# ggplot2

> A plotting system based on the grammar of graphics.

- Category: [R data visualization packages](https://awesomedataviz.com/categories/r/)
- Website: https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org/
- Repository: https://github.com/tidyverse/ggplot2
- License: MIT
- Language: R
- Status: Active (commits in the last 90 days)
- GitHub stars: 7,005
- Commits in the last 12 months: 86
- Contributors: 354
- Last commit: Oct 2, 2026
- Latest release: v4.0.3 (Apr 22, 2026)
- Install (CRAN): `install.packages("ggplot2")`, 471.1K downloads per week
- Topics: Grammar of graphics libraries

## Overview

ggplot2 is an open-source R visualization package released under the MIT license. Its GitHub repository has 7,005 stars, 2,125 forks, and 354 contributors. It is actively developed with 86 commits in the last 12 months. The latest release, v4.0.3, was published on Apr 22, 2026. On CRAN it is downloaded about 471.1K times per week.

## Alternatives

- [Shiny](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/shiny/): Framework for creating interactive applications/visualisations (5.7K stars)
- [plotly (R)](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/plotly-r/): Interactive charts (including adding interactivity to ggplot2 output), cartograms and simple network diagrams (2.7K stars)
- [patchwork](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/patchwork/): Composes multiple ggplot2 plots into a single figure. (2.6K stars)
- [ggstatsplot](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/ggstatsplot/): Ggplot2-based plots with statistical test details included in the graphic. (2.2K stars)
- [rayshader](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/rayshader/): 2D and 3D mapping and data visualization in R, including 3D renders of ggplot2 plots. (2.2K stars)
- [gt](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/gt/): Builds publication-quality display tables in R. (2.2K stars)

## Comparisons

- [ggplot2 vs Shiny](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/ggplot2-vs-shiny/)
- [ggplot2 vs plotly (R)](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/ggplot2-vs-plotly-r/)
- [ggplot2 vs patchwork](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/ggplot2-vs-patchwork/)
- [ggplot2 vs ggstatsplot](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/ggplot2-vs-ggstatsplot/)
- [ggplot2 vs Matplotlib](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/ggplot2-vs-matplotlib/)
- [ggplot2 vs plotnine](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/ggplot2-vs-plotnine/)

Source: https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/ggplot2/ · Data updated 2026-10-04 · Content: CC BY 4.0, Awesome Dataviz (https://awesomedataviz.com).