head to head · open source
Mermaid vs c3
Mermaid has 90,299 GitHub stars, 9,266 forks, 1,781 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. c3 has 9,350 stars, 1,360 forks, 771 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Mermaid leads on adoption by 866% (90,299 vs 9,350 stars). Mermaid is written in TypeScript under MIT; c3 is written in JavaScript under MIT. Mermaid has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, c3 15%. Mermaid was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Mermaid | c3 | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 9.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.3K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Mermaid if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick c3 if
- You want the c3 feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and c3 fits your workflow better
About Mermaid
Mermaid is a JavaScript based diagramming tool that renders diagrams from Markdown like text definitions. It lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and operates both in the browser and in Node.js environments. The project’s core purpose is to eliminate the gap between software development and documentation by letting developers write diagrams alongside code, avoiding the rot and overhead of manual diagram maintenance.
read the full Mermaid overview →
About c3
c3 is a D3 based reusable chart library that lets developers embed configurable, interactive SVG charts into web applications by describing each chart as a configuration object instead of writing D3 code directly.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mermaid or c3 more popular?
Mermaid has 90,299 GitHub stars and c3 has 9,350. Mermaid has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mermaid and c3 free?
Both are open source. Mermaid is licensed under MIT and c3 under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Mermaid and c3?
Mermaid is written in TypeScript and c3 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, Mermaid or c3?
Choose Mermaid if you want the larger community (90,299 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose c3 if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.