Report

Should I Use Chart.js?

chartjs.org·Analyzed 17 hours ago·9/19/2026·Based on 12 sources

Simple yet flexible JavaScript charting library for the modern web

Worth it

Use it if your developers need quick, standard charts in a web app — it's free and the most popular open-source option.

Free open-source JS charting library. Great for developers; wrong tool for no-code dashboards or exotic chart types.

Confidence: High

Price

Free, open source

Chart types

Bar, line, area, pie, doughnut, bubble, radar

Pros

Free and open source — no licenses, no seats
G2 users praise ease of use and straightforward API^⁴
Eight animated, customizable chart types out of the box^³
Works with vanilla JavaScript, React, Vue, and Angular^⁸
Ranked most popular open-source charting library, active since 2013^⁵

Cons

Missing bullet, funnel, and Gantt chart types^⁶
Fewer chart types than Highcharts (funnel, waterfall, polar, error bars)¹¹
Renders to HTML5 canvas, not SVG like D3-based rivals^¹

Gotchas

medium2.x has CVE-2020-7746 (prototype pollution) — stay on the current major version^⁹
lowhas no published security page; vet releases via GitHub yourself
lowFree core, but missing chart types push complex needs toward paid rivals like Highcharts^⁶

Best for

Developers adding charts to web apps
Startups wanting free visualization
Dashboards with standard chart types
React, Vue, or Angular projects

Not for

Non-developers wanting drag-and-drop dashboards
Teams needing funnel, Gantt, or bullet charts
Enterprises wanting vendor SLAs and paid support
Heavy custom dataviz better served by

Companies that could

Amazon^⁵Uses Apache ECharts instead
GitLab^⁵Uses Apache ECharts instead

Pricing

Open source

All 8 chart types and plugins
Full documentation
Community support via GitHub

Security

One legacy CVE (2020) affecting 2.x versions; no current incidents in sources reviewed.

CVE-2020-7746 — Prototype PollutionOptions parameters not sanitized during deep merges; affects 2.x versions such as 2.8.0.^⁹

What users say

Users consistently praise Chart.js's ease of use, responsive design, and quick chart creation.

“Users consistently praise the ease of use and responsive design of Chart.js, highlighting its straightforward API that allows for quick chart creation”

— G2 reviews