Kandy vs XChart
A data-driven comparison of two Java, Kotlin & Scala visualization libraries: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
Key differences
- XChart has 2.1× as many GitHub stars as Kandy (1.6K vs 746).
- XChart had more development activity over the last 12 months: 307 commits vs 49.
- Both are released under the Apache-2.0 license.
- Kandy is written primarily in Kotlin, XChart in Java.
- XChart is the older project: its repository was created in 2011, Kandy's in 2022.
By the numbers
- Kandy
- XChart
Show data as a table
| Metric | Kandy | XChart |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 746 | 1,596 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 49 | 307 |
| Contributors | 12 | 60 |
| Forks | 27 | 398 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Kandy
- XChart
Show data as a table
| Month | Kandy | XChart |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2025 | 5 | 11 |
| Nov 2025 | 6 | 0 |
| Dec 2025 | 14 | 0 |
| Jan 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Feb 2026 | 2 | 0 |
| Mar 2026 | 5 | 0 |
| Apr 2026 | 7 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 145 |
| Jun 2026 | 4 | 54 |
| Jul 2026 | 4 | 97 |
| Aug 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2026 | 2 | 0 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Kandy | XChart |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Kotlin plotting library with a typed DSL, developed by JetBrains. | Lightweight Java library for plotting data. |
| Category | Java, Kotlin & Scala visualization libraries | Java, Kotlin & Scala visualization libraries |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Kotlin | Java |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Latest release | v0.8.3 () | – |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 147 | 48 |
| Install | – | implementation("org.knowm.xchart:xchart:3.8.8") |
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.