Websites using Visjs

Okay, let s break down Vis.js, covering its overview, revenue (as far as can be estimated publicly), alternatives, pricing, and customer care.

1. Vis.js Overview

• What is it? Vis.js is a powerful, browser-based visualization library. It s a set of JavaScript libraries that enable you to create interactive and dynamic visualizations in web applications. It s particularly strong for network diagrams (graphs), timelines, and datasets.
• Key Components:
  • vis-network: For creating and manipulating network graphs. This is the most popular part of Vis.js.
  • vis-timeline: For creating interactive timelines. Great for scheduling, history visualization, or any data where time is a key component.
  • vis-data: Provides a flexible data handling system that underpins the other components.
• Key Features:
  • Interactive: Users can zoom, pan, select nodes/edges, and manipulate the visualizations.
  • Customizable: Extensive options to control the appearance and behavior of the visualizations. You can customize node shapes, colors, labels, edge styles, and more.
  • Data-Driven: Visualizations are created based on data provided in JavaScript objects or arrays.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility: Works well in modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge).
  • Responsive: Can adapt to different screen sizes, making it suitable for web applications on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices.
• Use Cases:
  • Network Visualization: Social networks, IT infrastructure maps, dependency graphs, knowledge graphs.
  • Timelines: Project management, historical event visualization, resource scheduling.
  • Data Analysis: Visualizing relationships in datasets.
  • Scientific Visualization: Displaying complex data structures.
• License: Vis.js is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license. This is a permissive license, which means you can use, modify, and distribute it for free, even in commercial projects, as long as you include the original copyright notice and license.

2. Revenue

• Open Source Nature: Vis.js is primarily an open-source project. This means that the core library itself is free to use.
• No Publicly Available Revenue Data: Because it s open-source, there isn t publicly available information about Vis.js s direct revenue.
• Possible Revenue Streams (Hypothetical):
  • Commercial Support: The developers or a related company could potentially offer paid commercial support contracts for organizations that need guaranteed response times, dedicated assistance, or custom development. However, I am not aware of any companies currently doing this.
  • Consulting Services: Individual developers or small companies might offer consulting services to help companies integrate Vis.js into their applications.
  • Training: They could potentially offer paid training courses or workshops on how to use Vis.js effectively.
  • Sponsored Development: Larger companies who rely heavily on Vis.js might sponsor the project s development with donations or grants.
• Conclusion: It s highly unlikely that Vis.js generates significant revenue. Its value is primarily as a widely used and valuable open-source tool.

3. Alternatives

Here s a breakdown of some popular alternatives to Vis.js, categorized by visualization type:

• Network Graph Alternatives:
  • D3.js (Data-Driven Documents): A very powerful and flexible JavaScript library for creating almost any type of data visualization. It s much more low-level than Vis.js, meaning you have more control, but it requires significantly more coding effort. Excellent for custom and complex visualizations.
  • Cytoscape.js: A JavaScript library specifically designed for network graph visualization and analysis. It has a rich set of features for graph manipulation, layout algorithms, and styling. It s often preferred for more complex graph analysis scenarios.
  • Sigma.js: A JavaScript library for displaying interactive graphs, particularly large ones. It focuses on performance and scalability.
  • Graphly: A hosted graph visualization platform targeted to Enterprise.
• Timeline Alternatives:
  • D3.js: Again, D3 can be used to create custom timelines.
  • FullCalendar: A popular JavaScript library for displaying events in a calendar format. It s more suited for scheduling and calendar-based applications than general timeline visualizations.
  • Simile Timeline: An older, but still useful, open-source timeline widget.
• General Visualization Libraries:
  • Chart.js: A simple and easy-to-use library for creating common chart types (bar charts, line charts, pie charts, etc.).
  • Plotly: A more comprehensive charting library that supports a wide variety of chart types and interactive features. It s available in JavaScript, Python, R, and other languages.
  • Google Charts: A free charting service from Google that provides a range of chart types. It s easy to embed charts into web pages.
  • ECharts: A powerful charting library that offers a wide variety of chart types and customization options. It is backed by Baidu, a Chinese tech company.

Choosing an Alternative:

The best alternative depends on your specific needs:

• For Maximum Customization: D3.js
• For Complex Graph Analysis: Cytoscape.js
• For Large Graphs and Performance: Sigma.js
• For Simple Charts: Chart.js
• For Comprehensive Charting: Plotly

4. Pricing

• Vis.js is Free: As mentioned before, Vis.js is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license, making it completely free to use, modify, and distribute. There are no license fees.

5. Customer Care/Support

• Community Support: The primary form of support for Vis.js is through its community.
  • GitHub Repository: The Vis.js GitHub repository (https://github.com/visjs) is the main hub for the project. You can find the source code, documentation, examples, and issue tracker there.
  • Issue Tracker: Use the GitHub issue tracker to report bugs, request features, or ask questions. Be sure to search existing issues first to see if your question has already been answered.
  • Stack Overflow: Stack Overflow is a great resource for finding answers to common Vis.js questions. Use the vis.js tag when asking questions.
• Documentation: The Vis.js website (visjs.org) provides documentation, examples, and tutorials. The quality of the documentation can vary, but it s a good place to start.
• No Official Paid Support: As far as I know, there is no official paid support offered by the original developers of Vis.js. You ll need to rely on community resources or find independent consultants.
• Support from 3rd parties: Because Vis.js is Open Source you can find many 3rd party developers and consulting companies that can assist you.

In summary: Vis.js is a free, open-source library that s fantastic for interactive network graphs and timelines. While there s no official paid support, the community and documentation can be helpful. If you need more control or specific chart types, explore the alternatives.