C3.js vs D3.js vs Highcharts

Overview

Highcharts

Stacks1.5K

Followers1.1K

Votes92

D3.js

Stacks2.0K

Followers1.7K

Votes653

GitHub Stars111.7K

Forks22.9K

C3.js

Stacks398

Followers163

Votes4

C3.js vs D3.js vs Highcharts: What are the differences?

C3.js, D3.js, and Highcharts are all popular JavaScript libraries used for creating interactive and visually appealing charts and graphs on websites. While they serve the same purpose, there are some key differences between them that make each library unique and suitable for different types of projects.

Programming Paradigm: C3.js and Highcharts both follow a higher-level, declarative programming approach, where you define the desired output and the library handles the underlying implementation details. On the other hand, D3.js is a low-level, imperative library that provides complete control over every aspect of the visualization, making it more suitable for complex and customized visualizations.
Learning Curve: D3.js has a steeper learning curve compared to C3.js and Highcharts. Since D3.js provides lower-level control and more flexibility, it requires a stronger understanding of JavaScript and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) concepts. C3.js and Highcharts, on the other hand, abstract away much of the complexity, allowing developers to create charts and graphs with less effort.
Community and Documentation: D3.js has a large and active community, which means that finding resources, examples, and support is relatively easier. The community also contributes to the extensive documentation available for D3.js. C3.js and Highcharts also have a decent community support and documentation, but they may not be as comprehensive as D3.js.
Chart Types and Customization: D3.js offers the most extensive range of chart types and customization options among the three libraries. With D3.js, you can create virtually any type of chart or graph and have complete control over its appearance and behavior. C3.js and Highcharts have a wide variety of pre-built chart types and customization options, but they may have some limitations when it comes to complex visualization requirements.
Interactivity and Animation: D3.js provides powerful interactivity and animation capabilities, allowing for smooth transitions and dynamic updates in the visualization. C3.js and Highcharts also offer interactivity and animation features, but they may have slightly fewer options and flexibility compared to D3.js.
License and Pricing: C3.js and D3.js are open-source libraries released under the MIT license, making them free to use for both personal and commercial projects. Highcharts, on the other hand, is a commercial library that offers a free version for non-commercial use, but requires a paid license for commercial projects.

In Summary, C3.js and Highcharts provide a higher-level, declarative approach for creating charts and graphs with less complexity and effort, while D3.js offers a lower-level, imperative approach that provides more control and flexibility at the cost of a steeper learning curve.

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Advice on Highcharts, D3.js, C3.js

Shaik

Feb 18, 2020

Needs advice

I have used highcharts and it is pretty awesome for my previous project. now as I am about to start my new project I want to use other charting libraries such as recharts, chart js, Nivo, d3 js.... my upcoming project might use react js as front end and laravel as a backend technology. the project would be of hotel management type. please suggest me the best charts to use

247k views247k

Comments

Ayaskant

SSE-II at Akamai

Oct 25, 2019

Needs advice

I want to get suggestions on these 2 open source js libraries (D3.js & echarts) that help in creating charts or graphs on the UI. Which one will be better for bar graphs. Which is easy to learn and start with? Which provides better features and community support?

My requirements are 1 - Plot data in X-Y axis graph where x-axis will present time till seconds level and Y-Axis will present the data corresponding to that time.

2 - Zoom-in and zoom out feature.

56k views56k

Comments

Sudhan

Dec 23, 2019

Needs advice

I'm developing angular 8 application, I need to create a dynamic, custom charts based on the data, Charts options will be configured with a user input form. at any time users can edit and modify the chart options. even I dont know how many charts I have to create everything is dynamic. ( based on the user configuration chart counts will vary ). I need some suggestions on which chart will give these kinds of flexible options.

