FusionCharts Free and FusionCharts XT are vastly different products with entirely different licensing schemes. While FusionCharts Free is completely free and covers all your basic charting needs,FusionCharts XT is a paid product with much more stunning looks and advanced reporting capabilities. And moreover, FusionCharts Free currently renders charts only using Flash, whereas FusionCharts XT renders charts in both JavaScript and Flash.
Overall difference
| Free | Paid | |
| No of charts | 22 | 42 Charts and 1 grid component 42 charts and 1 grid component in FusionCharts XT and over 90 charts in the entire FusionCharts Suite XT |
| Renders charts in | Flash. Will not run on iPhones and iPads since they don't support Flash. | Flash and JavaScript (HTML5). Will run on PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads and a majority of other mobile devices |
| Script/database independent | Yes | Yes |
| Takes data in | XML | XML and JSON, whichever you prefer |
| Loads in Flash movies Support for implementation of FusionCharts in Flash movies for development of rich applications |
No | Yes |
| Animation in charts | Most of the charts All Charts except Stacked 3D Column and Candlestick Charts support animation |
All charts support animation |
| Option to export charts | No | Yes, to JPEG, PNG and PDF. Also data export to CSV. |
| Drill-down support | Partial | Full |
| LinkedCharts Unlimited drill-down using a single data source in minutes |
No | Yes |
| JavaScript APIs and Events | Basic | Advanced |
| JavaScript / AJAX Enabled AJAX-enabled charts can update themselves at client side without involving a page refresh |
Partial FusionCharts FREE charts can update themselves only from XML string loaded using external (3rd party) AJAX frameworks. Hence, partial. |
Full All charts in FusionCharts Suite XT can update data from URL without Page refresh. This does not require any external (3rd party) AJAX framework |
| Gradients and 3D lighting Gradients allow for gradient fill for the data plot, the canvas and the chart background. 3D lighting gives a realistic 3D feel to the charts |
No | Yes |
| Interactive zooming and scrolling | No | Yes, advanced charts available with zoom and scroll capabilities |
| Color Palettes | No | Yes |
| Support | No personalized support | Personalized support |
Chart types
| Free | Paid | |
| Column Chart | Both 2D & 3D | Both 2D & 3D, with 3D-lighting and gradients. Also, glass effect column chart supported |
| Pie Chart | Both 2D & 3D | Both 2D & 3D, with 3D-lighting and gradients. Also, interactive slicing and rotation are supported. |
| Bar Chart | 2D | Both 2D & 3D, with 3D-lighting and gradients. |
| Line Chart | 2D | Both 2D & 3D |
| Zoom Line Chart Advanced line chart with zooming and pinning capabilities, can plot tens of thousands of data points |
No | Yes |
| Doughnut Chart | 2D | Both 2D & 3D, with 3D lighting and gradients. Also, interactive slicing and rotation are supported. |
| Area Chart | 2D | Both 2D & 3D |
| Stacked Charts | Stacked 3D/2D Column, 2D Bar and 2D Area Charts | Both 2D & 3D Stacked Column, Bar and Area Charts. With 3D lighting and gradients |
| Single Y Axis Combination Charts | No | Both 2D & 3D Column, Line, Area. Support for 3D-lighting effect, gradient fills and scrolling. Also a true 3D Combination chart with lots of interactive features. |
| Dual Y Axis Combination Charts | 2D/3D Column (primary Y Axis) & Line (secondary Y Axis) | Both 2D & 3D Column, Line, Area. Support for 3D lighting effect and gradient fills. Scrollable charts available. |
| Scrollable charts 2D Column, line and area charts with scrollable x-axis |
No | Yes 2D Column, line, area charts - 2D stacked column chart - 2D single/dual Y Axis combination charts |
| Pareto Chart Used to show everything 80-20 |
No | Yes |
| Marimekko Chart Used for advanced marketing analysis |
No | Yes |
| Interactive gauges (Dial chart, Linear Gauge, Bulb, LED, Cylinder) Gauges are used to interactively plot KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) |
No | Yes Angular (dial), Linear (scale), Vertical/Horizontal LED, Bulb, Cylinder, Thermometer In FusionWidgets XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Real-time/data streaming charts and gauges Charts that automatically update themselves with new data from server every n seconds |
No | Yes Line, area, column, stacked column, area, dual Y Axis line charts and angular, linear, bulb, thermometer, LED, cylinder gauges |
| Gantt Chart | Yes | Interactive Gantt chart with support for grouping of tasks, milestone markers and task connectors |
| Funnel & Pyramid Chart | Funnel Chart | Both Funnel & Pyramid |
| Bullet graphs
|
No | Yes In FusionWidgets XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Sparklines, spark columns, spark win/loss charts Word-sized graphics that are used inline with the text on a page to convey a lot of information in a small space. |
No | Yes In FusionWidgets XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Heat Map Chart | No | Yes Used for advanced marketing analysis |
| Candlestick Chart Powerful and interactive interface to plot your stock data |
Yes | Yes Interactive Candlestick chart in PowerCharts XT (a part of FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Drag Node Chart A chart where each data set is shown as a drag-able node. Perfect for network diagrams and hierarchy structures. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Multi-axis Line Chart Interactive line chart with multiple axes on the same chart. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Select Scatter Chart An extension of Scatter Chart with the added functionality of selecting any number of points on the chart and returning them back to server (or JavaScript functions). |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Drag-able Charts A set of charts that allow you to visually manipulate the data on the chart and then submit it back to the server. Used in simulation and financial planning. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Waterfall Chart A special type of column chart that shows how an initial value is increased and decreased by a series of intermediate values, leading to a final value. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Multi-level Pie Chart A specialized chart that allows you to show symmetrical and asymmetrical tree structures in a consolidated pie like structure. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Logarithmic Charts Charts with logarithmic axis that support any positive base. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Spline Charts Just like a line chart. Except that the data points are connected by a single continuous curve. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Inverse y-Axis Charts Charts with inverted axis to show rankings. Used to plot ranking, hits trend etc. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Radar Charts Charts with multiple axes along which data can be plotted. Useful to look at several different factors related to one item in a single glance. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Box & Whisker Chart Quickly displays the spread and skewness in a batch of data through its five-number summary |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Error Chart conventional column, line and scatter charts with the ability to show error (or deviation) in data. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Kagi Chart Charts used to illustrate general levels of supply and demand for certain assets. |
No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
Detail features
| Free | Paid | |
| Interactive legend Can click on data set in the legend to show or hide data series |
No | Yes |
| Multi-lingual (UTF-8) characters | Yes. Horizontally. | Yes. Both horizontally and vertically. |
| Custom Animation for each chart element Custom animation allows animation effects like fade-in, scaling and translation with different types of tweening effects. |
No | Yes |
| Customizable effects | No | Yes Shadow, blur, bevel and glow effects can be applied to any chart element |
| X-axis label modes | Rotate | Rotate, stagger, slant and wrap. Or you can choose auto and the chart will select the best mode for itself. |
| Visual selection of data | No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Visual editing of data | No | Yes Editable gauges in FusionWidgets XT and editable charts in PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Log & Inverse axis | No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Multiple Axis | No | Yes In PowerCharts XT (a part of the FusionCharts Suite XT) |
| Personalizing the chart | No | Yes with a company logo and link to website from the right-click menu |
| Custom display texts for data items Custom labels appended to data point for detailed info about the data points. |
No | Yes |
| Multi-line tooltips | No | Yes |
| In-built visual debugger for easy debugging The debugger points out if there were any problems in loading data or with the data itself. |
No | Yes |
| Print Manager | No | Yes |
| Real-time charts | No | Yes |
