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plotly/plotly.js

📈 Trending★ 18,196JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5ActiveLicenseSetup · easy

TLDR

Interactive charting library for web browsers. Create 40+ chart types with built-in zoom, pan, hover, and legend toggling, no extra code needed.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      40+ chart types
      Interactive by default
      Hover and zoom
      Toggle series
    Tech stack
      JavaScript
      Node.js compatible
      CDN loadable
    Use cases
      Dashboards
      Data exploration
      Scientific plots
      Financial charts
    Audience
      Web developers
      Data analysts
      Python users
      R users

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Build interactive dashboards that let users explore data by hovering, zooming, and toggling series.

USE CASE 2

Create scientific and financial charts embedded in web applications without writing custom interaction code.

USE CASE 3

Visualize statistical data with 40+ built-in chart types in a single library.

USE CASE 4

Reduce bundle size by building custom versions that include only the chart types your app needs.

Tech stack

JavaScriptNode.jsJSON

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
Use freely for any purpose, including commercial use, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

Plotly.js is an open-source JavaScript library for creating interactive data visualizations in web browsers. It can produce dozens of chart types including statistical charts, 3D graphs, maps, financial charts, scientific plots, and more. Charts created with Plotly.js are interactive by default: users can hover to see data values, zoom in and out, pan around, and toggle data series on and off, all without writing additional code. The library is also the engine behind the Python and R packages named Plotly, so familiarity with it carries across programming languages. It can be loaded into a webpage either as a script tag from a content delivery network, as a module in a Node.js project, or bundled into custom builds that include only the chart types you need (reducing file size). Basic usage requires only JSON-like configuration objects describing the data and layout, no deep JavaScript knowledge is needed to get started. Plotly.js is maintained by Plotly and is available under the MIT license. It supports current versions of major browsers. Consulting, dashboard development, and custom feature work is available commercially from Plotly. The project also powers Dash, a framework for building data applications in Python.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Show me how to create a basic line chart with Plotly.js that displays on a webpage and lets users zoom and pan.
Prompt 2
How do I load Plotly.js from a CDN and create a scatter plot with hover tooltips showing data values?
Prompt 3
I want to build a dashboard with multiple chart types. How do I use Plotly.js to make them interactive without extra JavaScript?
Prompt 4
Can you show me how to create a 3D surface plot with Plotly.js and customize the layout and colors?
Prompt 5
How do I bundle a custom version of Plotly.js that includes only the chart types I need to reduce file size?
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Generated 2026-05-18 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.