Vega-Altair vs HoloViews
A data-driven comparison of two Python grammar of graphics & declarative plotting libraries: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
Vega-AltairDeclarative statistical visualizations, based on Vega-Lite.
HoloViewsComplex and declarative visualizations from annotated data.
Key differences
- Vega-Altair has 3.6× as many GitHub stars as HoloViews (10.5K vs 2.9K).
- HoloViews had more development activity over the last 12 months: 326 commits vs 156.
- Vega-Altair is downloaded 55× as often on PyPI (10.4M vs 190.5K per week).
- Both are released under the BSD-3-Clause license.
- HoloViews is the older project: its repository was created in 2014, Vega-Altair's in 2015.
By the numbers
- Vega-Altair
- HoloViews
Show data as a table
| Metric | Vega-Altair | HoloViews |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 10,509 | 2,915 |
| PyPI downloads / week | 10,407,612 | 190,546 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 156 | 326 |
| Contributors | 185 | 151 |
| Forks | 886 | 420 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Vega-Altair
- HoloViews
Show data as a table
| Month | Vega-Altair | HoloViews |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | 14 | 21 |
| Dec 2025 | 5 | 22 |
| Jan 2026 | 6 | 12 |
| Feb 2026 | 9 | 4 |
| Mar 2026 | 13 | 37 |
| Apr 2026 | 18 | 11 |
| May 2026 | 2 | 31 |
| Jun 2026 | 40 | 40 |
| Jul 2026 | 7 | 24 |
| Aug 2026 | 9 | 41 |
| Sep 2026 | 19 | 59 |
| Oct 2026 | 14 | 24 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Vega-Altair | HoloViews |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Declarative statistical visualizations, based on Vega-Lite. | Complex and declarative visualizations from annotated data. |
| Category | Python grammar of graphics & declarative plotting libraries | Python grammar of graphics & declarative plotting libraries |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | v6.3.0 () | v1.23.2 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 119 | 991 |
| Install | pip install altair | pip install holoviews |
Which should you choose?
Popularity and activity are only part of the story. Consider which ecosystem you work in, the chart types and interactions you need, how much data you render, and whether the license fits your project. Both tool pages list alternatives if neither is quite right.
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Vega-Altair
Declarative statistical visualizations, based on Vega-Lite.
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HoloViews
Complex and declarative visualizations from annotated data.