recharts
v3.8.1 MITReact charts
recharts Download Trends
About recharts
Recharts is a composable charting library built specifically for React applications, simplifying the process of creating data visualizations. It addresses the challenge of integrating complex charting functionalities directly within a React component-based architecture, enabling developers to declaratively define charts as a collection of reusable components.
The library's core philosophy centers around a declarative, component-driven approach, leveraging React's own paradigm for building user interfaces. This makes it intuitive for React developers to pick up and use. It's primarily designed for frontend developers working within the React ecosystem who need to display data effectively.
Key API patterns in Recharts revolve around a hierarchical structure of components, such as `<AreaChart>`, `<LineChart>`, and `<BarChart>` as root elements. These are composed with elements like `<XAxis>`, `<YAxis>`, `<Tooltip>`, and `<Legend>` to build a complete chart. The use of hooks like `useClippathId` further aids in customization and integration within complex React states.
Recharts integrates seamlessly into typical React workflows, fitting well with common build tools like Webpack and Parcel. Its component-based nature allows for easy incorporation into existing React projects, SPAs, and applications built with frameworks like Next.js or Gatsby. It also plays nicely with state management libraries and data fetching solutions standard in the React ecosystem.
With a significant weekly download count of 22.2 million and 26.9K GitHub stars, Recharts demonstrates considerable community adoption and maturity. However, its unpacked size of 6.8 MB and gzipped bundle size of 149.6 kB indicate a substantial footprint, which may be a consideration for performance-critical applications with strict loading time requirements.
Developers should be aware of the relatively high number of open issues (433), which may indicate potential areas for community contribution or require careful testing for specific use cases. The last update date of 2026-03-26 suggests ongoing development, but the large open issue count could point to delays in bug fixes or feature implementations.
When to use
- When defining chart structures declaratively using React components like `<LineChart>` and `<BarChart>`.
- When integrating interactive tooltips and legends within a React component tree using `<Tooltip>` and `<Legend>` components.
- When needing to customize chart appearance through SVG elements and Recharts' provided components.
- When building data visualizations within a Next.js or Gatsby application, leveraging its React-centric design.
- When creating animated charts by composing with animation components provided by Recharts or related libraries.
- When complex data transformations are handled upstream, and the primary goal is rendering data visually in React.
When NOT to use
- If you require a charting library with a minimal bundle size, consider lighter alternatives that eschew complex component structures.
- If your application requires highly specialized, non-standard chart types not easily constructible from SVG primitives, explore libraries built on lower-level rendering contexts.
- When implementing very simple, static data points without interactivity, using native SVG or a more basic charting library may be more efficient.
- If you are not working within the React ecosystem, Recharts' reliance on React components makes it unsuitable for other frontend frameworks.
- When facing extremely tight performance budgets where the 149.6 kB gzipped bundle size is a significant concern, investigate more optimized charting solutions.