head to head · open source
echarts vs jfreechart
echarts has 67,348 GitHub stars, 19,819 forks, 1,501 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. jfreechart has 1,392 stars, 672 forks, 162 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. echarts leads on adoption by 4,738% (67,348 vs 1,392 stars). echarts is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; jfreechart is written in Java under LGPL-2.1. echarts has attracted 29% as many forks as stars, jfreechart 48%. echarts was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (charts, 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
| echarts | jfreechart | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 67K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2025-11-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 20K | ⑂ 672 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick echarts if
- You weight community size — 67K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 echarts
Apache ECharts is a free, interactive charting and data visualization library that runs in the browser. It is written in pure JavaScript and built on top of zrender, a lightweight canvas library that handles rendering and interaction under the hood. The project lives in the JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystem, is distributed through npm as the echarts package, and is developed under the Apache Software Foundation with an Apache 2.0 license. Its source is written in TypeScript, and the repository has been maintained for more than a decade.
read the full echarts overview →
About jfreechart
JFreeChart is a free, open source 2D chart library for the Java platform that works in JavaFX and Swing clients or on the server side, and it is built for Java developers who need to render and export charts without depending on a commercial charting product.
read the full jfreechart overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is echarts or jfreechart more popular?
echarts has 67,348 GitHub stars and jfreechart has 1,392. echarts has the larger community by that measure.
Are echarts and jfreechart free?
Both are open source. echarts is licensed under Apache-2.0 and jfreechart under LGPL-2.1. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between echarts and jfreechart?
echarts is written in TypeScript 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, echarts or jfreechart?
Choose echarts if you want the larger community (67,348 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose jfreechart if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.