Select the JavaScript graphing libraries you would like to compare:
Overview
| Summary |
FusionCharts Delightful JavaScript charts for web and mobile applications |
Google Chart Tools Display live data on your site |
Sencha ExtJS Charts Plugin-free Charting (part of the extJS framework) |
D3.js Powerful JavaScript library for manipulating documents based on data |
HighCharts Interactive JavaScript charts for your web projects |
| First released in | 2002 | 2007 | 2011 | 2011 | 2009 |
| Charts rendered in | JavaScript (HTML5) Charts using SVG and VML | HTML5 charts using SVG and VML | JavaScript Charts using SVG and VML | SVG | SVG and VML JavaScript (HTML5) Charts using SVG and VML |
| Input Data Format | JSON and XML | JavaScript API | JavaScript API | JSON and XML | JSON |
| Browsers Supported | All modern web and mobile browsers, including IE6+ | All modern web and mobile browsers, including IE6+ | Modern web browsers. Need to use Sencha Touch for mobile web apps. | All modern web and mobile browsers, For IE - 9 and above | All modern web and mobile browsers, including IE6+ |
| Chart & Map Types | 90+ chart types in both 2D and 3D. 950+ maps spanning all continents, countries, US states and regions, European countries and counties etc. | 13 chart types in 2D. Maps available as GeoChart. | 13 chart types in 2D. Maps and 3D charts not supported. | Does not come with pre-built charts, but a library of 200+ examples is available. | 25+ chart types |
| Source code available for download and modification | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Licensing | Development and testing licenses are free. Non watermarked product version free for non commercial use. Deployment licenses start at $399 | Free for all usage. | Available only as part of Sencha Touch Bundle or Sencha Complete. | BSD-3 | Per-developer licensing fee starts $390 per developer. Website licenses at $90. Non-commercial usage is free. |
| Documentation | Extensive documentation, getting started guides, detailed API references and integration examples. Tutorial-style explanation of the advanced capabilities. | Getting started guide, detailed API references and simple examples. | Getting started guide and API references. | Text and video tutorials, API reference and a gallery of examples | Getting started guide, API references and simple examples. |
| Real-life business demos with source code | Yes. Numerous plug-and-play real-life demos available for download with source code. | Few | Yes. Extensive demos available. | No | No |
| Support Options | Personalized tech support and community forum with 20,000 active members | Discussions Group | Personalized tech support and community forum | Discussion group | Personalized tech support |
Features
| Animation | Yes | Yes, but turned off by default | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Drill-downs | Can be configured in data or JavaScript code. Multi-level drill-downs made possible easily through LinkedCharts. | Through JavaScript code | Through JavaScript code | Yes | Through JavaScript code |
| Tool-tips | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Legend | Yes. Interactive legend to show/hide data series. Conditional scroll bars for overflow. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Zooming | Yes, with support for pinning | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Scrolling / Panning | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| X-Axis Label Management | Intelligent x-axis label management to avoid overlapping of labels. Automatically rotates labels, wraps labels or adds ellipses to long labels. Support for rotation and stepping. | Not available. | Not available. | Yes | Not available. Labels overlap when no space is available, leading to a cluttered look. |
| Multiple Axis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Number Formatting | In-built with ability to provide suffix, prefix, and custom number scaling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Color palettes and theming | In-built palettes, and further customizations through attributes in data | Using attributes in code | Using SASS and Compass | No | Using additional JSON theme file or attributes in code |
| Gradients | Supported, with full control over constituent colors, ratios, alphas and angles | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trendlines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ability to export charts as JPG, PNG or PDF | Yes. Support for PNG, JPG and PDF. Can use hosted export handlers, or host them yourself. | No | No | No | Yes |
| Native jQuery integration | Yes, through FusionCharts jQuery plugin | Through third-party / community contributions | No | No | Yes |
| JavaScript events exposed for chart and data | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Server-side APIs for easy integration, without having to write JavaScript code | Yes, for ASP.NET, PHP, ASP, Java, Ruby on Rails etc. | No | No | No | Through third-party / community contributions |
| Custom vertical lines with labels to show milestones / information on x-axis | Yes | No | No | No inbuilt support | Yes |
| Additional Comments | Different chart types in FusionCharts Suite offer additional features not listed here. | The JavaScript files are loaded directly from Google's servers. So your application always has to be online to view the charts. | While extremely flexible - it requires deep coding knowledge for implementation of visualizations. |
Chart Types
| Overview | 90+ chart types in both 2D and 3D. 950+ maps spanning all continents, countries, US states, European districts / counties etc. | 13 chart types in 2D. Maps available as GeoChart. | 13 chart types in 2D. Maps and 3D charts not supported. | Powerful charting library best used for complex and non standard data visualizations. | 25+ chart types in 2D. Maps and 3D charts are not supported. |
| Column Charts | Yes. In 2D and 3D. | Yes. In 2D only. | Yes. In 2D only. | Yes | Yes. In 2D only. |
| Bar Charts | Yes. In 2D and 3D. | Yes. In 2D only. | Yes. In 2D only. | Yes | Yes. In 2D only. |
| Line Charts | Yes. With zooming, scrolling and pinning support. | Yes. No zooming or panning. | Yes. No zooming or panning. | Yes | Yes. With zooming and panning support. |
| Area Charts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pie & Donut Charts | Yes. In 2D and 3D, with interactive rotation capability. | Yes. In 2D and 3D. | Yes. In 2D only | Yes | Yes. In 2D only. |
| Scatter (XY) & Bubble charts | Yes, with interactive options on scatter chart to select groups of data points visually | Only Scatter charts. Bubble chart not available. | Yes | Yes | Yes, with interactive zooming |
| Stacked Charts | Yes, with 100% stacking support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pareto Charts | Yes, with 100% stacking support | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Candlestick / stock charts | Yes | Yes | No | Candlestick | Yes |
| Speedometer / Gauge Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Funnel & Pyramid Charts | Yes. In 2D and 3D. | No | No | No | Yes. No pyramid chart. |
| Mekko / Marimekko Charts | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Bullet Graphs | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Gantt Charts | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Waterfall | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Mini or Micro Charts like Sparklines, Columns and Win/loss charts | Yes | Deprecated | No | Sparklines | No |
| Charts with scrolling capabilities | Yes, in all column, line, area, stacked and combination charts | No | No | No | No |
| Combination of column, line and area charts across multiple axis | Yes, including combinations for 3D columns | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Linear, LED & Bulb Gauges | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Thermometer and cylinder charts | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Heatmap charts | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Log and Inverse Axis Charts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Log | Yes |
| Spline Charts | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Error Bar & Scatter charts | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Polar | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Radar | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Node diagrams for network simulation, organization charts | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Visually editable charts that allow drag-n-drop change of data | Yes - in column, area and line | No | No | No | No |
| Additional chart types supported | Error bar & scatter, Box & Whisker Plot, Multi-level pie, Kagi charts | Treemap charts, Stepped Area Charts, Table Charts / Grids | Variety of non-standard visualizations | Wind rose |
Whether you are building an ERP application or a social media analytics tool, your end-users expect your product to process and convert data into easily identifiable trends and patterns. The right graphing software goes a long way in visualizing these trends and patterns effectively for your user. With the right JavaScript graphing library you not only provide your users with the right visualization but also build an immersive experience for them.
from:
http://www.fusioncharts.com/javascript-charting-comparison/
http://www.fusioncharts.com/whitepapers/choosing-the-right-charting-component/