Top R Libraries for Data Visualization
Last Updated :
15 Jul, 2025
When you are talking about data analysis, don’t forget data visualization! It is a very important part of data analysis that can reveal hidden trends and provide more insight into the data. Data visualization can provide information just by looking at it, whereas it would take much more time to obtain that same information from spreadsheets or text reports. And that is why Data Visualization is so popular. In this article, we will discuss the Top R Libraries for Data Visualization.
Since R is one of the most popular programming languages in data analysis, it’s not a shock that there are many R libraries for data visualization. These libraries are so popular because they allow data analysts to create the visualizations they want from their data easily by conveniently providing both the interface and the tools all in one place! Then the only important thing is knowing what the visualization wants to convey to the users and creating that using all the tools available. What more could a data analyst want?!
Top R Libraries for Data Visualization
R is a popular programming language among analysts, researchers, and programmers in the Data Science field. The reason for this is a wide ecosystem of libraries that are readily available for use, allowing data to be presented efficiently to diverse stakeholders. So let’s check out some of these Top R Libraries for Data Visualization that are commonly used these days.
1. ggplot2
ggplot2 is an R data visualization library that is based on The Grammar of Graphics. ggplot2 can create data visualizations such as bar charts, pie charts, histograms, scatterplots, error charts, etc. using high-level API. It also allows you to add different types of data visualization components or layers in a single visualization. Once ggplot2 has been told which variables to map to which aesthetics in the plot, it does the rest of the work so that the user can focus on interpreting the visualizations and take less time to create them. But this also means that it is not possible to create highly customized graphics in ggplot2. But there are a lot of resources in the RStudio community and Stack Overflow that can provide help in ggplot2 when needed. Just like dplyr, if you want to install ggplot2, you can install the tidyverse or you can just install ggplot2 using install.packages("ggplot2")
2. Plotly
Plotly is a free open-source graphing library that can be used to form data visualizations. Plotly is an R package that is built on top of the Plotly JavaScript library (plotly.js) and can be used to create web-based data visualizations that can be displayed in Jupyter notebooks or web applications using Dash or saved as individual HTML files. Plotly provides more than 40 unique chart types like scatter plots, histograms, line charts, bar charts, pie charts, error bars, box plots, multiple axes, sparklines, dendrograms, 3-D charts, etc. Plotly also provides contour plots, which are not that common in other data visualization libraries. In addition to all this, Plotly can be used offline with no internet connection. You can install Plotly from CRAN using install. packages('plotly') or install the latest development version from GitHub using devtools::install_github("ropensci/plotly").
3. Esquisse
Esquisse is a data visualization tool in R that allows you to create detailed data visualizations using the ggplot2 package. You can create all sorts of scatter plots, histograms, line charts, bar charts, pie charts, error bars, box plots, multiple axes, sparklines, dendrograms, 3-D charts, etc. using Esquisse and also export these graphs or access the code for creating these graphs. Esquisse is such a famous and easily used data visualization tool because of its drag-and-drop ability which makes it popular even among beginners. You can install Esquisse from CRAN using install.packages("esquisse") or install the development version from GitHub using remotes::install_github("dreamRs/esquisse").
4. Lattice
Lattice is a data visualization tool that is primarily used to implement Trellis graphs in R. These Trellis graphs are used to view many complicated and multi-variable data sets at the same time so they can be compared. Since all these different plots end up looking like a Trellis, this is called a Trellis graph. Since Lattice is a high-level data visualization library, it can handle many of the typical graphics without needing many customizations. In case you want to extend the capabilities of Lattice, they can download the LatticeExtra package which is an extended version. You can install Lattice from CRAN using install.packages("lattice") or install the development version from GitHub using remotes::install_github("deepayan/lattice").
5. RGL
The RGL package in R is created specifically for making 3-D data visualizations and data plots. It has many graphics commands that work in 3 dimensions but is modeled loosely after the classic 2-D graphics in R. RGL is also inspired by the grid package in R but it is incompatible with it. However, seasoned R coders can easily use RGL because of an existing familiarity with the grid. And RGL is very cool! It has a lot of options for 3-D shapes, various lighting effects, creating new shapes, and also animations. You can install RGL from CRAN using install.packages("rgl").
6. Dygraphs
The dygraphs package is an R interface to the JavaScript charting library dygraphs that are used to provide various charts for visualizing data sets. This package can be used for creating various interactive visualizations with zooming, and panning options along with default mouse-over labels. dygraphs also provide support for various graph overlays such as point annotations, shaded regions, event lines, etc. You can also plot the xts time series objects automatically. However, all of these features do not come at the expense of speed in dygraph. Rather, it can provide maximal interactivity even with millions of data points in the visualization. You can install RGL from CRAN using install.packages("dygraphs").
