Charming vs Plotly.rs
A data-driven comparison of two Rust plotting & visualization libraries: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
Key differences
- Charming has 1.8× as many GitHub stars as Plotly.rs (2.6K vs 1.5K).
- Plotly.rs had more development activity over the last 12 months: 53 commits vs 12.
- Plotly.rs is downloaded 2× as often on crates.io (593K vs 292.1K per 90 days).
- Charming is licensed under Apache-2.0; Plotly.rs under MIT.
- Plotly.rs is the older project: its repository was created in 2020, Charming's in 2023.
By the numbers
- Charming
- Plotly.rs
Show data as a table
| Metric | Charming | Plotly.rs |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 2,600 | 1,457 |
| crates.io downloads / 90 days | 292,114 | 593,016 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 12 | 53 |
| Contributors | 25 | 53 |
| Forks | 119 | 128 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Charming
- Plotly.rs
Show data as a table
| Month | Charming | Plotly.rs |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Nov 2025 | 7 | 0 |
| Dec 2025 | 0 | 5 |
| Jan 2026 | 3 | 4 |
| Feb 2026 | 0 | 7 |
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 4 |
| Jun 2026 | 0 | 3 |
| Jul 2026 | 0 | 27 |
| Aug 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2026 | 2 | 0 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Charming | Plotly.rs |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Chart rendering library for Rust powered by Apache ECharts. | Plotly.js-based interactive plotting library for Rust. |
| Category | Rust plotting & visualization libraries | Rust plotting & visualization libraries |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | – | 0.14.1 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 15 | 14 |
| Install | cargo add charming | cargo add plotly |
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.