What does fusion chart buy you that D3 doesn't?

Question

We are trying to build heavy graph based dashboards. One of the things we have to choose between is D3.js and Fusion charts. Fusion charts is paid. So my question is what does fusion chart have better that d3 doesn't?

Answer 1

D3 is a library to manipulate the DOM based on the data, not a charting library, you have to build the charts for yourself. It gives you absolute control, but you need to spend time creating the chart (scales, margins, etc...). There are some libraries like NVD3 that can ease the process but they could be tricky to modify.

Also:

• Fusion charts has support for IE 6, 7 and 8, while D3 doesn't support them.
• Fusion charts allows to export the charts to PDF, PNG... easily.
• Fusion charts has no support for time series, while d3 support it.
• Fusion charts has no brush component while d3 has: http://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/1667367

Answer 2

To know more about the capabilities of D3 and FusionCharts, read more at: http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-capabilities-of-D3-js-which-cannot-be-achieved-using-fusion-charts/answers/2928546