Highcharts is a JavaScript and TypeScript charting library for building interactive charts, stock charts, maps and dashboards into web and mobile apps. It is free for personal and educational use; any commercial use, including internal tools, needs a license from $185 per developer a year.
The bottom line
A top-tier chart library for commercial apps, as long as you budget per developer.
7.7
Our score
7.7 / 10
Conversion Gems editorial verdict
$185/dev/yr (Internal, Core)
Features9/10
9 - Core plus Stock, Maps, Gantt, Grid and Dashboards, accessibility and multi-format export, per highcharts.com/products.
Value6/10
6 - free for personal and educational use, but all commercial use is paid ($185 to $366 per developer a year for Core alone).
Ease of use7/10
7 - quick to start for developers via npm, but it is a code library, not a no-code tool.
Ecosystem9/10
9 - official wrappers for React, Angular, Vue, Svelte, Python, .NET, iOS, Android and Flutter.
Support7/10
7 - docs, demos, API reference and forum; Advantage support included with licenses, faster Advantage Plus optional.
What it really is
A commercially licensed JavaScript/TypeScript charting library with stock, map, Gantt, grid and dashboard modules.
Our take
Highcharts gives developers a deep, well-documented chart library with wrappers for nearly every front-end and mobile stack, plus accessibility features most free libraries lack. Pricing is clear and per developer, but the license line matters: personal and school projects are free, while anything for a business, even an internal prototype, needs a paid seat. If your app is public-facing, budget for the SaaS license, which costs about twice the Internal one.
Why we rate it
Broad chart types, framework coverage and accessibility, with published per-seat prices.
The catch
Every commercial use, including internal prototypes, needs a paid license.
Best for
Customer-facing analytics in SaaS products
Financial and stock charts
Teams needing accessible charts
Not good for
Open-source projects needing a permissive license
Non-developers who want a no-code chart tool
Friction report
Time to value
Short for developers: install from npm or a script tag and call Highcharts.chart().
Scale breakpoint
More than six developers or OEM distribution means a sales-negotiated license.
Walled garden
Low: charts run in your own code and export to standard image and vector formats.
One external app or public site, plus internal use
OEM
Quote-based
Quote-based
Distribution inside products you ship to customers
Personal or educational
Free
Free
Non-commercial use only
From Highcharts' shop product data and EULA notice, checked 4 October 2026. The webshop sells up to six developer seats; larger teams go through sales.
Add-on libraries and bundles (annual, per developer seat)
Product
Internal
SaaS / External
Core + Stock
$370
$732
Core + Maps
$250
$494
Core + Gantt
$222
$439
Core + Stock + Maps + Gantt
$443
$876
Dashboards (separate seats)
$132
$264
Grid Pro (standalone)
$158
$316
From Highcharts' shop product data, checked 4 October 2026. Highcharts for Python is a $110 yearly add-on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Highcharts Core costs $185 per developer seat a year for an Internal license and $366 a year for a SaaS license that covers one public-facing app. Perpetual licenses are $425 (Internal) and $839 (SaaS) per seat. Stock, Maps and Gantt cost extra (checked 4 October 2026).
Only for personal and educational use. Highsoft's current EULA says internal business use, including prototyping, R&D and internal tools, needs a commercial license (checked 4 October 2026).
No. The source code is public on GitHub, but Highcharts is licensed commercially by Highsoft; it is not released under an open-source license such as MIT.
The Internal license covers internal applications and private websites. The SaaS license adds one external application, such as a public website or customer-facing product; Highsoft's SaaS+ option covers up to five.
Yes. Highsoft lists official integrations for React, Angular, Vue, Svelte, Node.js, Python, .NET, iOS, Android and Flutter.
Highcharts alternatives
Other charting and data visualization tools in our directory:
Recharts: Open-source React chart library built on D3, under the MIT license.
Datawrapper: No-code tool for creating and embedding charts, maps and tables.
Grafana: Open-source platform for dashboards over metrics, logs and traces.
