Overview

Highcharts

Stacks1.5K

Followers1.1K

Votes92

Google Charts

Stacks122

Followers214

Votes0

Google Charts vs Highcharts: What are the differences?

Introduction:

Google Charts and Highcharts are both popular data visualization libraries used to create interactive and customizable charts on websites. While they share similarities in terms of functionality, there are key differences between the two. This article aims to highlight the main differences between Google Charts and Highcharts.

Pricing model: One significant difference between Google Charts and Highcharts is their pricing model. Google Charts is free to use and does not require any licensing fees, making it a cost-effective option for developers on a tight budget. On the other hand, Highcharts employs a commercial licensing model, which may require a purchase for certain uses or functionalities. Therefore, depending on the project requirements and budget, this difference in pricing structures may be a significant factor in selecting one over the other.
Chart Styles and Customization Options: When it comes to chart styles and customization, Highcharts offers a more extensive range of options compared to Google Charts. Highcharts provides numerous built-in chart types, including specialized charts like heatmaps, gauges, and 3D charts, allowing developers to create highly customized and unique visualizations. Google Charts, on the other hand, has a more limited selection of chart types and customization options, making it more suitable for simpler chart requirements or when a more standardized look and feel is desired.
Data Handling and Compatibility: Another difference between Google Charts and Highcharts is how they handle data and their compatibility with different data sources. Google Charts has seamless integration with Google Sheets and can easily fetch data from spreadsheets. This integration makes it convenient for users who already have their data stored in Google Sheets. On the other hand, Highcharts is agnostic to data sources and can fetch data from a wide range of databases, APIs, and files. This flexibility allows Highcharts to be utilized in more diverse data environments.
Community and Support: The level of community support and available resources can also differentiate Google Charts from Highcharts. Google Charts, being developed and maintained by Google, benefits from a vast community and extensive documentation. This ensures that developers can find answers to their questions and access helpful resources easily. Highcharts, although it also has a thriving community, may not match the extensive resources of Google Charts. However, Highcharts offers dedicated support through their commercial licenses, which can be valuable for enterprises and organizations with specific customization or implementation requirements.
Integration with Frameworks and Libraries: The integration capabilities with popular frameworks and libraries can also be a differentiating factor between Google Charts and Highcharts. Google Charts boasts seamless integration with other Google products and services, such as Google Maps and Google Analytics. This tight integration allows developers to leverage additional features and functionalities from these services. Highcharts, while still compatible with popular frameworks like React and Angular, may require a bit more effort in terms of integration.
Exporting and Printing: The ability to export and print charts is another difference between Google Charts and Highcharts. Google Charts provides a built-in export feature that allows users to save charts as images or PDF files for offline use or sharing with others. Highcharts, on the other hand, lacks native export functionality in its free version, and users need to implement third-party libraries or tools to enable export and printing capabilities. This may be a consideration for projects where exporting charts is a core requirement.

In Summary, Google Charts and Highcharts differ in their pricing models, chart styles and customization options, data handling and compatibility, community and support, integration capabilities with frameworks and libraries, and exporting/printing functionalities. Depending on the specific needs, budget, and project requirements, developers can choose the most suitable option between the two.

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Advice on Highcharts, Google Charts

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

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Detailed Comparison

Highcharts	Google Charts
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.	It is an interactive Web service that creates graphical charts from user-supplied information. The user supplies data and a formatting specification expressed in JavaScript embedded in a Web page; in response the service sends an image of the chart.
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.	charts; visualization; pie-chart; bar-chart; svg; animation;
Statistics
Stacks 1.5K	Stacks 122
Followers 1.1K	Followers 214
Votes 92	Votes 0
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	No community feedback yet

What are some alternatives to Highcharts, Google Charts?

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

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

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

Recharts

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

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

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

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.

CanvasJS

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

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.