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Comparison

chart.js vs lightweight-charts

Charts and data visualisationPackage data 25 Sept 2026
chart.jsv4.5.1, 13 Oct 2025

Simple HTML5 charts using the canvas element.

$ npm install chart.js
lightweight-chartsv5.2.1, 12 Aug 2026

Performant financial charts built with HTML5 canvas

$ npm install lightweight-charts
Metricchart.jslightweight-chartsDifference
Weekly downloads9,019,858761,677chart.js 11.8x higher
12-month download growth+85%+418%lightweight-charts +333 pts
Gzip size---
Minified size---
Dependencies11Same
Unpacked size5.9 MB3.0 MBlightweight-charts 2.0x smaller
Latest release4.5.1, 13 Oct 20255.2.1, 12 Aug 2026lightweight-charts 10 months more recent
Releases, last 12 months14lightweight-charts 3 more
First published8 Jul 201428 May 2019chart.js 4.9 years earlier
GitHub stars67,72017,350chart.js 3.9x higher
Open issues498114chart.js 384 more
Open pull requests8917chart.js 72 more
Contributors---
Commits, last 52 weeks21328lightweight-charts 15.6x higher
TypeScript typesBundledBundledSame
Module formatESM + CommonJSESM onlyDiffers
Runtimes---
LicenseMITApache-2.0Differs

Green marks the smaller size or the more recent release. Bold marks the higher count, with no judgement implied. Sizes are for the whole package per Bundlephobia. Growth compares the average of the last 4 weeks with the first 4 weeks of the 52-week series.

chart.js9m latest weeklightweight-charts761.7k latest week
Week of 23 Sept 2025Week of 15 Sept 2026
Weekly npm downloads, 52 weeks. Y axis starts at zero. Values are not smoothed.

chart.js

Major versions
  1. 1.0.17 Jan 2015
  2. 2.0.09 Apr 2016
  3. 3.0.02 Apr 2021
  4. 4.0.114 Nov 2022
Last 5 releases
  1. 4.5.113 Oct 2025
  2. 4.5.014 Jun 2025
  3. 4.4.915 Apr 2025
  4. 4.4.819 Feb 2025
  5. 4.4.71 Dec 2024
77 releases in total, 1 in the last 12 months

lightweight-charts

Major versions
  1. 1.0.08 Jul 2019
  2. 2.0.025 Feb 2020
  3. 3.0.011 Jun 2020
  4. 4.0.08 Feb 2023
  5. 5.0.02 Jan 2025
Last 5 releases
  1. 5.2.112 Aug 2026
  2. 5.2.024 Apr 2026
  3. 5.1.016 Dec 2025
  4. 5.0.91 Oct 2025
  5. 5.0.826 Jun 2025
50 releases in total, 4 in the last 12 months
chart.js

-

lightweight-charts

-

chart.js

-

lightweight-charts

-

  • Need both ESM and CommonJS entry pointschart.js (chart.js: ESM + CommonJS; lightweight-charts: ESM only)
  • Need to load it with require()chart.js
  • Need TypeScript types in the package itselfBoth
  • Need the more recent releaselightweight-charts (5.2.1 on 12 Aug 2026 vs 4.5.1 on 13 Oct 2025)
  • Higher weekly npm downloadschart.js (9m vs 761.7k)
  • Licensechart.js: MIT; lightweight-charts: Apache-2.0

Each line is generated from the data above.