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  1. Stackups
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  4. Charting Libraries
  5. CanvasJS vs Highcharts

CanvasJS vs Highcharts

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Highcharts
Highcharts
Stacks1.5K
Followers1.1K
Votes92
CanvasJS
CanvasJS
Stacks24
Followers95
Votes20

CanvasJS vs Highcharts: What are the differences?

Comparison between CanvasJS and Highcharts

Introduction

CanvasJS and Highcharts are both popular JavaScript charting libraries that allow developers to create interactive charts and graphs for websites. While they have similar purposes, there are several key differences between the two.

  1. Rendering Engine: One of the main differences between CanvasJS and Highcharts is the rendering engine they use. CanvasJS utilizes the HTML5 Canvas element to render charts, which provides high-performance rendering and smooth animations. On the other hand, Highcharts uses SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) as its rendering engine, which offers better support for vector graphics and accessibility features.

  2. Chart Types and Customization: When it comes to chart types and customization options, Highcharts offers a wider variety of chart types including heat maps, gauge charts, and network graphs. It also provides a greater level of customization with extensive options for styling and formatting. In contrast, CanvasJS focuses more on the core chart types like line, bar, and pie charts, but still offers a good level of customization.

  3. Performance: In terms of performance, CanvasJS has an advantage in terms of rendering speed and efficiency. Since it uses the Canvas element to render charts, it is generally faster and performs well even with large datasets. Highcharts, on the other hand, may encounter performance issues with large datasets or complex visualizations due to the overhead of SVG rendering.

  4. Pricing and Licensing: Another important difference between CanvasJS and Highcharts is their pricing and licensing models. Highcharts follows a dual licensing model, where it offers both free for non-commercial use and paid options for commercial use. CanvasJS, on the other hand, is a paid library that comes with a one-time licensing fee. The pricing for both libraries may vary depending on the specific requirements and usage scenario.

  5. Documentation and Community Support: Both CanvasJS and Highcharts have comprehensive documentation that covers all aspects of the libraries. However, Highcharts has been around for a longer time and has a larger user community, which means there is a wealth of community-driven resources, tutorials, and support available. CanvasJS, being a newer library, may have a smaller community but still provides good support through its documentation and forums.

  6. Development Philosophy: CanvasJS and Highcharts follow different development philosophies. CanvasJS focuses on simplicity and ease of use, providing a simple and intuitive API. It aims to provide a lightweight solution that can be easily integrated into web applications. Highcharts, on the other hand, has a more feature-rich and modular approach. It offers a wide range of advanced features and options for developers who require more complex visualizations.

In summary, CanvasJS and Highcharts have some notable differences in terms of rendering engine, chart types, customization options, performance, pricing, documentation, and development philosophy. Developers should consider these differences when choosing a charting library based on their specific requirements and preferences.

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Advice on Highcharts, CanvasJS

Shaik
Shaik

Feb 18, 2020

Needs advice

I have used highcharts and it is pretty awesome for my previous project. now as I am about to start my new project I want to use other charting libraries such as recharts, chart js, Nivo, d3 js.... my upcoming project might use react js as front end and laravel as a backend technology. the project would be of hotel management type. please suggest me the best charts to use

246k views246k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Highcharts
Highcharts
CanvasJS
CanvasJS

Highcharts currently supports line, spline, area, areaspline, column, bar, pie, scatter, angular gauges, arearange, areasplinerange, columnrange, bubble, box plot, error bars, funnel, waterfall and polar chart types.

Lightweight, Beautiful & Responsive Charts that make your dashboards fly even with millions of data points! Self-Hosted, Secure & Scalable charts that render across devices.

It works in all modern mobile and desktop browsers including the iPhone/iPad and Internet Explorer from version 6;Free for non-commercial;One of the key features of Highcharts is that under any of the licenses, free or not, you are allowed to download the source code and make your own edits;Pure Javascript - Highcharts is solely based on native browser technologies and doesn't require client side plugins like Flash or Java.
30+ Chart Types; Renders across Devices & Platforms; Real-time Analytics; Themes; Interactivity; Zooming & Panning; Drilldown Chart; Ticks, Grids; Interlaced Colors; Synchronized Charts; Tooltip Syncing; Crosshair Syncing; Multiple Axes; Logarithmic Axes; Exporting as Image; Trend Lines; Numeric Axis; Date-Time Axis; Category Axis; Reversed Axis; Multiseries Chart; Dynamic Chart; Advanced Axis Labelling; Event Handlers;
Statistics
Stacks
1.5K
Stacks
24
Followers
1.1K
Followers
95
Votes
92
Votes
20
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 34
    Low learning curve and powerful
  • 17
    Multiple chart types such as pie, bar, line and others
  • 13
    Responsive charts
  • 9
    Handles everything you throw at it
  • 8
    Extremely easy-to-parse documentation
Cons
  • 9
    Expensive
Pros
  • 3
    30+ Chart Types
  • 1
    Responsive Charts
  • 1
    Interactivity
  • 1
    Synchronized Charts
  • 1
    Themes
Cons
  • 1
    It's not free
Integrations
No integrations available
Django
Django
Amazon RDS
Amazon RDS
Google Cloud SQL
Google Cloud SQL
Swift
Swift
Google Cloud Platform
Google Cloud Platform
Vue.js
Vue.js
MySQL
MySQL
C#
C#
ASP.NET
ASP.NET
Flutter
Flutter

What are some alternatives to Highcharts, CanvasJS ?

D3.js

D3.js

It is a JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data. Emphasises on web standards gives you the full capabilities of modern browsers without tying yourself to a proprietary framework.

Plotly.js

Plotly.js

It is a standalone Javascript data visualization library, and it also powers the Python and R modules named plotly in those respective ecosystems (referred to as Plotly.py and Plotly.R). It can be used to produce dozens of chart types and visualizations, including statistical charts, 3D graphs, scientific charts, SVG and tile maps, financial charts and more.

Chart.js

Chart.js

Visualize your data in 6 different ways. Each of them animated, with a load of customisation options and interactivity extensions.

Recharts

Recharts

Quickly build your charts with decoupled, reusable React components. Built on top of SVG elements with a lightweight dependency on D3 submodules.

ECharts

ECharts

It is an open source visualization library implemented in JavaScript, runs smoothly on PCs and mobile devices, and is compatible with most current browsers.

ZingChart

ZingChart

The most feature-rich, fully customizable JavaScript charting library available used by start-ups and the Fortune 100 alike.

amCharts

amCharts

amCharts is an advanced charting library that will suit any data visualization need. Our charting solution include Column, Bar, Line, Area, Step, Step without risers, Smoothed line, Candlestick, OHLC, Pie/Donut, Radar/ Polar, XY/Scatter/Bubble, Bullet, Funnel/Pyramid charts as well as Gauges.

AnyChart

AnyChart

AnyChart is a flexible JavaScript (HTML5) based solution that allows you to create interactive and great looking charts. It is a cross-browser and cross-platform charting solution intended for everybody who deals with creation of dashboard, reporting, analytics, statistical, financial or any other data visualization solutions.

ApexCharts

ApexCharts

A modern JavaScript charting library to build interactive charts and visualizations with simple API.

Bokeh

Bokeh

Bokeh is an interactive visualization library for modern web browsers. It provides elegant, concise construction of versatile graphics, and affords high-performance interactivity over large or streaming datasets.

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