head to head · open source
diagram-design vs plotly.js
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars, 4,247 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. plotly.js has 18,378 stars, 2,074 forks, 769 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. diagram-design leads on adoption by 250% (64,318 vs 18,378 stars). diagram-design is written in HTML under MIT; plotly.js is written in JavaScript under MIT. diagram-design has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, plotly.js 11%. 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 | plotly.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 64K | ★ 18K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | HTML | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| 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 plotly.js if
- You want the plotly.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and plotly.js 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 plotly.js
Plotly.js is a standalone JavaScript data visualization library, and it also powers the Python and R modules named plotly in those respective ecosystems (referred to as Plotly.py and Plotly.R). Plotly.js can be used to produce dozens of chart types and visualizations, including statistical charts, 3D graphs, scientific charts, SVG and tile maps, financial charts and more. Contact us for Plotly.js consulting, dashboard development, application integration, and feature additions. Table of contents Load as a node module Load via script tag Bundles Alternative ways to load and build plotly.js Documentation Bugs and…
read the full plotly.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is diagram-design or plotly.js more popular?
diagram-design has 64,318 GitHub stars and plotly.js has 18,378. diagram-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are diagram-design and plotly.js free?
Both are open source. diagram-design is licensed under MIT and plotly.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between diagram-design and plotly.js?
diagram-design is written in HTML and plotly.js 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 plotly.js?
Choose diagram-design if you want the larger community (64,318 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose plotly.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.