Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Chart.js VS RAWGraphs

Compare Chart.js VS RAWGraphs and see what are their differences

Chart.js logo Chart.js

Easy, object oriented client side graphs for designers and developers.

RAWGraphs logo RAWGraphs

RAWGraphs is an open source app built with the goal of making the visualization of complex data...
  • Chart.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-13
  • RAWGraphs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-16

Chart.js features and specs

  • Open Source
    Chart.js is open source and free to use, which makes it accessible for both personal and commercial projects without any licensing costs.
  • Ease of Use
    Chart.js is known for its simple and easy-to-use API. Developers can quickly create charts by just including the library and writing minimal JavaScript.
  • Lightweight
    The library is relatively lightweight compared to other charting libraries, which helps in maintaining the performance of web applications.
  • Responsive Design
    Charts created with Chart.js are responsive by default, ensuring that they look good on all devices, including desktops, tablets, and mobile phones.
  • Variety of Chart Types
    Chart.js supports a variety of chart types including line, bar, radar, pie, doughnut, and polar area charts, providing flexibility for different data visualization needs.
  • Customization
    Developers can customize the appearance of charts extensively through Chart.js options such as colors, labels, and tooltips.
  • Active Community
    Chart.js has an active community and a strong support base, which means that developers can easily find help, tutorials, and plugins to enhance functionality.

Possible disadvantages of Chart.js

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While Chart.js is good for basic and intermediate charting needs, it may lack some advanced features and customizations offered by more complex charting libraries like D3.js.
  • Performance Issues with Large Datasets
    Chart.js can struggle with performance when dealing with very large datasets or complex visualizations, which can result in slower rendering times.
  • Learning Curve for Customization
    Although the basic usage is straightforward, achieving deeper customizations can involve a steeper learning curve as it requires understanding the underlying JavaScript and options.
  • Limited Interactivity
    Interactivity options with Chart.js are somewhat limited compared to other libraries that offer more advanced interactive features.
  • Dependency on Canvas
    Charts are rendered using the HTML5 canvas element, which may not be as flexible as SVG-based rendering used by some other libraries.

RAWGraphs features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    RAWGraphs provides an intuitive drag and drop interface, making it accessible for users with various technical skills.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, RAWGraphs allows for customization and community contributions, promoting transparency and flexibility.
  • Supports Multiple Data Formats
    RAWGraphs supports a variety of input formats like CSV, TSV, JSON, etc., enhancing its adaptability to different data sources.
  • Extensive Visualization Types
    Offers a wide range of visualization types such as bar graphs, scatter plots, and network graphs, catering to diverse analytical needs.
  • No Installation Required
    As a web-based tool, it does not require any installation, making it easy to access and use anywhere with an internet connection.
  • Export Options
    Allows exporting visualizations in vector (SVG) and raster (PNG) formats, which is valuable for high-quality reporting and presentations.

Possible disadvantages of RAWGraphs

  • Limited Interactivity
    Visualizations created with RAWGraphs are generally static, lacking advanced interactive features found in other tools.
  • Performance with Large Datasets
    May struggle with performance issues when handling very large datasets, which can limit its use for extensive data analytics.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic functionalities are user-friendly, leveraging advanced features and customizations may require a steeper learning curve.
  • Dependency on Internet
    As a web-based application, it requires an internet connection to function, which can be a limitation in restricted or offline environments.
  • Limited Data Manipulation
    Provides basic data manipulation features, but lacks the depth and complexity available in specialized data processing tools.
  • Support and Documentation
    As an open-source project, it may not have the extensive support and documentation available with commercial visualization tools.

Analysis of Chart.js

Overall verdict

  • Chart.js is a good choice for developers looking for a straightforward solution to incorporate charts into their web projects. Its ease of use, comprehensive documentation, and active community support make it an excellent option for both beginners and experienced developers.

Why this product is good

  • Chart.js is a popular open-source library for creating charts and graphs in web applications. It is valued for its simplicity, ease of use, and ability to create responsive, interactive charts with minimal effort. The library supports a wide range of chart types, including line, bar, radar, doughnut, pie, polar area, bubble, and scatter charts. Chart.js also provides customization options, allowing developers to tailor the look and behavior of their charts to fit their specific needs.

Recommended for

  • Web developers who need to quickly implement charts in their applications.
  • Teams looking for a lightweight and performant charting library.
  • Projects where customization and responsiveness of charts are important.
  • Beginner developers who want to learn and implement basic data visualization techniques.

Analysis of RAWGraphs

Overall verdict

  • Yes, RAWGraphs is a good tool for creating data visualizations due to its ease of use, versatility, and robust support for different data types and outputs.

Why this product is good

  • RAWGraphs is considered a good data visualization tool because it is open-source, versatile, and easy to use. It allows users to create a wide variety of charts and visualizations without needing extensive coding knowledge. Its interface is intuitive and facilitates the quick transformation of data sets into visually compelling graphics. Furthermore, it supports multiple formats for data input and export, making it flexible for various project needs.

