Vega-Altair vs plotnine
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.
plotnineGrammar of graphics for Python, based on R's ggplot2.
Key differences
- Vega-Altair has 2.2× as many GitHub stars as plotnine (10.5K vs 4.8K).
- plotnine had more development activity over the last 12 months: 514 commits vs 156.
- Vega-Altair is downloaded 25× as often on PyPI (10.4M vs 408.6K per week).
- Vega-Altair is licensed under BSD-3-Clause; plotnine under MIT.
- Vega-Altair is the older project: its repository was created in 2015, plotnine's in 2017.
By the numbers
- Vega-Altair
- plotnine
Show data as a table
| Metric | Vega-Altair | plotnine |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 10,509 | 4,780 |
| PyPI downloads / week | 10,407,612 | 408,564 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 156 | 514 |
| Contributors | 185 | 105 |
| Forks | 886 | 261 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Vega-Altair
- plotnine
Show data as a table
| Month | Vega-Altair | plotnine |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | 14 | 4 |
| Dec 2025 | 5 | 3 |
| Jan 2026 | 6 | 35 |
| Feb 2026 | 9 | 6 |
| Mar 2026 | 13 | 20 |
| Apr 2026 | 18 | 24 |
| May 2026 | 2 | 40 |
| Jun 2026 | 40 | 49 |
| Jul 2026 | 7 | 31 |
| Aug 2026 | 9 | 156 |
| Sep 2026 | 19 | 119 |
| Oct 2026 | 14 | 27 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Vega-Altair | plotnine |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Declarative statistical visualizations, based on Vega-Lite. | Grammar of graphics for Python, based on R's ggplot2. |
| Category | Python grammar of graphics & declarative plotting libraries | Python grammar of graphics & declarative plotting libraries |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | v6.3.0 () | v0.15.8 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 119 | 73 |
| Install | pip install altair | pip install plotnine |
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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plotnine
Grammar of graphics for Python, based on R's ggplot2.