Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

jsPlumb VS Paper.js

Compare jsPlumb VS Paper.js and see what are their differences

jsPlumb logo jsPlumb

jsPlumb is an advanced, standards-compliant and easy to use JS library for building connectivity based applications, such as flowcharts, process flow diagrams, sequence diagrams, organisation charts, etc. More than just a diagram library.

Paper.js logo Paper.js

Open source vector graphics scripting framework that runs on top of the HTML5 Canvas.
  • jsPlumb Chatbot Builder
    Chatbot Builder //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Active Filtering
    Active Filtering //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Flowchart Builder
    Flowchart Builder //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Hello World
    Hello World //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Gantt Chart
    Gantt Chart //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Hierarchy Layout
    Hierarchy Layout //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Mindmap Builder
    Mindmap Builder //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Org Chart
    Org Chart //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Schema Builder
    Schema Builder //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Path Tracing
    Path Tracing //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Call Flow Builder
    Call Flow Builder //
    2025-04-23
  • jsPlumb Network Topology
    Network Topology //
    2025-04-23

Build connectivity quickly. Powerful and flexible library for diagramming and rich graphical front ends. JsPlumb contains everything you need to build an application with visual connectivity: pan/zoom, a minimap widget, automatic layouts, data binding, and more. Deep integration with Angular, React, Svelte and Vue.

Cut your time to market by focusing on what makes your app unique and leave the boring stuff to us.

Not present

jsPlumb features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    jsPlumb provides a straightforward API that simplifies making interactive and dynamic visualizations. It's easy to understand and quick to implement for creating diagrams and flowcharts.
  • Rich Feature Set
    The library offers a wide range of features, including various endpoint and connector types, overlays, and a robust event handling system, making it versatile for different types of projects.
  • Extensive Documentation and Examples
    jsPlumb offers thorough documentation and a variety of example projects, which help developers get started and serve as a resource for troubleshooting and implementing more complex functionality.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    It supports major browsers and ensures consistent behavior across different platforms, which is essential for web applications.
  • Customizable
    With its customizable options, developers can tailor the appearance and behavior of connections and components to fit the specific needs of their application.

Paper.js features and specs

  • Vector Graphics Support
    Paper.js excels in handling vector graphics, making it an excellent choice for creating and manipulating graphics with precision.
  • Scene Graph
    The library uses a scene graph, which facilitates hierarchical organization and management of graphical objects.
  • Rich API
    Paper.js offers a highly intuitive and rich API that simplifies tasks like working with paths, segments, and more.
  • Ease of Use
    With its clear documentation and straightforward syntax, Paper.js is beginner-friendly while remaining powerful for advanced users.
  • Cross-Platform
    Being JavaScript-based, Paper.js works across different platforms and browsers without requiring any additional plugins.
  • Interactive Graphics
    It allows for easy creation of interactive graphics, making it ideal for use in web applications needing dynamic graphic manipulation.
  • Built-In Animation Support
    Paper.js includes built-in support for animations, enabling smooth and complex animations with minimal effort.

Possible disadvantages of Paper.js

  • Performance
    Due to its high-level abstraction and ease of use, Paper.js may not perform as well as lower-level graphics libraries in performance-critical applications.
  • File Size
    Paper.js can be relatively large in terms of file size compared to some lightweight alternatives, which might affect load times.
  • Limited to Canvas
    Paper.js is limited to the HTML5 Canvas element, so it doesn't natively support other rendering contexts like SVG.
  • Animation Flexibility
    While it offers built-in animation support, the flexibility and feature set might not be as extensive as dedicated animation libraries.
  • Learning Curve for Complex Features
    Although it's beginner-friendly for simple tasks, mastering more complex aspects of Paper.js can have a steeper learning curve.
  • Community and Support
    Paper.js might not have as large a community or as extensive support as some other more widely-used JavaScript libraries such as D3.js or Three.js.

jsPlumb videos

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Paper.js videos

Revision clouds in AutoCAD using Paper.js

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to jsPlumb and Paper.js)
Javascript UI Libraries
30 30%
70% 70
Development
47 47%
53% 53
Flowcharts
33 33%
67% 67
Tool
100 100%
0% 0

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing jsPlumb and Paper.js.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

jsPlumb's answer

The flexibility and deep integration of the library is what most clients love. jsPlumb also offers also quick help and support. Wide range of features. Powerful with integration to common web frameworks. Good examples. Support for HTML & SVG.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

jsPlumb's answer

Apple, Walmart, Siemens, Oracle, Cisco, Credit Suisse.