Recommended for

  • data analysts
  • journalists
  • researchers
  • educators
  • students
  • designers who need to create visualizations without in-depth coding skills.

Chart.js videos

1.3: Graphing with Chart.js - Working With Data & APIs in JavaScript

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Build Ionic 4 Apps with Chart.js

RAWGraphs videos

RawGraphs Walkthrough

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Chart.js and RAWGraphs)
Charting Libraries
74 74%
26% 26
Data Dashboard
71 71%
29% 29
Data Visualization
72 72%
28% 28
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Chart.js and RAWGraphs

Chart.js Reviews

6 JavaScript Charting Libraries for Powerful Data Visualizations in 2023
Of the free libraries on this list, ECharts has the widest range of chart types available, second only to D3. Unlike D3, ECharts also ranks highly on the user-friendliness scale, although some users find ApexCharts and Chart.js even easier to use. You can check out some examples of basic charts on ECharts.
Source: embeddable.com
5 top picks for JavaScript chart libraries
Chart.js is a chart library that is available as a client-side JavaScript package. There are also derivatives for other frontend frameworks, like React, Vue, and Angular. It displays the chart on an HTML canvas element.
Top 10 JavaScript Charting Libraries for Every Data Visualization Need
Chart.js is a simple yet quite flexible JavaScript library for data viz, popular among web designers and developers. It’s a great basic solution for those who don’t need lots of chart types and customization features but want their charts to look neat, clear and informative at a glance.
Source: hackernoon.com
A Complete Overview of the Best Data Visualization Tools
Chart.js uses HTML5 Canvas for output, so it renders charts well across all modern browsers. Charts created are also responsive, so it’s great for creating visualizations that are mobile-friendly.
Source: www.toptal.com
The Best Data Visualization Tools - Top 30 BI Software
Chart.js is better for smaller chart projects. It’s open source and small in size, supporting six different types of charts: bar, line, pie, radar, doughnut, and polar. You can also add or remove any of these 6 types to reduce your footprint. Chart.js uses HTML5 Canvas and ships with polyfills for IE6/7 support. Chart.js offers the ability to create simple charts quickly.
Source: improvado.io

RAWGraphs Reviews

Top 10 Tableau Open Source Alternatives: A Comprehensive List
RAWGraphs is an open-source Data Visualization tool designed to make visualizing complex data simple for everyone. The primary goal of RAWGraphs is to provide a tool that allows people who do not have the technical/coding expertise to create visualizations on their own. Originally designed to help graphic designers complete a set of tasks that were not available in other...
Source: hevodata.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, RAWGraphs should be more popular than Chart.js. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Chart.js mentions (1)

  • Chart library for Svelte?
    Https://chartjs.org works well, but you have to call the update function yourself if you want to do some reactive updates. Source: about 4 years ago

RAWGraphs mentions (5)

  • Interview synthesis tools?
    Go back through a second time Code themes / pull insights/ double check for keywords tag accuracy Use Dovetail’s “charts” to review various tags (it will show you how many tags per word in various chart options, none are great.) Export desired csv’s from Dovetail Charts to free online data viz software like https://rawgraphs.io Boom. I’m sure there are better ways but that’s what I got! Source: over 3 years ago
  • What type/style of chart is this?
    Sankey is probably the most common name (after Captain Matthew Henry Phineas Riall Sankey who apparently made them to study energy flows in steam engines). But I've also heard it referred to as an alluvial diagram, for example in https://rawgraphs.io/. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Show HN: I made a data visualization desktop app
    This seems quite similar to RawGraphs: https://rawgraphs.io/ Both seem to provide a similar interface for dragging in a CSV file and constructing a chart, but RawGraphs is open-source, and can be used in the browser without installing anything (or the code can be downloaded and served locally). The main advantage of Daigo over RawGraphs seems to be that it supports publishing multiple charts as a dashboard.... - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • [OC] Latin America’s biggest airports had been growing steadily. With Covid, it all changed.
    Tools: Excel, Rawgraphs, Affinity Designer. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Self-hosted solution for easy data visualization?
    Take a look at https://rawgraphs.io/. Source: about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Chart.js and RAWGraphs, you can also consider the following products

D3.js - D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. D3 helps you bring data to life using HTML, SVG, and CSS.

Plotly - Low-Code Data Apps

Highcharts - A charting library written in pure JavaScript, offering an easy way of adding interactive charts to your web site or web application

Google Charts - Interactive charts for browsers and mobile devices.

AnyChart - Award-winning JavaScript charting library & Qlik Sense extensions from a global leader in data visualization! Loved by thousands of happy customers, including over 75% of Fortune 500 companies & over half of the top 1000 software vendors worldwide.

Tableau - Tableau can help anyone see and understand their data. Connect to almost any database, drag and drop to create visualizations, and share with a click.