7. Leaflet
Just like dygraphs, the Leaflet package is an R interface to the JavaScript Leaflet library that is extremely popular. The Leaflet is very useful in creating interactive but lightweight maps that are seen on various websites such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, etc. There are many useful features in this package such as interactive panning and zooming in the charts, the option to combine Polygons, Lines, Popups, etc. to create charts, embed maps in knitr, create maps in Mercator projections that are non-spherical, and so on. The Leaflet package can be used at the R console after installing it from CRAN using the command install.packages("leaflet").
Conclusion
All of these R Libraries for Data Visualization are fantastic choices for creating data visualizations. The packages listed above are only a few of the several good solutions for data visualization in R. Each of these libraries has advantages and downsides, and they may or may not be employed in your next data science project, but it is good to know that they and similar libraries exist. Each of these libraries has benefits, and you can select the ideal one based on the type of visualization or data science project you intend to build. Now that you've learned about these libraries, use them to create visually appealing and helpful data visualizations.
Must Read:
Similar Reads
R Tutorial | Learn R Programming Language R is an interpreted programming language widely used for statistical computing, data analysis and visualization. R language is open-source with large community support. R provides structured approach to data manipulation, along with decent libraries and packages like Dplyr, Ggplot2, shiny, Janitor a
4 min read
Introduction
R Programming Language - IntroductionR is a programming language and software environment that has become the first choice for statistical computing and data analysis. Developed in the early 1990s by Ross Ihaka and Robert Gentleman, R was built to simplify complex data manipulation and create clear, customizable visualizations. Over ti
4 min read
Interesting Facts about R Programming LanguageR is an open-source programming language that is widely used as a statistical software and data analysis tool. R generally comes with the Command-line interface. R is available across widely used platforms like Windows, Linux, and macOS. Also, the R programming language is the latest cutting-edge to
4 min read
R vs PythonR Programming Language and Python are both used extensively for Data Science. Both are very useful and open-source languages as well. For data analysis, statistical computing, and machine learning Both languages are strong tools with sizable communities and huge libraries for data science jobs. A th
5 min read
Environments in R ProgrammingThe environment is a virtual space that is triggered when an interpreter of a programming language is launched. Simply, the environment is a collection of all the objects, variables, and functions. Or, Environment can be assumed as a top-level object that contains the set of names/variables associat
3 min read
Introduction to R StudioR Studio is an integrated development environment(IDE) for R. IDE is a GUI, where we can write your quotes, see the results and also see the variables that are generated during the course of programming. R Studio is available as both Open source and Commercial software.R Studio is also available as
4 min read
How to Install R and R Studio?Installing R and RStudio is the first step to working with R for data analysis, statistical modeling, and visualizations. This article will guide you through the installation process on both Windows and Ubuntu operating systemsWhy use R Studio? RStudio is an open-source integrated development enviro
4 min read
Creation and Execution of R File in R StudioR Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) for R. IDE is a GUI, where you can write your quotes, see the results and also see the variables that are generated during the course of programming. R is available as an Open Source software for Client as well as Server Versions. 1. Creating a
5 min read
Clear the Console and the Environment in R StudioR Studio is an integrated development environment(IDE) for R. IDE is a GUI, where you can write your quotes, see the results and also see the variables that are generated during the course of programming. Clearing the Console We Clear console in R and RStudio, In some cases when you run the codes us
2 min read
Hello World in R ProgrammingWhen we start to learn any programming languages we do follow a tradition to begin HelloWorld as our first basic program. Here we are going to learn that tradition. An interesting thing about R programming is that we can get our things done with very little code. Before we start to learn to code, le
2 min read
Fundamentals of R
Basic Syntax in R ProgrammingR is the most popular language used for Statistical Computing and Data Analysis with the support of over 10, 000+ free packages in CRAN repository. Like any other programming language, R has a specific syntax which is important to understand if you want to make use of its features. This article assu
3 min read
Comments in RIn R Programming Language, Comments are general English statements that are typically written in a program to describe what it does or what a piece of code is designed to perform. More precisely, information that should interest the coder and has nothing to do with the logic of the code. They are co
3 min read
R-OperatorsOperators are the symbols directing the compiler to perform various kinds of operations between the operands. Operators simulate the various mathematical, logical, and decision operations performed on a set of Complex Numbers, Integers, and Numericals as input operands. R supports majorly four kinds
5 min read
R-KeywordsR keywords are reserved words that have special meaning in the language. They help control program flow, define functions, and represent special values. We can check for which words are keywords by using the help(reserved) or ?reserved function.Rhelp(reserved) # or "?reserved"Output:Reserved Key Wor
