Best SwiftUI Charts Libraries in 2026
Honest comparison of every viable SwiftUI charting option — Apple\'s native Swift Charts, DGCharts, Lightweight Charts, and when to use each.
The best SwiftUI charts library for almost every iOS app in 2026 is Apple\'s native Swift Charts (iOS 16+). It\'s free, accessible, theme-aware, animates automatically, and supports line/bar/area/scatter/pie/heatmap. Reach for third-party charts (DGCharts, Lightweight Charts) only when you need iOS 15 support, candlestick / OHLC financial charts, or hyper-custom rendering.
A Swift Charts Line Chart in 10 Lines
For comparison, here's a complete time-series line chart with Apple's Swift Charts:
import Charts
import SwiftUI
struct RevenueChart: View {
let data: [(date: Date, revenue: Double)]
var body: some View {
Chart(data, id: \.date) { point in
LineMark(
x: .value("Date", point.date),
y: .value("Revenue", point.revenue)
)
.interpolationMethod(.catmullRom)
}
.chartXAxis { AxisMarks(values: .stride(by: .day, count: 7)) }
.chartYAxis { AxisMarks(format: .currency(code: "USD")) }
}
}Chart-ready boilerplate.
The Swift Kit ships Swift Charts examples themed via the design system — revenue, growth, habit progress, AI usage.
The 6 Charts Libraries
Ranked by what most apps should actually use. The native option wins for ~95% of use cases.
- 1
Swift Charts (Apple)
Use This FirstNative iOS 16+ charting. Line, bar, area, scatter, pie, heatmap. Declarative API matching SwiftUI patterns. Free, no dependency.
Pros- Native
- Theme-aware
- Accessibility built-in
- Animations free
Cons- iOS 16+ only
- No candlestick
- 2
Lightweight Charts (TradingView)
Open-source financial charting. Candlestick, OHLC, volume, crosshairs, indicators. Built for trading apps. WebView-based but smooth.
Pros- Best-in-class financial
- Production-grade
Cons- WebView dependency
- Heavier
- 3
DGCharts (DanielGindi)
Successor to ChartsiOS. Mature, iOS 9+, every chart type. Use when you need iOS 15 / 16 fallback or specific advanced features.
Pros- iOS 9+ support
- Battle-tested
Cons- Imperative API
- Heavier than native
- 4
SwiftUICharts (Will Dale)
Open-source SwiftUI-native chart kit. Active before Swift Charts shipped. Now mostly superseded by Apple's framework.
Cons- Maintenance has slowed
- 5
Charts (deprecated)
The original ChartsiOS / Charts library. Deprecated — use DGCharts instead.
Cons- No longer maintained
- 6
Plotly iOS Wrapper
WebView wrapper around Plotly.js. Useful only if you already use Plotly in a web product and want consistent rendering.
Cons- WebView dependency
- Slow
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the best SwiftUI charts library in 2026?
Is Apple's Swift Charts free?
Does Swift Charts support real-time updating data?
What about candlestick / OHLC charts for finance apps?
Can Swift Charts render large datasets (10k+ points)?
How does The Swift Kit use charts?
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