head to head · open source
plotly.js vs deck.gl
plotly.js has 18,337 GitHub stars, 2,031 forks, 769 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. deck.gl has 14,597 stars, 2,267 forks, 532 open issues and last shipped yesterday. plotly.js leads on adoption by 26% (18,337 vs 14,597 stars). plotly.js is written in JavaScript under MIT; deck.gl is written in TypeScript under MIT. plotly.js has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, deck.gl 16%. deck.gl was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (data-visualization, visualization, webgl), 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
| plotly.js | deck.gl | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick plotly.js if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick deck.gl if
- You want the deck.gl feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and deck.gl fits your workflow better
About plotly.js
Plotly.js is an open source JavaScript charting library that renders interactive figures in the browser and also powers the Python and R packages named plotly in those ecosystems.
read the full plotly.js overview →
About deck.gl
deck.gl is an MIT licensed, WebGL2 and WebGPU powered visualization framework that renders large scale geospatial and data driven layers in the browser, built for JavaScript, TypeScript and Python developers who need high performance maps and custom visualizations without writing their own GPU rendering code.
read the full deck.gl overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is plotly.js or deck.gl more popular?
plotly.js has 18,337 GitHub stars and deck.gl has 14,597. plotly.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are plotly.js and deck.gl free?
Both are open source. plotly.js is licensed under MIT and deck.gl under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between plotly.js and deck.gl?
plotly.js is written in JavaScript and deck.gl in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, plotly.js or deck.gl?
Choose plotly.js if you want the larger community (18,337 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose deck.gl if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.