chart.js vs recharts

data-viz

chart.js

recharts

Chart.js and Recharts represent two distinct philosophies in JavaScript data visualization. Chart.js is a framework-agnostic library that uses HTML Canvas rendering to create performant charts with a high-level imperative API. Recharts is a React-first library built on D3 submodules, offering declarative components that render SVG charts with seamless integration into React applications.

This comparison matters because the choice between these libraries fundamentally affects your application architecture, performance characteristics, and development experience. Chart.js targets developers building dashboards across any JavaScript framework who prioritize raw performance and simplicity. Recharts serves React developers who value component composability, type safety, and alignment with React patterns, even if it means accepting some performance trade-offs with massive datasets.

Head-to-Head

Rendering Performance with Large Datasets→ chart.js wins

chart.js

Canvas rendering provides superior performance with datasets over 10,000 points, avoiding DOM overhead entirely. Real-time dashboards with frequent updates benefit from Chart.js's ability to redraw entire canvases efficiently without triggering layout recalculations.

recharts

SVG rendering creates individual DOM elements per data point, causing noticeable slowdowns above 5,000-10,000 points as the browser manages element lifecycles. However, SVG enables crisp resolution independence and direct element manipulation for interactions.

React Integration and Developer Experience→ recharts wins

chart.js

Requires the react-chartjs-2 wrapper library to bridge imperative chart instances with React's lifecycle. Updates involve ref manipulation and manual synchronization, breaking React's declarative flow. Configuration objects can become verbose with nested options.

recharts

Native React components like <LineChart> and <XAxis> compose naturally with JSX, accepting props that update reactively. Customization through render props and children feels intuitive to React developers. No wrapper layer or lifecycle management needed.

Bundle Size and Dependencies→ chart.js wins

chart.js

Core library is ~65KB minified (gzipped), with optional plugins adding 5-20KB each. Zero runtime dependencies means no transitive bloat. Tree-shaking support in v3+ removes unused chart types effectively.

recharts

Approximately ~95KB minified (gzipped) including required D3 submodules (d3-scale, d3-shape, d3-interpolate). Lighter than full D3 but heavier than Chart.js core. React and React-DOM are peer dependencies assumed present.

TypeScript Development Experience→ recharts wins

chart.js

Types available via @types/chart.js and react-chartjs-2's definitions. Type safety is adequate but occasionally requires type assertions for complex plugin configurations. Imperative API means fewer type guards during updates.

recharts

First-class TypeScript support with native type definitions shipping with the package. Props are fully typed with autocomplete for all chart components. Compositional API provides better compile-time safety for configurations.

Customization Flexibility→ recharts wins

chart.js

Plugin system allows deep customization but requires understanding Chart.js's internal lifecycle hooks. Custom tooltip/legend rendering needs accessing canvas context directly. Extensive but with steeper learning curve for advanced cases.

recharts

Customization through React components is straightforward—replace default elements with custom JSX. Custom tooltips, labels, and shapes render as React components with full access to state/props. More constrained but easier for common customizations.

Animation and Interaction Capabilities→ recharts wins

chart.js

Built-in canvas animations are smooth and performant. Hover interactions work well but are limited to what Chart.js provides—extending with custom canvas drawing requires low-level code. Animation configuration is comprehensive but imperative.

recharts

Leverages React animation libraries naturally (react-spring, framer-motion). SVG enables CSS transitions and individual element animations. Event handlers attach directly to chart elements with React synthetic events. More flexible for complex interactive visualizations.

Verdict

Choose Chart.js when building performance-critical dashboards, real-time monitoring tools, or applications outside the React ecosystem. Its canvas rendering excels with datasets exceeding 10,000 points, and the framework-agnostic design makes it ideal for Vue, Angular, or vanilla JavaScript projects. The simpler API and extensive plugin ecosystem also make Chart.js the better choice for rapid prototyping where basic charts need to ship quickly without wrestling with component composition.

Choose Recharts for React or Next.js applications where developer experience and maintainability outweigh raw performance needs. If your charts rarely exceed 5,000 data points and you value declarative components that integrate seamlessly with your React architecture, Recharts will feel more natural and productive. The SVG output also makes Recharts superior for applications requiring extensive customization, animations tied to React state, or accessibility features that benefit from semantic DOM structure.

When to Use Each

If you are building a real-time financial dashboard updating every second with 50,000+ candlestick data points → use Chart.js because canvas rendering maintains 60fps where Recharts' SVG would stutter and degrade user experience.

If you are building a React admin panel with TypeScript requiring custom tooltips that fetch data on hover and integrate with your design system → use Recharts because custom components compose naturally without breaking out of React's paradigm.

If you are building a multi-framework component library that needs to work in Vue, Angular, and React with consistent chart behavior → use Chart.js because it's framework-agnostic and maintains a single implementation across platforms.

If you are building a data journalism piece with animated, interactive charts where SVG elements transition based on scroll position and user interactions → use Recharts because SVG elements integrate seamlessly with React animation libraries and provide DOM-based event targeting.

Learn More

chart.js →recharts →

Head-to-Head

Rendering Performance with Large Datasets→ chart.js wins

chart.js

recharts

React Integration and Developer Experience→ recharts wins

chart.js

recharts

Bundle Size and Dependencies→ chart.js wins

chart.js

recharts

TypeScript Development Experience→ recharts wins

chart.js

recharts

Customization Flexibility→ recharts wins

chart.js

recharts

Animation and Interaction Capabilities→ recharts wins

chart.js

recharts

Verdict

When to Use Each