexcharts+
nivo+
vega+
c3+
billboard.js+
recharts+

Tags: javascriptgraphingchartsdata-visualizationinteractive

Fight!

Popularity

Both Highcharts and Plotly.js are popular and widely used charting libraries in the JavaScript community. Highcharts has been around for longer and has a larger user base and established reputation. Plotly.js, however, has gained popularity in recent years due to its interactive and dynamic data visualization capabilities.

Features and Functionality

Highcharts offers a comprehensive set of chart types, including line charts, bar charts, pie charts, scatter plots, and more. It provides extensive configuration options, customization capabilities, and supports advanced features like exporting, drilldowns, and annotations. Plotly.js, on the other hand, specializes in interactive and dynamic visualizations with support for 2D and 3D charts, heatmaps, maps, and statistical charts. It allows users to create complex plots with interactivity, animations, and supports streaming and real-time data.

Ease of Use

Highcharts provides a straightforward API and offers a good balance between ease of use and customization options. It has a large number of examples and comprehensive documentation. Plotly.js also has a user-friendly API and offers an interactive and intuitive interface for creating charts. Its documentation is extensive and provides ample examples for different use cases.

Integration and Compatibility

Both Highcharts and Plotly.js can be integrated into various frameworks and libraries. Highcharts provides official wrappers for popular frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.js, making it easy to use within those ecosystems. Plotly.js also offers compatibility with popular frameworks and provides APIs for JavaScript, Python, and R. It can be easily integrated into web applications and data analysis workflows.

Community and Support

Both libraries have active communities and provide ongoing support. Highcharts has a larger community and a longer track record, which often results in more resources and community-driven plugins and extensions. Plotly.js has a growing community and offers support through its GitHub repository and forums, with frequent updates and bug fixes.

Performance

Highcharts is known for its performance and efficiency in rendering charts even with large datasets. It utilizes SVG for rendering, which can provide good performance across different devices and browsers. Plotly.js, on the other hand, uses WebGL for rendering 3D visualizations, which can be more resource-intensive but allows for more complex and interactive plots.