AwesomeDataviz

Observable Plot

A JavaScript library for exploratory data visualization.

Website GitHubnpm
GitHub stars
5.4K
npm downloads / week
928.3K
Commits, last 12 months
38
Contributors
28
Last commit
Latest release
v0.6.17Feb 14, 2025

Overview

Observable Plot is an open-source JavaScript charting library released under the ISC license. Its GitHub repository has 5,400 stars, 245 forks, and 28 contributors. It is actively developed with 38 commits in the last 12 months. The latest release, v0.6.17, was published on Feb 14, 2025. On npm it is downloaded about 928.3K times per week.

Its GitHub description: A concise API for exploratory data visualization implementing a layered grammar of graphics

GitHub topics: visualizationdata-visualizationchartsd3svg

Install

npm
npm install @observablehq/plot
v0.6.17

Development activity

Commits per month to the default branch over the last 12 complete months.

0102030 Oct 2025 Nov Dec Jan 2026 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
0102030 Oct 2025 Jan 2026 Apr Jul
38 commits from Oct 2025 to Sep 2026.
Show data as a table
MonthCommits
Oct 20250
Nov 20251
Dec 20250
Jan 20260
Feb 20261
Mar 202610
Apr 202624
May 20261
Jun 20260
Jul 20260
Aug 20260
Sep 20261

Popularity among JavaScript charting libraries

Chart.js 67.7K Apache ECharts 67.4K Plotly.js 18.4K Lightweight Charts 17.5K ApexCharts 15.2K Frappe Charts 15.1K Observable Plot 5.4K
Chart.js 67.7K Apache ECharts 67.4K Plotly.js 18.4K Lightweight Charts 17.5K ApexCharts 15.2K Frappe Charts 15.1K Observable Plot 5.4K
GitHub stars for Observable Plot and the most-starred alternatives.
Show data as a table
ToolStars
Chart.js67,733
Apache ECharts67,449
Plotly.js18,355
Lightweight Charts17,473
ApexCharts15,169
Frappe Charts15,088
Observable Plot5,400

Alternatives to Observable Plot

  • Chart.js

    Charts with the canvas tag.

    67.7K starsJavaScriptMIT

  • Apache ECharts

    Highly customizable and interactive charts ready for big datasets.

    67.4K starsTypeScriptApache-2.0

  • Plotly.js

    Powerful declarative library with support for 20 chart types.

    18.4K starsJavaScriptMIT

  • Lightweight Charts

    Performant HTML5 canvas financial charts, from TradingView.

    17.5K starsTypeScriptApache-2.0

  • ApexCharts

    Modern & Interactive SVG Charts.

    15.2K starsJavaScriptOther

  • Frappe Charts

    Simple, responsive SVG charts with zero dependencies.

    15.1K starsJavaScriptMIT

More comparisons: D3.js vs Observable Plot

Observable Plot FAQ

Is Observable Plot open source?

Yes. Observable Plot is released under the ISC license, and its source code is on GitHub.

Is Observable Plot still maintained?

Yes. Observable Plot is actively developed, with 38 commits in the last 12 months and the latest commit 1 month ago.

How do I install Observable Plot?

From npm: npm install @observablehq/plot.

What are the best alternatives to Observable Plot?

The most popular alternatives listed in JavaScript charting libraries are Chart.js, Apache ECharts, and Plotly.js. See the full ranking.

What language is Observable Plot written in?

Observable Plot is primarily written in HTML, according to GitHub.

Data: GitHub API, npm. Updated Oct 4, 2026.