head to head · open source
echarts vs plot
echarts has 67,348 GitHub stars, 19,819 forks, 1,501 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. plot has 5,384 stars, 243 forks, 349 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. echarts leads on adoption by 1,151% (67,348 vs 5,384 stars). echarts is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; plot is written in HTML under ISC. echarts has attracted 29% as many forks as stars, plot 5%. echarts was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (charts, data-visualization, svg, 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 | plot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 67K | ★ 5.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | ISC |
| Written in | TypeScript | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 20K | ⑂ 243 |
| 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 plot if
- You want the plot feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the ISC license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You evaluated both and plot 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 plot
Observable Plot is a free, open source JavaScript library for visualizing tabular data, aimed at analysts and developers who need a concise, expressive API to accelerate exploratory data analysis.
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Frequently asked questions
Is echarts or plot more popular?
echarts has 67,348 GitHub stars and plot has 5,384. echarts has the larger community by that measure.
Are echarts and plot free?
Both are open source. echarts is licensed under Apache-2.0 and plot under ISC. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between echarts and plot?
echarts is written in TypeScript and plot in HTML. 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 plot?
Choose echarts if you want the larger community (67,348 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose plot if its feature set, stack or ISC licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.