Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Chartist.js VS CanvasJS

Compare Chartist.js VS CanvasJS and see what are their differences

Chartist.js logo Chartist.js

Chartist.JS - simple responsive charts.

CanvasJS logo CanvasJS

HTML5 JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, React Charts for Data Visualization
  • Chartist.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-11-26
  • CanvasJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-20

CanvasJS is an easy to use HTML5 and Javascript Charting library which supports 30+ chart types including line, column, bar, area, pie, financial and much more. It runs across devices including iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, Microsoft Surface, Desktops, etc. This allows you to create rich dashboards that work on all the devices without compromising on maintainability or functionality of your web application.

CanvasJS

$ Details
freemium $149.0 / Annually
Platforms
Web
Release Date
2013 March

Chartist.js features and specs

  • Simple to Use
    Chartist.js has a straightforward API that makes it easy for developers to create responsive charts with minimal code.
  • SVG-Based
    Charts are rendered in SVG, which ensures high quality and scalability across different screen sizes and devices.
  • Responsive Design
    Charts created with Chartist.js are responsive by default, automatically adjusting to fit different screen sizes.
  • Customizable
    Provides a high level of customization through options, CSS, and plugins, allowing for flexible chart designs.
  • Lightweight
    Chartist.js is a lightweight library, minimizing the impact on page load times and overall performance.
  • Open Source
    It is open source, meaning developers can contribute to its development or customize the library to fit their needs.

Possible disadvantages of Chartist.js

  • Limited Features
    Compared to some other charting libraries, Chartist.js has limited out-of-the-box features and chart types.
  • Customization Complexity
    While highly customizable, achieving complex customizations can be challenging and may require significant coding and CSS adjustments.
  • Plugin Dependency
    To add certain functionalities, you might need to rely on third-party plugins, which can lead to inconsistencies and additional dependencies.
  • Lack of Interactivity
    Chartist.js offers limited interactivity, such as tooltips or animations, compared to other advanced charting libraries.
  • Performance Issues
    For very large datasets or highly complex charts, performance may degrade, as SVG rendering can be resource-intensive.
  • Limited Documentation
    Some aspects of the library, especially advanced customizations, are not well-documented, which can make implementation more difficult.

CanvasJS features and specs

  • Easy to Use
    CanvasJS offers a straightforward API and extensive documentation, making it easy for developers to quickly integrate charts into their applications.
  • Performance
    CanvasJS uses HTML5 Canvas for rendering, which provides excellent performance, especially for large datasets or real-time updates.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Charts rendered with CanvasJS work across all modern web browsers, ensuring a consistent experience for users.
  • Variety of Chart Types
    CanvasJS supports a wide range of chart types including line, bar, pie, and more, offering flexibility for different data visualization needs.
  • Responsive Design
    Charts created with CanvasJS are responsive and adjust well to different screen sizes, which is crucial for mobile and tablet support.

Possible disadvantages of CanvasJS

  • Licensing Cost
    While CanvasJS offers a free version, the full-featured version requires a commercial license, which may be costly for small projects or individual developers.
  • Limited Customization
    Although CanvasJS provides several customization options, it may not be as flexible as other libraries when it comes to highly specific or complex customizations.
  • Dependency on JavaScript
    Being a JavaScript library, CanvasJS requires a working knowledge of JavaScript, which could be a barrier for beginners or developers coming from other programming languages.
  • Learning Curve for Complex Features
    Although basic usage is simple, mastering all of the advanced features and customization options may take some time and effort.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Chartist.js and CanvasJS)
Charting Libraries
45 45%
55% 55
Data Dashboard
49 49%
51% 51
Data Visualization
53 53%
47% 47
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 Chartist.js and CanvasJS