2 min read
R-Data TypesData types in R define the kind of values that variables can hold. Choosing the right data type helps optimize memory usage and computation. Unlike some languages, R does not require explicit data type declarations while variables can change their type dynamically during execution.R Programming lang
5 min read
Variables
R Variables - Creating, Naming and Using Variables in RA variable is a memory location reserved for storing data, and the name assigned to it is used to access and manipulate the stored data. The variable name is an identifier for the allocated memory block, which can hold values of various data types during the program’s execution.In R, variables are d
5 min read
Scope of Variable in RIn R, variables are the containers for storing data values. They are reference, or pointers, to an object in memory which means that whenever a variable is assigned to an instance, it gets mapped to that instance. A variable in R can store a vector, a group of vectors or a combination of many R obje
5 min read
Dynamic Scoping in R ProgrammingR is an open-source programming language that is widely used as a statistical software and data analysis tool. R generally comes with the Command-line interface. R is available across widely used platforms like Windows, Linux, and macOS. Also, the R programming language is the latest cutting-edge to
5 min read
Lexical Scoping in R ProgrammingLexical scoping means R decides where to look for a variable based on where the function was written (defined), not where it is called.When a function runs and it sees a variable, R checks:Inside the function, is the variable there?If not, it looks in the environment where the function was created.T
4 min read
Input/Output
Control Flow
Control Statements in R ProgrammingControl statements are expressions used to control the execution and flow of the program based on the conditions provided in the statements. These structures are used to make a decision after assessing the variable. In this article, we'll discuss all the control statements with the examples. In R pr
4 min read
Decision Making in R Programming - if, if-else, if-else-if ladder, nested if-else, and switchDecision making in programming allows us to control the flow of execution based on specific conditions. In R, various decision-making structures help us execute statements conditionally. These include:if statementif-else statementif-else-if laddernested if-else statementswitch statement1. if Stateme
3 min read
Switch case in RSwitch case statements are a substitute for long if statements that compare a variable to several integral values. Switch case in R is a multiway branch statement. It allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of values. Switch statement follows the approach of mapping and searching
2 min read
For loop in RFor loop in R Programming Language is useful to iterate over the elements of a list, data frame, vector, matrix, or any other object. It means the for loop can be used to execute a group of statements repeatedly depending upon the number of elements in the object. It is an entry-controlled loop, in
5 min read
R - while loopWhile loop in R programming language is used when the exact number of iterations of a loop is not known beforehand. It executes the same code again and again until a stop condition is met. While loop checks for the condition to be true or false n+1 times rather than n times. This is because the whil
5 min read
R - Repeat loopRepeat loop in R is used to iterate over a block of code multiple number of times. And also it executes the same code again and again until a break statement is found. Repeat loop, unlike other loops, doesn't use a condition to exit the loop instead it looks for a break statement that executes if a
2 min read
goto statement in R ProgrammingGoto statement in a general programming sense is a command that takes the code to the specified line or block of code provided to it. This is helpful when the need is to jump from one programming section to the other without the use of functions and without creating an abnormal shift. Unfortunately,
2 min read
Break and Next statements in RIn R Programming Language, we require a control structure to run a block of code multiple times. Loops come in the class of the most fundamental and strong programming concepts. A loop is a control statement that allows multiple executions of a statement or a set of statements. The word ‘looping’ me
3 min read
Functions
Functions in R ProgrammingA function accepts input arguments and produces the output by executing valid R commands that are inside the function. Functions are useful when we want to perform a certain task multiple times.In R Programming Language when we are creating a function the function name and the file in which we are c
5 min read
Function Arguments in R ProgrammingArguments are the parameters provided to a function to perform operations in a programming language. In R programming, we can use as many arguments as we want and are separated by a comma. There is no limit on the number of arguments in a function in R. In this article, we'll discuss different ways
4 min read
Types of Functions in R ProgrammingA function is a set of statements orchestrated together to perform a specific operation. A function is an object so the interpreter is able to pass control to the function, along with arguments that may be necessary for the function to accomplish the actions. The function in turn performs the task a
6 min read
Recursive Functions in R ProgrammingRecursion, in the simplest terms, is a type of looping technique. It exploits the basic working of functions in R. Recursive Function in R: Recursion is when the function calls itself. This forms a loop, where every time the function is called, it calls itself again and again and this technique is
4 min read
Conversion Functions in R ProgrammingSometimes to analyze data using R, we need to convert data into another data type. As we know R has the following data types Numeric, Integer, Logical, Character, etc. similarly R has various conversion functions that are used to convert the data type. In R, Conversion Function are of two types: Con