What makes your product unique?

jsPlumb's answer

JsPlumb is a JavaScript library that simplifies creating visual connections between elements in a web application. It is particularly popular for building applications with drag-and-drop interfaces, workflow editors, process modeling tools, or any system where you need to visualize relationships between elements.JsPlumb is designed to work seamlessly across modern browsers, ensuring that your application delivers a consistent user experience to all users.

How would you describe your primary audience?

jsPlumb's answer

JsPlumb's primary audience consists of developers and organizations that need to create visual representations of relationships or workflows in web applications. Web Application Developers, Software Companies, Designers and Engineers of Interactive Tools, Educational and Research Platforms, Enterprises Needing Custom Solutions, Developers Needing Quick Prototyping,Data Visualization Professionals.

User comments

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Reviews

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

jsPlumb Reviews

20+ JavaScript libraries to draw your own diagrams (2022 edition)
jsPlumb provides a fast way of building applications with visual connectivity at their core. s. It uses SVG and runs on all browsers from IE9 and later. JsPlumbToolkit is its commercial extension. This commercial version wraps the Community edition with a focus on the underlying data model, as well as several useful UI features such as layouts, and a widget that offers...

Paper.js Reviews

20+ JavaScript libraries to draw your own diagrams (2022 edition)
Paper.js is an open source vector graphics scripting framework that runs on top of the HTML5 Canvas. It offers a clean Scene Graph / Document Object Model and a lot of powerful functionality to create and work with vector graphics and bezier curves, all neatly wrapped up in a well designed, consistent and clean programming interface. It’s based on (and largely compatible)...
8 Best Free and Open-Source Drawing Libraries in JavaScript
The Paper.js library is another free and open-source solution for people who want to draw using JavaScript. The library uses canvas to handle its drawing animations. However, its primary focus is vector-based drawings instead of raster images.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Paper.js should be more popular than jsPlumb. It has been mentiond 11 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.

jsPlumb mentions (5)

  • Do you know any good libraries to make those kind of graph?
    I have looked into https://jsplumbtoolkit.com/ for a couple of projects and it seemed pretty good but it was a pure JS library 'community edition' with a commercial version that had all the nice framework integration for React and Angular. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Low-code development (Node-RED alternative)
    A pretty common one is jsPlumb - https://jsplumbtoolkit.com/ - might be what you're looking for. I'm sure there are others as well. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Library suggestions for creating unidirectional graphs or flowcharts.
    Check out https://jsplumbtoolkit.com/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Is there any node graph library for svelte?
    Amazing!!! I am looking specifically for something like react flow as well. After looking into it the best option might be jsplumb. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Creating a drag and drop platform with python
    Hey, finally I found https://jsplumbtoolkit.com/ who seems to be the best solution for that. Source: about 4 years ago

Paper.js mentions (11)

  • How Framer/Figma is built?
    I started with angular and paper.js: http://paperjs.org/. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Polygon JS libraries
    In a thread in the Processing forum, Boolean operations in polygons , user ErraticGenerator suggests using g.js or Paper.js. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Looking for a javascript library with good wrapping support
    It is likely that paper.js provides the functionality needed. I will probably investigate it at some point since it appears to be the more popular library Compare paper.js & bezier.js. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Animating an svg
    Just remember you can do some SVG displacement with Paper.JS. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Diagnosing RangeError: Maximum call stack size exceeded in React KeyEscapeUtils
    Our webapp is written with React and Redux using the official react-redux bindings. Another primary library used in this web app is PaperJS. We recently transitioned this to being a Redux app, though it has used React for a while. Source: about 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing jsPlumb and Paper.js, you can also consider the following products

GoJS - GoJS is a JavaScript library for building interactive diagrams on HTML web pages. Build apps with flowcharts, org charts, BPMN, UML, modeling, and other visual graph types.

p5.js - JS library for creating graphic and interactive experiences

mxGraph - mxGraph is a fully client side JavaScript diagramming library - jgraph/mxgraph

Three.js - A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

Konva - Konva is 2d Canvas JavaScript framework for drawings shapes, animations, node nesting, layering, filtering, event handling, drag and drop and much more.

JsDiagram - Create interactive diagrams for JavaScript and HTML using MindFusion browser based visualization library.