Honest comparison of every viable SwiftUI charting option — Apple\'s native Swift Charts, DGCharts, Lightweight Charts, and when to use each.
Last updated: 2026-08-19 8 min read By Ahmed Gagan, iOS Engineer
Quick Answer
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.
Default pick
Apple Swift Charts (iOS 16+)
For finance / OHLC
Lightweight Charts
For iOS 15 fallback
DGCharts
Avoid
Old SwiftUICharts (deprecated)
7 Swift Charts Examples, Rendered Live
Every chart below is drawn from the same data the Swift Charts code beneath it plots. Swift Charts is Apple's own framework — iOS 16+, no dependency — and it covers almost everything an indie app needs.
Line Chart
iOS 16.0
The default for anything over time. Curved interpolation and point marks.
import Charts
struct DailyRevenue: Identifiable {
let id = UUID()
let day: String
let amount: Double
}
struct LineChartView: View {
let data: [DailyRevenue]
var body: some View {
Chart(data) { point in
LineMark(
x: .value("Day", point.day),
y: .value("Revenue", point.amount)
)
.interpolationMethod(.catmullRom) // smooth, not jagged
.lineStyle(StrokeStyle(lineWidth: 2.5, lineCap: .round))
PointMark(
x: .value("Day", point.day),
y: .value("Revenue", point.amount)
)
.symbolSize(60)
}
.foregroundStyle(Color.accentColor)
.chartYAxis { AxisMarks(position: .leading) }
.frame(height: 200)
}
}
Area Chart
iOS 16.0
Line chart with a gradient fill — reads as volume rather than rate.
Building for iOS 16+? Use Apple's native Swift Charts — it covers ~95% of apps with zero dependencies.
Need to support iOS 15 or older? Use DGCharts, the mature, battle-tested fallback.
Building a finance or trading app (candlestick, OHLC, crosshairs)? Use Lightweight Charts from TradingView.
Maintaining a legacy app on the old "Charts" library? Migrate to DGCharts — it is the same project, renamed.
Ship your SwiftUI app in 5 emails
A free 5-part course on the parts that actually stall launches: paywall, auth, onboarding, App Store review, and pricing. No fluff, unsubscribe anytime.
Chart-ready boilerplate.
The Swift Kit ships Swift Charts examples themed via the design system — revenue, growth, habit progress, AI usage.
Ranked by what most apps should actually use. The native option wins for ~95% of use cases.
1
Swift Charts (Apple)
Use This First
Native 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 (legacy danielgindi/Charts)
The original danielgindi/Charts library — now continued and renamed as DGCharts (#3 above). If you see "Charts" in old tutorials, use DGCharts instead; they are the same lineage.
Cons
Old name — use DGCharts
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?
Apple's native Swift Charts (iOS 16+) is the right default for almost every iOS app in 2026. It handles line, bar, area, scatter, and pie charts with native accessibility, animations, and theming. Use a third-party library only if you need iOS 15 support, advanced financial chart types (candlestick, OHLC), or hyper-custom rendering.
Is Apple's Swift Charts free?
Yes. Swift Charts is part of the iOS SDK — no package install, no license fee. Import Charts and use the Chart view.
Does Swift Charts support real-time updating data?
Yes. Charts re-render when bound to @State / @Observable data. Animations interpolate automatically. For high-frequency updates (>30Hz), debounce updates to avoid jank.
What about candlestick / OHLC charts for finance apps?
Swift Charts doesn't ship candlestick natively (as of iOS 18). Use BarMark with the [low, high] range and overlay another BarMark for [open, close]. For production financial charts with crosshairs and gestures, consider Lightweight Charts (open-source from TradingView).
Can Swift Charts render large datasets (10k+ points)?
Yes, with downsampling. Aggregate to ~500 visible points; Swift Charts handles that comfortably. For 100k+ raw points without aggregation, expect frame drops — preprocess server-side or in a background task.
How does The Swift Kit use charts?
The Swift Kit ships Swift Charts examples for: subscription revenue, user growth, habit-tracker progress, and AI-token usage. Each chart is themed via the design system, so colors and surface styles flow from your DesignSystem.swift.
Should I use Swift Charts or a third-party library?
Use Apple's native Swift Charts unless you have a specific reason not to. It is free, accessible, theme-aware, and matches SwiftUI patterns. Reach for a third-party library only for iOS 15 support (DGCharts), financial chart types like candlestick (Lightweight Charts), or rendering Apple does not offer.
What is the difference between DGCharts and the old Charts library?
They are the same project. The popular danielgindi/Charts library was renamed to DGCharts — "Charts" is the old name you will still see in older tutorials. For any new work, add DGCharts; it is the maintained continuation of the same library.
Does Swift Charts work on iOS 15?
No. Apple's Swift Charts requires iOS 16 or later. If you must support iOS 15 or earlier, use DGCharts (iOS 9+) or another third-party library until you can raise your deployment target.