Jun 5, 2012

Comparison of JavaScript Data Visualization Libraries

In my previous review Choice Free JavaScript Data Visualization Library was considered more also 20 popular among developers JavaScript solutions for charts. In addition to a short description and a graphic example each library was considered from a perspectives of the licensing, visualization technology, HTML5 support and capability of the integration with GWT. In this review for Clarity these and additional characteristics combine in a matrix.

The intention of this comparison is to show some examples of JavaScript Data Visualization libraries with their different features.

Another important aspect which should be considered in the comparison is the support from community (i.e. # of users/developers/commits in last month, etc.) for that JS charting library. Although it is hard to gather this kind of information, I think it is the most valuable for the final decision.













Table of Javascript Data Visualization Libraries



Chart types by category HTML5 canvas capable (fallback method) Size GWT support Dependency on other js libs Mobile friendly Level of interactiveness License Can incorporate custom graphics (background images, icons) Largest Sites currently using Project health (mailing list traffic, Stack Overflow questions) Formats supported Interesting features
arcadiaCharts line, area, pie, donut, bar, column, scatter, xy, logarithmic scale charts, time plot Yes variable JavaScript Version - 9,7 Mb
GWT Version - 3,6 Mb
Yes No No hovers and follows ArcadiaCharts license Yes
Latest realease Jan-13-2012 png apply color and style, Axis types, CSV data import
Cubism.js realtime series Yes 78,5 Kb No D3 No hovers and follows Apache License No
 7 commits , 20 wiki messages in last month
scalable, effective (each pixel encodes a distinct point in time), data-source agnostic
D3 arc, polar area, gantt, timelines and timing, sankey, candlestick, data table, hypergraph Yes 109 Kb No No No hovers and follows BSD license No
6 commits, 30 new wiki messages, 1796 search results and 179 new topics on stackoverflow in last month
a large number of solutions for data visualization
Dojo GFX bar, line, pie, bubble, candleStick, area, scatter, high-low, column, stacked, clustered and spider No variable, from 31 Kb up to 3,7 Mb Yes No Yes hovers and follows modified BSD license/ the Academic Free License version 2.1 No
 16 search results on stackoverflow.
Books: Dojo: The Definitive GuidePractical Dojo ProjectsLearning Dojo, etc.

supports gauges, openLayers maps and geo charting
dygraphs area, bar, candlestick, line Yes 69 Kb No No Yes hovers, follows and zooming MIT Yes Integrated Space Weather Analysis System, Eutelsat, 10gen MongoDB Monitoring Service 34 search results and 1 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month png Supports error bands around data series, can intelligently chart fractions, customizable click-through actions
Flot bars, lines, points, filled areas, time series, pie, stacked charts  any combinations of these, in the same plot and even on the same data series Yes core size is 37 Kb, plugins vary in size Yes, gflot jQuery Yes,  all iOS and most Android devices legends, hovers and drilldowns, panning, zooming, mouse tracking, automatically redraw when window is resized MIT/BSD Yes
873 search results and 39 new topics on stackoverflow and 25 new topics on groups in last month
jpg, png using various symbols for points, multiple axis plotting prerendered images and many other
Flotr histograms, lines, points, pie, candle sticks, radar, markers No 67.4 Kb No Prototype Javascript Framework No hovers and follows MIT No
60 search results and 2 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month, available only alpha version png easy to learn syntax
Flotr2 bar, line, candlestick, area, scatter, whisker, bubbles, timeline, time, pie, radar Yes, (IE support with FlashCanvas and excanvas) variable, from 31 Kb up to 656 Kb No No Yes, built for performance and includes touch events / multi touch select, zoom, pointer tracking, hovers, robust internal event system MIT Yes
10 earch results and 2 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month jpg, png extensible plugin framework, tuned for performance. JSON api, programmable for interactivity
Google Chart Tools pie, scatter, gauge, geo, combo, line, bar, area, candlestick Yes works on the principle "chart as service" Yes No Yes hovers and follows Terms of Service. No
135 search results and 8 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month

