OriginPro is powerful but expensive and Windows-only. Plotivy runs in any browser, works on Mac, Linux, and Windows, and gives you Python code for every figure - completely free.
| Feature | Plotivy | OriginPro |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free - no tiers, no subscription | ~$460/yr per seat (academic) |
| Operating System | Any browser - Mac, Linux, Windows | Windows only |
| Python Source Code | Full code with every figure | Proprietary .opju format |
| Reproducibility | Script runs without any license | Locked to OriginPro license |
| Natural Language Input | Describe your figure in plain text | Manual GUI only |
| AI-Assisted Editing | Iterative via natural language | No |
| Data Privacy | Zero data retention | Local software (files stay local) |
OriginPro ties you to Windows. If you work across a Mac laptop, a Linux compute cluster, and a Windows workstation, you cannot run the same tool everywhere. Plotivy runs in any modern browser. The analysis code it produces runs anywhere Python is installed.
Journals now request the code that produced each figure. A .opju project file is not code - it is a binary blob that requires the software to open. Every Plotivy figure comes with a Python script that any reviewer can run in under a minute.
Managing lab-wide OriginPro licenses, renewals, and seat counts is administrative overhead that diverts time from research. Plotivy has no license to manage. It is free, and I am personally covering the costs to keep it that way.
Instead of hunting through menus to find the right plot option, describe your figure in plain language. "Violin plot of group A vs B with individual data points overlaid, Nature-journal style" generates a complete, editable Python script in seconds.
Plotivy is free for everyone. There are no paid tiers, no paywalls, and no trial periods. I am personally funding all infrastructure and AI inference costs to keep it available to the research community. If it saves you time or money, consider supporting the project.
Learn how to support PlotivyYes. There is no paid plan or Pro tier. Plotivy is completely free. The developer is self-funding the infrastructure costs. You can support the project on the support page if you find it useful.
Plotivy covers the most common scientific chart types: scatter, line, bar, violin, box, histogram, heatmap, contour, and more. For very specialized signal-processing or 3D surface plots that OriginPro niche handles, you can still use Plotivy to generate the boilerplate code and customize it from there.
Because the output is Python code, you can export to any format matplotlib or Plotly supports: PNG, SVG, PDF, EPS, and more. Resolution is not capped - set any DPI in the script.
Plotivy does not store your uploaded data after the session ends. The backend processes each request and discards the data immediately.
No account required. No credit card. Upload your data and generate your first figure in under a minute.
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