fastplotlib vs VisPy
A data-driven comparison of two High-performance & GPU plotting libraries for Python: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
fastplotlibGPU-accelerated plotting library built on WGPU and pygfx for fast interactive visualization.
VisPyHigh-performance scientific visualization based on OpenGL.
Key differences
- VisPy has 2.4× as many GitHub stars as fastplotlib (3.6K vs 1.5K).
- VisPy had more development activity over the last 12 months: 63 commits vs 40.
- VisPy is downloaded 81× as often on PyPI (151.7K vs 1.9K per week).
- fastplotlib is licensed under Apache-2.0; VisPy under BSD-3-Clause.
- VisPy is the older project: its repository was created in 2013, fastplotlib's in 2022.
By the numbers
- fastplotlib
- VisPy
Show data as a table
| Metric | fastplotlib | VisPy |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 1,533 | 3,608 |
| PyPI downloads / week | 1,866 | 151,730 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 40 | 63 |
| Contributors | 14 | 174 |
| Forks | 66 | 641 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- fastplotlib
- VisPy
Show data as a table
| Month | fastplotlib | VisPy |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | 7 | 6 |
| Dec 2025 | 4 | 11 |
| Jan 2026 | 1 | 5 |
| Feb 2026 | 9 | 0 |
| Mar 2026 | 4 | 2 |
| Apr 2026 | 1 | 7 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 7 |
| Jun 2026 | 1 | 3 |
| Jul 2026 | 0 | 4 |
| Aug 2026 | 1 | 9 |
| Sep 2026 | 9 | 6 |
| Oct 2026 | 3 | 3 |
Side by side
| Attribute | fastplotlib | VisPy |
|---|---|---|
| Description | GPU-accelerated plotting library built on WGPU and pygfx for fast interactive visualization. | High-performance scientific visualization based on OpenGL. |
| Category | High-performance & GPU plotting libraries for Python | High-performance & GPU plotting libraries for Python |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | v0.7.0 () | v0.17.0 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 144 | 351 |
| Install | pip install fastplotlib | pip install vispy |
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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fastplotlib
GPU-accelerated plotting library built on WGPU and pygfx for fast interactive visualization.
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VisPy
High-performance scientific visualization based on OpenGL.