head to head · open source
diagram-design vs jfreechart
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars, 4,247 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. jfreechart has 1,393 stars, 674 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped 12 months ago. diagram-design leads on adoption by 4,517% (64,318 vs 1,393 stars). diagram-design is written in HTML under MIT; jfreechart is written in Java under LGPL-2.1. diagram-design has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, jfreechart 48%. diagram-design 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
| diagram-design | jfreechart | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 64K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | MIT | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | HTML | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2025-11-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 674 |
| 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 jfreechart if
- You want the jfreechart feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and jfreechart 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 jfreechart
JFreeChart ========== Version 2.0.0, not yet released. Overview JFreeChart is a comprehensive free chart library for the Java& 8482; platform that can be used on the client side (JavaFX and Swing) or the server side, with export to multiple formats including SVG, PNG and PDF. The home page for the project is: JFreeChart requires JDK 11 or later. For Java 8 support, check the v1.5.x branch. The library is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 2.1 or later. JavaFX JFreeChart can be used with JavaFX via the JFreeChart FX extensions: Demos A small set of demo applications…
read the full jfreechart overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is diagram-design or jfreechart more popular?
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars and jfreechart has 1,393. diagram-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are diagram-design and jfreechart free?
Both are open source. diagram-design is licensed under MIT and jfreechart under LGPL-2.1. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between diagram-design and jfreechart?
diagram-design is written in HTML and jfreechart in Java. 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 jfreechart?
Choose diagram-design if you want the larger community (64,318 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose jfreechart if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.