4 min read
Data Structures
Data Structures in R ProgrammingA data structure is a particular way of organizing data in a computer so that it can be used effectively. The idea is to reduce the space and time complexities of different tasks. Data structures in R programming are tools for holding multiple values. R’s base data structures are often organized by
4 min read
R StringsStrings are a bunch of character variables. It is a one-dimensional array of characters. One or more characters enclosed in a pair of matching single or double quotes can be considered a string in R. It represents textual content and can contain numbers, spaces, and special characters. An empty stri
6 min read
R-VectorsR Vectors are the same as the arrays in R language which are used to hold multiple data values of the same type. One major key point is that in R Programming Language the indexing of the vector will start from '1' and not from '0'. We can create numeric vectors and character vectors as well. R - Vec
4 min read
R-ListsA list in R programming is a generic object consisting of an ordered collection of objects. Lists are one-dimensional, heterogeneous data structures. The list can be a list of vectors, a list of matrices, a list of characters, a list of functions, and so on. A list in R is created with the use of th
6 min read
R - ArrayArrays are important data storage structures defined by a fixed number of dimensions. Arrays are used for the allocation of space at contiguous memory locations.In R Programming Language Uni-dimensional arrays are called vectors with the length being their only dimension. Two-dimensional arrays are
7 min read
R-MatricesR-matrix is a two-dimensional arrangement of data in rows and columns. In a matrix, rows are the ones that run horizontally and columns are the ones that run vertically. In R programming, matrices are two-dimensional, homogeneous data structures. These are some examples of matrices:R - MatricesCreat
10 min read
R-FactorsFactors in R Programming Language are used to represent categorical data, such as "male" or "female" for gender. While they might seem similar to character vectors, factors are actually stored as integers with corresponding labels. Factors are useful when dealing with data that has a fixed set of po
4 min read
R-Data FramesR Programming Language is an open-source programming language that is widely used as a statistical software and data analysis tool. Data Frames in R Language are generic data objects of R that are used to store tabular data. Data frames can also be interpreted as matrices where each column of a matr
6 min read
Object Oriented Programming
R-Object Oriented ProgrammingIn R, Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) uses classes and objects to manage program complexity. R is a functional language that applies OOP concepts. Class is like a car's blueprint, detailing its model, engine and other features. Based on this blueprint, we select a car, which is the object. Each ca
7 min read
Classes in R ProgrammingClasses and Objects are core concepts in Object-Oriented Programming (OOP), modeled after real-world entities. In R, everything is treated as an object. An object is a data structure with defined attributes and methods. A class is a blueprint that defines a set of properties and methods shared by al
3 min read
R-ObjectsIn R programming, objects are the fundamental data structures used to store and manipulate data. Objects in R can hold different types of data, such as numbers, characters, lists, or even more complex structures like data frames and matrices.An object in R is important an instance of a class and can
3 min read
Encapsulation in R ProgrammingEncapsulation is the practice of bundling data (attributes) and the methods that manipulate the data into a single unit (class). It also hides the internal state of an object from external interference and unauthorized access. Only specific methods are allowed to interact with the object's state, en
3 min read
Polymorphism in R ProgrammingR language implements parametric polymorphism, which means that methods in R refer to functions, not classes. Parametric polymorphism primarily lets us define a generic method or function for types of objects we haven’t yet defined and may never do. This means that one can use the same name for seve
6 min read
R - InheritanceInheritance is one of the concept in object oriented programming by which new classes can derived from existing or base classes helping in re-usability of code. Derived classes can be the same as a base class or can have extended features which creates a hierarchical structure of classes in the prog
7 min read
Abstraction in R ProgrammingAbstraction refers to the process of simplifying complex systems by concealing their internal workings and only exposing the relevant details to the user. It helps in reducing complexity and allows the programmer to work with high-level concepts without worrying about the implementation.In R, abstra
3 min read
Looping over Objects in R ProgrammingOne of the biggest issues with the “for†loop is its memory consumption and its slowness in executing a repetitive task. When it comes to dealing with a large data set and iterating over it, a for loop is not advised. In this article we will discuss How to loop over a list in R Programming Language
5 min read
S3 class in R ProgrammingAll things in the R language are considered objects. Objects have attributes and the most common attribute related to an object is class. The command class is used to define a class of an object or learn about the classes of an object. Class is a vector and this property allows two things:  Objects
8 min read
Explicit Coercion in R ProgrammingCoercing of an object from one type of class to another is known as explicit coercion. It is achieved through some functions which are similar to the base functions. But they differ from base functions as they are not generic and hence do not call S3 class methods for conversion. Difference between
3 min read
Error Handling