# plotly (R)

> Interactive charts (including adding interactivity to ggplot2 output), cartograms and simple network diagrams

- Category: [R data visualization packages](https://awesomedataviz.com/categories/r/)
- Website: https://plotly-r.com
- Repository: https://github.com/plotly/plotly.R
- License: MIT
- Language: R
- Status: Active (commits in the last 90 days)
- GitHub stars: 2,682
- Commits in the last 12 months: 19
- Contributors: 57
- Last commit: Jul 25, 2026
- Latest release: v4.12.1 (Jul 25, 2026)
- Install (CRAN): `install.packages("plotly")`, 59.9K downloads per week

## Overview

plotly (R) is an open-source R visualization package released under the MIT license. Its GitHub repository has 2,682 stars, 640 forks, and 57 contributors. It is actively developed with 19 commits in the last 12 months. The latest release, v4.12.1, was published on Jul 25, 2026. On CRAN it is downloaded about 59.9K times per week.

## Alternatives

- [ggplot2](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/ggplot2/): A plotting system based on the grammar of graphics. (7K stars)
- [Shiny](https://awesomedataviz.com/tools/shiny/): Framework for creating interactive applications/visualisations (5.7K 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 plotly (R)](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/ggplot2-vs-plotly-r/)
- [plotly (R) vs Shiny](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/plotly-r-vs-shiny/)
- [patchwork vs plotly (R)](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/patchwork-vs-plotly-r/)
- [ggstatsplot vs plotly (R)](https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/ggstatsplot-vs-plotly-r/)

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