head to head · open source
Apache Superset vs charts.css
Apache Superset has 74,821 GitHub stars, 18,339 forks, 588 open issues and last shipped today. charts.css has 6,584 stars, 178 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. Apache Superset leads on adoption by 1,036% (74,821 vs 6,584 stars). Apache Superset is written in Python under Apache-2.0; charts.css is written in HTML under MIT. Apache Superset has attracted 25% as many forks as stars, charts.css 3%. Apache Superset was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (data-visualization), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Apache Superset | charts.css | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 75K | ★ 6.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-04-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 18K | ⑂ 178 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Apache Superset if
- You weight community size — 75K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick charts.css if
- You want the charts.css feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You evaluated both and charts.css fits your workflow better
About Apache Superset
Apache Superset is an open source business intelligence platform that enables self serve data exploration and dashboard creation. It runs as a web application and provides tools for analysts and business users to visualize and analyze data without writing complex code, while also offering advanced capabilities for data engineers and developers. Superset lives in the Apache Software Foundation ecosystem and is licensed under Apache 2.0.
read the full Apache Superset overview →
About charts.css
Charts.css is an MIT licensed open source CSS framework that turns semantic HTML data tables into charts and graphs using nothing but CSS classes, aimed at frontend developers who want visualization without a JavaScript charting dependency.
read the full charts.css overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Apache Superset or charts.css more popular?
Apache Superset has 74,821 GitHub stars and charts.css has 6,584. Apache Superset has the larger community by that measure.
Are Apache Superset and charts.css free?
Both are open source. Apache Superset is licensed under Apache-2.0 and charts.css under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Apache Superset and charts.css?
Apache Superset is written in Python and charts.css in HTML. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Apache Superset or charts.css?
Choose Apache Superset if you want the larger community (74,821 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose charts.css if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.