head to head · open source
diagram-design vs c3
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars, 4,247 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. c3 has 9,352 stars, 1,357 forks, 771 open issues and last shipped 14 days ago. diagram-design leads on adoption by 588% (64,318 vs 9,352 stars). diagram-design is written in HTML under MIT; c3 is written in JavaScript under MIT. diagram-design has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, c3 15%. diagram-design was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (data-visualization, svg), 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
| diagram-design | c3 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 64K | ★ 9.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | HTML | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick diagram-design if
- You weight community size — 64K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick c3 if
- You want the c3 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and c3 fits your workflow better
About diagram-design
Diagram Design Editorial diagrams your designer won't hate. New in 2.0 — the Loop: flywheels with a shared memory hub. The dashed lines are the write backs. New in 2.3: semantic system patterns and optional accessible motion, while static output stays the default. New in 2.5.10: ten more layout grammars — Sankey, fishbone, Wardley map, kanban, user journey, deployment, dependency graph, UML class, story map, and database schema. 39 editorial diagram types for Claude Code, Codex, Factory Droid, Pi, and Agent Skills compatible hosts. Self contained HTML + SVG. No shadows. No Mermaid slop. Semantic patterns…
read the full diagram-design overview →
About c3
c3 c3 is a D3 based reusable chart library that enables deeper integration of charts into web applications. Follow the link for more information: Documentation + Getting Started + Examples + Full API Reference Additional samples can be found in this repository: + You can run these samples as: Google Group For general C3.js related discussion, please visit our Google Group at Gitter Using the issue queue The issue queue is to be used for reporting defects and problems with C3.js, in addition to feature requests and ideas. It is not a catch all support forum. For general support enquiries, please use the Google…
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Frequently asked questions
Is diagram-design or c3 more popular?
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars and c3 has 9,352. diagram-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are diagram-design and c3 free?
Both are open source. diagram-design is licensed under MIT and c3 under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between diagram-design and c3?
diagram-design is written in HTML and c3 in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, diagram-design or c3?
Choose diagram-design if you want the larger community (64,318 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose c3 if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.