Why Choosing the Right Chart Library Matters

Picking the wrong chart library can cost you weeks of refactoring. Bundle size, TypeScript support, animation quality, and the learning curve all vary wildly between options. In 2025, the React charting ecosystem has matured — but there are still clear winners depending on your use case.

We tested five major libraries across four criteria: ease of use, bundle size, customization, and TypeScript support.

1. Recharts — Best for Most Projects

Recharts is built on top of D3.js and uses a declarative, component-based API that feels natural in React. It's the most popular React chart library with over 23,000 GitHub stars.

Bundle size: ~480KB (gzipped: ~130KB)
TypeScript: Full support, excellent types
Best for: Dashboards, analytics, standard chart types
Weakness: Limited 3D charts, no heatmaps out of the box

Recharts is the library used for all the chart components on UIChart.com. Its composable API makes it easy to build complex charts by combining simple components.

import { BarChart, Bar, XAxis, YAxis, ResponsiveContainer } from 'recharts';

const data = [{ name: 'Jan', value: 400 }, { name: 'Feb', value: 300 }];

export default function MyChart() {
  return (
    <ResponsiveContainer width="100%" height={300}>
      <BarChart data={data}>
        <XAxis dataKey="name" />
        <YAxis />
        <Bar dataKey="value" fill="#00e5a0" />
      </BarChart>
    </ResponsiveContainer>
  );
}

2. Chart.js — Best Performance for Simple Charts

Chart.js is a vanilla JS library with a React wrapper (react-chartjs-2). It renders on a Canvas element, making it extremely fast for large datasets.

Bundle size: ~200KB (gzipped: ~65KB)
TypeScript: Good, via @types/chart.js
Best for: High-performance charts with large datasets
Weakness: Less React-native feel, more imperative API

3. ApexCharts — Best Out-of-the-Box Features

ApexCharts comes with the most built-in chart types and features including annotations, brush charts, and sync charts. The React wrapper is react-apexcharts.

Bundle size: ~380KB (gzipped: ~120KB)
TypeScript: Good support
Best for: Feature-rich dashboards with minimal custom code
Weakness: Heavier bundle, less composable

4. Victory — Best for React Native

Victory is maintained by Formidable Labs and works across React and React Native with the same API. It's the go-to choice when you need charts on both web and mobile.

Bundle size: ~350KB
TypeScript: Full support
Best for: Cross-platform (web + React Native)
Weakness: Smaller community, less frequent updates

5. D3.js — Most Powerful, Steepest Curve

D3 is not a charting library — it's a data visualization toolkit. You have complete control over every pixel, but it requires significant expertise. Most React chart libraries are built on top of D3 internally.

Bundle size: ~250KB (but you usually tree-shake)
TypeScript: Excellent via @types/d3
Best for: Custom, unique visualizations that no library supports
Weakness: Very steep learning curve, verbose code

The Verdict

For 90% of projects, Recharts is the right answer. It's well-maintained, has excellent TypeScript support, and its declarative API is the most React-friendly of all options. Use Chart.js if you have very large datasets (10,000+ data points) and need canvas-based rendering. Use D3 only when you need a truly custom visualization that no other library supports.

Library	Bundle	TypeScript	Best For
Recharts	130KB	✅ Excellent	Most projects
Chart.js	65KB	✅ Good	Large datasets
ApexCharts	120KB	✅ Good	Feature-rich dashboards
Victory	~350KB	✅ Full	React Native
D3.js	Varies	✅ Excellent	Custom visuals

Best React Chart Libraries in 2025 (Compared)