head to head · open source
echarts vs lets-plot
echarts has 67,666 GitHub stars, 19,970 forks, 1,501 open issues and last shipped 21 days ago. lets-plot has 1,784 stars, 62 forks, 145 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. echarts leads on adoption by 3,693% (67,666 vs 1,784 stars). echarts is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; lets-plot is written in Kotlin under MIT. echarts has attracted 30% as many forks as stars, lets-plot 3%. echarts 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
| echarts | lets-plot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 68K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-10-13 | 2026-07-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 20K | ⑂ 62 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick echarts if
- You weight community size — 68K 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 lets-plot if
- You want the lets-plot feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and lets-plot fits your workflow better
About echarts
Apache ECharts Apache ECharts is a free, powerful charting and visualization library offering easy ways to add intuitive, interactive, and highly customizable charts to your commercial products. It is written in pure JavaScript and based on zrender , which is a whole new lightweight canvas library. 中文官网 ENGLISH HOMEPAGE Get Apache ECharts You may choose one of the following methods: + Download from the official website + npm install echarts save + CDN: jsDelivr CDN Docs + Get Started + API + Option Manual + Examples Get Help + GitHub Issues for bug report and feature requests + Email dev@echarts.apache.org for…
read the full echarts overview →
About lets-plot
Lets Plot Lets Plot is a multiplatform plotting library built on the principles of the Grammar of Graphics. The library design is heavily influenced by Leland Wilkinson's work The Grammar of Graphics describing the deep features that underlie all statistical graphics. This grammar [...] is made up of a set of independent components that can be composed in many different ways. This makes [it] very powerful because you are not limited to a set of pre specified graphics, but you can create new graphics that are precisely tailored for your problem. Hadley Wickham, "ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis"…
read the full lets-plot overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is echarts or lets-plot more popular?
echarts has 67,666 GitHub stars and lets-plot has 1,784. echarts has the larger community by that measure.
Are echarts and lets-plot free?
Both are open source. echarts is licensed under Apache-2.0 and lets-plot under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between echarts and lets-plot?
echarts is written in TypeScript and lets-plot in Kotlin. 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 lets-plot?
Choose echarts if you want the larger community (67,666 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose lets-plot if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.