Bokeh
What it is: Interactive visualization for modern browsers. Python library with Bokeh Server for real-time updates.
What It Does Best
Streaming data. Bokeh Server enables live, real-time dashboard updates. Data changes, charts update automatically.
Large datasets. Handles 100k+ points efficiently. Server-side downsampling for performance.
Web-native. Outputs modern HTML5/JavaScript. No plugins, works everywhere.
Pricing
Free. Open source, BSD license.
When to Use It
✅ Real-time dashboards
✅ Streaming data visualization
✅ Large datasets (100k+ points)
✅ Web applications with Python backend
When NOT to Use It
❌ Quick exploratory analysis (Plotly simpler)
❌ Static images for papers (Matplotlib better)
❌ Don't need server features (simpler tools available)
Bottom line: Built for real-time web applications. If your data updates live and you need interactive dashboards, Bokeh is the answer.