gRaphaël pie, bar,line, dot No g.raphael.js - 10 Kb, g.pie.js - 4 Kb, g.bar.js - 8 Kb, g.line.js - 4 Kb, g.dot.js - 2.5 Kb Yes Raphaël No hovers and follows MIT No
108 search results and 5 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month
small JavaScript library
Highcharts line, spline, area, areaspline, column, bar, pie and scatter No 311 Kb Yes No Yes hovers, follows and zooming highcharts license Yes
1001 search results and 118 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month jpg,png, pdf, svg rich in its capabilities library
Humble Finance(library are no longer supported) two 2d data sets which share an axis Yes up to 3.7 Mb No Prototype  and Flotr No hovers, follows and zooming MIT No
3 search results on stackoverflow
this tool lends itself well to the display of financial data
Envision.js real-time, timeSeries, finance, custom (fractal) Yes up to 1.3 Mb No Flotr2 No hovers, follows and zooming MIT No
5 new topics on groups in last month
Allows you to create dynamic and interactive HTML5 visualizations
JavaScript InfoVis Toolkit area, bar, pie, treemap, sunburst, icicle, spaceTree, rGraph, hyperTree Yes 308 Kb Yes No Yes hovers and follows MIT No
76 search results and 3 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month
a large number of solutions for data visualization
jqPlot bar, line, area, xy, scatter, combo, pie, donut, column, logarithmic scale charts, time plot Yes variable. Core size is 172 Kb, with all additional plugins up to 493 Kb No jQuery Yes. There are plugins for mobile support hover, highlighting, legends, click to turn toggle series on/off, tooltips, etc MIT/GPL v2 Yes Wikimedia active project with 73 forks.. 526 search results and 55 new topics on stackoverflow,   52 new topics on groups in last month png chart types like Mekko, bubble, pyramid, funnel and block charts.  Ability to drag and drop points.  Automatic trend line calculations
jQuery Sparklines line, bar, tristate, discrete, pie charts, bullet graphs No up to 119 Kb No jQuery No form of tooltips, mouseover highlighting and click interaction New BSD License No
25 search results and 3 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month
plugin for generate sparklines (small inline charts)
jQuery Visualize bar, area, pie, line Yes 24,2 Kb No jQuery Yes hovers and follows MIT Yes
32 search results on stackoverflow
visualize is one of the 12 enhancement-driven widgets that accompanies on the book Designing with Progressive Enhancement
milkchart bar, line, scatter, column, pie, donut YesMinified is at 25 Kb No Mootools Yes legends MIT No
8 search results on stackoverflow png simple and small.  Takes a Table element or JSON data
RGraph bar, bi-polar,line, pie, donut, Gantt, Funnel, Waterfall, gauge, progress bars, meter, radar, scatter radial scatter, rose Yes variable up to 830 Kb No No Yes tooltips, annotating, context, menus, resizing, zoom RGraph license Yes
Latest realease June-01-2012, 58 search results and 6 new topics on stackoverflow in last month png many interesting types of charts, good documentation
Rickshaw area, lines, bars, scatterplot No variable up to 712 Kb Yes D3 No renderers, legends, hovers, range selectors, etc. MIT No
9 search results and 2 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month
works with real-time data
Timeplot time series No 161 Kb Yes No No hovers and follows BSD No
16 search results and 1 new topics on stackoverflow  in last month
interactive time series plots and overlay Timeline event files over them

8 comments:

  1. Very helpful information. Thank you Dennis. :)

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  2. Hi Dennis,

    You might also want to look at our new HTML5 Charts http://canvasjs.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. A more detailed comparison including chart types and features can be found at http://www.fusioncharts.com/javascript-charting-comparison/

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  4. Hi,

    there is one new JavaScrip data visuzalization library - ChartJS from DevExpress
    It is free for non-commercial project
    Web site:
    http://chartjs.devexpress.com
    Demo gallery:
    http://demos.devexpress.com/DXTREME/Visualization/#index

    I would be very interested to hear feedback from you.

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  5. is there a comparison for D3JS vs. ZingCharts?

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  6. Hi,

    We've compiled a list of visualization libraries over at JSter. Obviously it doesn't go to the same level of details as yours but perhaps you can find a few new ones there. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. hii


    please help me to compare d3.js vs zingChart

    ReplyDelete