Software Alternatives & Reviews

Three.js VS D3.js

Compare Three.js VS D3.js and see what are their differences

Three.js logo Three.js

A JavaScript 3D library which makes WebGL simpler.

D3.js logo 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.
  • Three.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-05-05
  • D3.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-11

D3 allows you to bind arbitrary data to a Document Object Model (DOM), and then apply data-driven transformations to the document. For example, you can use D3 to generate an HTML table from an array of numbers. Or, use the same data to create an interactive SVG bar chart with smooth transitions and interaction.

D3 is not a monolithic framework that seeks to provide every conceivable feature. Instead, D3 solves the crux of the problem: efficient manipulation of documents based on data. This avoids proprietary representation and affords extraordinary flexibility, exposing the full capabilities of web standards such as HTML, SVG, and CSS. With minimal overhead, D3 is extremely fast, supporting large datasets and dynamic behaviors for interaction and animation. D3’s functional style allows code reuse through a diverse collection of official and community-developed modules.

Three.js

Categories
  • Javascript UI Libraries
  • Flowcharts
  • Org Charts
  • Charting Libraries
Website threejs.org
Details $
Platforms
-

D3.js

Categories
  • Javascript UI Libraries
  • Charting Libraries
  • Data Visualization
  • Data Dashboard
Website d3js.org
Details $
Platforms
JavaScript

Three.js videos

Getting Started With Three.js

More videos:

  • Review - Ricardo Cabello (Mr doob) - 5 years of three.js

D3.js videos

Data Visualization with D3.js - Full Tutorial Course

More videos:

  • Review - Let's learn D3.js - D3 for data visualization (full course)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Three.js and D3.js)
Javascript UI Libraries
54 54%
46% 46
Charting Libraries
23 23%
77% 77
Flowcharts
100 100%
0% 0
Data Visualization
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Three.js and D3.js

Three.js Reviews

Top 20 Javascript Libraries
Cross-browser JS library and API that allows for the creation of beautiful animations, Three.js relies on WebGL rather than conventional browser-plugins. Through its library utilities, developers can include complex 3D animations on their website without much effort. Three.js include many features like geometry, lights, materials, shaders, effects, scenes, data loaders,...
Source: hackr.io

D3.js Reviews

6 JavaScript Charting Libraries for Powerful Data Visualizations in 2023
Depending on your requirements, the best JavaScript library is D3.js, as it’s by far the most customizable. However, it’s also really complex and difficult to master. Plus, it’s not as compatible with TypeScript as it is with JavaScript, which can be off-putting for some developers. If you’d prefer a less complex library that you can use with TypeScript, ECharts, and...
Source: embeddable.com
15 JavaScript Libraries for Creating Beautiful Charts
When we think of charting today, D3.js is the first name that comes up. Being an open source project, D3.js definitely brings many powerful features that were missing in most of the existing libraries. Features like dynamic properties, Enter and Exit, powerful transitions, and syntax familiarity with jQuery make it one the best JavaScript libraries for charting. Charts in...
Top 20 Javascript Libraries
D3 stands for Data-Driven Documents. With D3, you can apply data-driven transformations to DOM objects. The keyword with D3 is ‘data-driven,’ which means documents are manipulated depending on the data received. Data can be received in any format and bound with DOM objects. D3 is very fast and supports dynamic behavior for animation and interactions. There are plenty of...
Source: hackr.io
20+ JavaScript libraries to draw your own diagrams (2022 edition)
D3.js is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. Right now, I would say is the most popular library of its kind.
15 data science tools to consider using in 2021
Another open source tool, D3.js is a JavaScript library for creating custom data visualizations in a web browser. Commonly known as D3, which stands for Data-Driven Documents, it uses web standards, such as HTML, Scalable Vector Graphics and CSS, instead of its own graphical vocabulary. D3's developers describe it as a dynamic and flexible tool that requires a minimum amount...

Social recommendations and mentions

Three.js might be a bit more popular than D3.js. We know about 229 links to it since March 2021 and only 159 links to D3.js. 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.

Three.js mentions (229)

  • Finding Stars and Affirmations in the Sky with Three.js for Ayra Starr
    Here's how we used Three.js to place and find affirmations in the sky. - Source: dev.to / 19 days ago
  • Incredible JavaScript Animation Libraries
    Three.js is dedicated to generating 3D visuals, offering a powerful suite of features and tools. It is built atop WebGL and optimizes GPU usage for rapid rendering, ensuring smooth performance across devices, including those with limited resources. Three.js's versatility allows for the creation of a vast spectrum of 3D graphics and animations, ranging from simple shapes to intricate models. - Source: dev.to / 25 days ago
  • React: A Mess That Shouldn't Exist In Web Development
    Most of frontend libraries are made with Vanilla JS. An example of library that you might frequently use is "Chart.js". But React is not compatible with Chart.js so here it comes "React-chartjs-2" A wrapper library to work with Chart.js in React ecosystem. Oh you want to use "three.js" for some cool 3D? You will need "React-three/fiber". In my case, I need to implement "telegram-web-app", not so fast, I have to... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • JPEG XL Is a Stupid Name
    The websites uses a 3D library called three.js https://threejs.org/ I think it is used for the loading splash screen. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Things you should know before learning Three.js
    For one of my 100-Day Challenges, I chose to dive into Three.js, a JavaScript 3D library. It's easy to start learning, and it becomes difficult to master with the inclusion of shaders. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
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D3.js mentions (159)

  • A visual guide to Vision Transformer – A scroll story
    Yes this was done with a combination of GSAP Scrolltrigger https://gsap.com/docs/v3/Plugins/ScrollTrigger/ and https://d3js.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 2 days ago
  • Full Stack Web Development Concept map
    d3 - very power visualization library enabling dynamic visualizations. docs. - Source: dev.to / 26 days ago
  • Observable 2.0, a static site generator for data apps
    Yep, Evidence is doing good work. We were most directly inspired by VitePress; we spent months rewriting both D3’s docs (https://d3js.org) and Observable Plot’s docs (https://observablehq.com/plot) in VitePress, and absolutely loved the experience. But we wanted a tool focused on data apps, dashboards, reports — observability and business intelligence use cases rather than documentation. Compared to Evidence, I’d... - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • What is the technology stack used to create these live charts?
    They are images so it could be any number of things, datawrapper, charts.js, d3.js to name a few options. Source: 4 months ago
  • Animated map showing frequency and location of births around the world [OC]
    I made this interactive visualization that attempts to show the real-time frequency and location of births around the world. A country’s annual births (i.e. The country’s population times its birthrate) were distributed across all of the populated locations in each country, weighted by the population distribution (i.e. More populated areas got a greater fraction of the births). Data Sources and... Source: 5 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Three.js and D3.js, you can also consider the following products

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

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

PixiJS - Fast and flexible WebGL-based HTML5 game and app development library.

Plotly - Low-Code Data Apps

Pixi.js - Fast lightweight 2D library that works across all devices

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