Chartist.js Reviews

15 JavaScript Libraries for Creating Beautiful Charts
Chartist.js provides beautiful responsive charts. Just like ChartJS, Chartist.js is the product of a community that was frustrated by using highly-priced JavaScript charting libraries. It uses SVG to render the charts. It can be controlled and customized through CSS3 media queries and Sass. Also, note that Chartist.js provides cool animations that will work only in modern...
Top 10 JavaScript Charting Libraries for Every Data Visualization Need
Chartist.js is an open-source, unintrusive JS library which can also be used to create nice responsive charts. Generally, Chartist is good for those who need a very simple chart — line, bar, or pie — and who do not require much in terms of data visualization. Good appearance, no need to have many great features in this case.
Source: hackernoon.com
A Complete Overview of the Best Data Visualization Tools
Chartist.js is a free, open-source JavaScript library that allows for creating simple responsive charts that are highly customizable and cross-browser compatible. The entire JavaScript library is only 10KB when GZIPped. Charts created with Chartist.js can also be animated, and plugins allow it to be extended.
Source: www.toptal.com
The Best Data Visualization Tools - Top 30 BI Software
Chartist.js is the result of a desire to create a JavaScript charting library that’s above all of the rest. Leveraging Sass, the styles of the data visualization tool are fully customizable and boasts a responsive, DPI independent, and media query-based SVG output. Chartist.js can be easily integrated with WordPress, Ember, Meteor, React, and AngularJS through a variety of...
Source: improvado.io

CanvasJS Reviews

We have no reviews of CanvasJS yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Chartist.js might be a bit more popular than CanvasJS. We know about 12 links to it since March 2021 and only 11 links to CanvasJS. 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.

Chartist.js mentions (12)

  • Free SVG generators, color tools and web design tools
    Here's a JS framework that seems to do almost everything you want (outside of not requiring a JS framework, of course). It's a Sass project and uses Node modules, so I wasn't able to get it running using vanila js. (I'm not much of a JS dev.) I'm also interested in other players in this space. SVG seems like the ideal way to make static plots. https://gionkunz.github.io/chartist-js/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Looking for savable graphing methods
    If you are sending the data to a website, or serving the website yourself, using JSON as the data format will be the easiest. Personally I never use cloud services and I just use a Javascript charting library like https://gionkunz.github.io/chartist-js/ (it supports real-time graphs) on a web page that is self-hosted (run a server on the ESP32). Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Chartist: Simple Responsive Charts in SVG
    The author went through the effort of creating a marketing site with documentation and examples. https://gionkunz.github.io/chartist-js/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • The Best GitHub Repositories For Django Developers.
    With django-controlcenter you can have all of your models on one single page and build beautiful charts with Chartist.js. Actually they don't even have to be a django models, get your data from wherever you want: RDBMS, NOSQL, text file or even from an external web-page, it doesn't matter. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Vuenique, an open-source library bringing the power of low-level visualization to Vue
    Anyone here have some good suggestions for mature, easy to use graph libraries for Vue 3? Maybe I should write a wrapper around Chartist myself... Source: about 3 years ago
View more

CanvasJS mentions (11)

  • Smarter Axis Label Formatting Based on Zoom Level in CanvasJS
    When building time-series charts, how you format axis labels can make or break readability — especially when users zoom across seconds to years. CanvasJS provides excellent out-of-the-box support for time-based axis labels, but when working with sub-minute or sub-hour data (e.g., sensor readings, real-time dashboards), the default behavior might not always deliver the best readability. This guide shows how to... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Dynamic Highlighting of Weekends in CanvasJS Charts
    Visualizing time-series data - such as financial charts, project timelines, or event trackers - often requires contextual markers like weekends or holidays to improve insights. CanvasJS charts offer the flexibility to dynamically highlight specific date ranges using stripLines. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Integrating CanvasJS Charts in Salesforce Lightning Aura Component
    Visualizing data within Salesforce enhances user engagement and decision-making. A recent study showed that dashboards with interactive charts increase user adoption by 70%. This article guides you through seamlessly integrating CanvasJS charts into your Lightning Aura components for impactful data representation. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Display Chart in Express.js App using CanvasJS
    Download the CanvasJS library from CanvasJS's official website. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Integrating WebDataRocks and CanvasJS for Interactive Data Visualization
    In modern web applications, data analysis and visualization play a crucial role in delivering insights. While pivot tables allow users to explore and manipulate data interactively, charts make it easier to understand trends and patterns at a glance. WebDataRocks, a JavaScript pivot table library, and CanvasJS, a versatile charting library, can be seamlessly integrated to combine the best of data exploration and... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Chartist.js and CanvasJS, you can also consider the following products

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

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.

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.

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

ZingChart - ZingChart is a fast, modern, powerful JavaScript charting library for building animated, interactive charts and graphs. Bring on the big data!