Frappe Charts vs Recharts
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A small JavaScript library that draws responsive SVG charts with no other dependencies.
Open source · MIT
A React charting library built on D3 for drawing charts from declarative components.
The short answer
Choose Frappe Charts if you need…
- Developers adding basic or medium-complexity charts to a web app
- Teams that want a small, dependency-free charting option
- Projects that need charts to resize across screen sizes
- Developers who want to update chart data in place
Choose Recharts if you need…
- React developers who need standard charts such as line, bar or similar graphs in a web app
- Teams that prefer declarative, component-based chart code
- Single-page applications installed through npm
- Developers who want SVG-based charts with minimal dependencies
Side-by-side
| Frappe Charts | Recharts | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 15.1k | 27.7k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last code update | 18 days ago | 4 days ago |
What each one is
Frappe Charts
Frappe Charts is a JavaScript charting library that draws charts as SVG graphics in a web page. Its API is designed to be simple, and its visual style is inspired by charts on GitHub. Developers use it to add bar, line, pie, area, percentage, mixed-axis, and heatmap charts to web apps without pulling in other libraries.
Recharts
Recharts is a charting library for React applications, built on top of D3. You draw charts by composing React components such as a line chart, axes, a grid and a tooltip, each of which is a separate part you can combine. It renders charts as native SVG and is aimed at making charts in React apps straightforward.
Best for
Frappe Charts
- Developers adding basic or medium-complexity charts to a web app
- Teams that want a small, dependency-free charting option
- Projects that need charts to resize across screen sizes
- Developers who want to update chart data in place
Recharts
- React developers who need standard charts such as line, bar or similar graphs in a web app
- Teams that prefer declarative, component-based chart code
- Single-page applications installed through npm
- Developers who want SVG-based charts with minimal dependencies
Strengths
Frappe Charts
- Has zero dependencies, as stated in its description and README
- Supports many common chart types in one library
- Offers a simple API with configuration options for colors, animations and titles
Recharts
- Declarative API where each chart part is an independent React component
- Native SVG output with a stated focus on being lightweight with minimal dependencies
- MIT licensed with active development and a documentation site and storybook
Not ideal for
Frappe Charts
- Users needing highly specialized or 3D charts, since the README lists only the chart types above
- Projects that need a library with extensive built-in interactivity, because the README describes only annotations, tooltips and basic customization
Recharts
- Non-programmers who want to make charts without code, since it requires writing React components
- Projects not using React, because the library is built around React components
- Very large datasets needing canvas or GPU rendering, since the README only describes SVG support
Trade-offs
Frappe Charts
- The README is short and does not document every option, so details need to be checked in the separate documentation site
- The README does not state browser support or how it compares in performance to other libraries
Recharts
- Only suited to React projects, so it does not fit other frameworks by default
- Installation asks you to also install react-is matching your React version, an extra step for beginners
- The README excerpt provides limited detail on specific chart types and advanced options; see the docs site
Getting started
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Frappe Charts and Recharts?
Frappe Charts: A small JavaScript library that draws responsive SVG charts with no other dependencies. Recharts: A React charting library built on D3 for drawing charts from declarative components. Frappe Charts suits developers adding basic or medium-complexity charts to a web app, while Recharts suits react developers who need standard charts such as line, bar or similar graphs in a web app.
Are Frappe Charts and Recharts free?
Frappe Charts: Free and open source. Recharts: Free and open source.
Is Frappe Charts or Recharts more popular?
Recharts has more GitHub stars (27.7k) than Frappe Charts (15.1k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Frappe Charts and Recharts?
Other options people compare them with include Chart.js, visx, G2, Simple mind map, nivo.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.