42.8k views42.8k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Highcharts	D3.js	C3.js
Highcharts currently supports line, spline, area, areaspline, column, bar, pie, scatter, angular gauges, arearange, areasplinerange, columnrange, bubble, box plot, error bars, funnel, waterfall and polar chart types.	It is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. Emphasises on web standards gives you the full capabilities of modern browsers without tying yourself to a proprietary framework.	c3 is a D3-based reusable chart library that enables deeper integration of charts into web applications.
It works in all modern mobile and desktop browsers including the iPhone/iPad and Internet Explorer from version 6;Free for non-commercial;One of the key features of Highcharts is that under any of the licenses, free or not, you are allowed to download the source code and make your own edits;Pure Javascript - Highcharts is solely based on native browser technologies and doesn't require client side plugins like Flash or Java.	Declarative Approach for Individual Nodes Manipulation; Functions Factory; Web Standards; Built-in ELement Inspector to Debug; Uses SVG, Canvas, and HTML; Data-driven approach to DOM Manipulation; Voronoi Diagrams; Maps and topo.	Comfortable - C3 makes it easy to generate D3-based charts by wrapping the code required to construct the entire chart. We don't need to write D3 code any more.;Customizable - C3 gives some classes to each element when generating, so you can define a custom style by the class and it's possible to extend the structure directly by D3.;Controllable - C3 provides a variety of APIs and callbacks to access the state of the chart. By using them, you can update the chart even if after it's rendered.
Statistics
GitHub Stars -	GitHub Stars 111.7K	GitHub Stars -
GitHub Forks -	GitHub Forks 22.9K	GitHub Forks -
Stacks 1.5K	Stacks 2.0K	Stacks 398
Followers 1.1K	Followers 1.7K	Followers 163
Votes 92	Votes 653	Votes 4
Pros & Cons
Pros 34 Low learning curve and powerful 17 Multiple chart types such as pie, bar, line and others 13 Responsive charts 9 Handles everything you throw at it 8 Extremely easy-to-parse documentation Cons 9 Expensive	Pros 195 Beautiful visualizations 103 Svg 92 Data-driven 81 Large set of examples 61 Data-driven documents Cons 11 Beginners cant understand at all 6 Complex syntax	Pros 2 Reusable charts 2 Easy to use Cons 1 Dependent on D3.js which is not lightweight
Integrations
No integrations available	JavaScript React Native AngularJS React Bootstrap	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Highcharts, D3.js, C3.js?

Plotly.js

It is a standalone Javascript data visualization library, and it also powers the Python and R modules named plotly in those respective ecosystems (referred to as Plotly.py and Plotly.R). It can be used to produce dozens of chart types and visualizations, including statistical charts, 3D graphs, scientific charts, SVG and tile maps, financial charts and more.

Chart.js

Visualize your data in 6 different ways. Each of them animated, with a load of customisation options and interactivity extensions.

Recharts

Quickly build your charts with decoupled, reusable React components. Built on top of SVG elements with a lightweight dependency on D3 submodules.

ECharts

It is an open source visualization library implemented in JavaScript, runs smoothly on PCs and mobile devices, and is compatible with most current browsers.

ZingChart

The most feature-rich, fully customizable JavaScript charting library available used by start-ups and the Fortune 100 alike.

amCharts

amCharts is an advanced charting library that will suit any data visualization need. Our charting solution include Column, Bar, Line, Area, Step, Step without risers, Smoothed line, Candlestick, OHLC, Pie/Donut, Radar/ Polar, XY/Scatter/Bubble, Bullet, Funnel/Pyramid charts as well as Gauges.

CanvasJS

Lightweight, Beautiful & Responsive Charts that make your dashboards fly even with millions of data points! Self-Hosted, Secure & Scalable charts that render across devices.

AnyChart

AnyChart is a flexible JavaScript (HTML5) based solution that allows you to create interactive and great looking charts. It is a cross-browser and cross-platform charting solution intended for everybody who deals with creation of dashboard, reporting, analytics, statistical, financial or any other data visualization solutions.

ApexCharts

A modern JavaScript charting library to build interactive charts and visualizations with simple API.

Bokeh

Bokeh is an interactive visualization library for modern web browsers. It provides elegant, concise construction of versatile graphics, and affords high-performance interactivity over large or streaming datasets.

Related Comparisons

C3.js vs D3.js vs Highcharts: What are the differences?

Programming Paradigm: C3.js and Highcharts both follow a higher-level, declarative programming approach, where you define the desired output and the library handles the underlying implementation details. On the other hand, D3.js is a low-level, imperative library that provides complete control over every aspect of the visualization, making it more suitable for complex and customized visualizations.
Learning Curve: D3.js has a steeper learning curve compared to C3.js and Highcharts. Since D3.js provides lower-level control and more flexibility, it requires a stronger understanding of JavaScript and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) concepts. C3.js and Highcharts, on the other hand, abstract away much of the complexity, allowing developers to create charts and graphs with less effort.
Community and Documentation: D3.js has a large and active community, which means that finding resources, examples, and support is relatively easier. The community also contributes to the extensive documentation available for D3.js. C3.js and Highcharts also have a decent community support and documentation, but they may not be as comprehensive as D3.js.
Chart Types and Customization: D3.js offers the most extensive range of chart types and customization options among the three libraries. With D3.js, you can create virtually any type of chart or graph and have complete control over its appearance and behavior. C3.js and Highcharts have a wide variety of pre-built chart types and customization options, but they may have some limitations when it comes to complex visualization requirements.
Interactivity and Animation: D3.js provides powerful interactivity and animation capabilities, allowing for smooth transitions and dynamic updates in the visualization. C3.js and Highcharts also offer interactivity and animation features, but they may have slightly fewer options and flexibility compared to D3.js.
License and Pricing: C3.js and D3.js are open-source libraries released under the MIT license, making them free to use for both personal and commercial projects. Highcharts, on the other hand, is a commercial library that offers a free version for non-commercial use, but requires a paid license for commercial projects.

C3.js vs D3.js vs Highcharts

Overview