# Chart.js vs Lightweight Charts

## Key differences

- Chart.js has 3.9× as many GitHub stars as Lightweight Charts (67.7K vs 17.5K).
- Lightweight Charts had more development activity over the last 12 months: 329 commits vs 21.
- Chart.js is downloaded 12× as often on npm (15.7M vs 1.4M per week).
- Chart.js is licensed under MIT; Lightweight Charts under Apache-2.0.
- Chart.js is written primarily in JavaScript, Lightweight Charts in TypeScript.
- Chart.js is the older project: its repository was created in 2013, Lightweight Charts's in 2019.

| | Chart.js | Lightweight Charts |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Charts with the canvas tag. | Performant HTML5 canvas financial charts, from TradingView. |
| GitHub stars | 67,733 | 17,473 |
| Commits (12 months) | 21 | 329 |
| Contributors | 426 | 58 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Install | `npm install chart.js` | `npm install lightweight-charts` |

Source: https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/chart-js-vs-lightweight-charts/ · Data updated 2026-10-04 · Content: CC BY 4.0, Awesome Dataviz (https://awesomedataviz.com).