Chartkick vs Gruff
A data-driven comparison of two Ruby charting libraries: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
Key differences
- Chartkick has 4.7× as many GitHub stars as Gruff (6.5K vs 1.4K).
- Gruff had more development activity over the last 12 months: 37 commits vs 10.
- Both are released under the MIT license.
- Gruff is the older project: its repository was created in 2008, Chartkick's in 2013.
By the numbers
- Chartkick
- Gruff
Show data as a table
| Metric | Chartkick | Gruff |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 6,528 | 1,398 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 10 | 37 |
| Contributors | 24 | 43 |
| Forks | 561 | 240 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Chartkick
- Gruff
Show data as a table
| Month | Chartkick | Gruff |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 2 | 0 |
| Nov 2025 | 0 | 2 |
| Dec 2025 | 3 | 3 |
| Jan 2026 | 1 | 0 |
| Feb 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2026 | 2 | 7 |
| Apr 2026 | 0 | 7 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 6 |
| Jun 2026 | 1 | 4 |
| Jul 2026 | 0 | 6 |
| Aug 2026 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 2026 | 0 | 2 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Chartkick | Gruff |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Create charts with one line of Ruby. | Graphing library for Ruby that renders charts as images using RMagick. |
| Category | Ruby charting libraries | Ruby charting libraries |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | Ruby |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | – | – |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 6 | 14 |
| Install | gem install chartkick | gem install gruff |
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.