WebPlotDigitizer has been the default answer to "how do I get data out of a published graph" for over a decade. It is powerful, free, and widely cited in academic papers. So why look for an alternative at all?
Because for the most common job — recovering a few line or scatter series from a figure — most people don't need a Swiss Army knife. They need the fastest path from image to table.
Where WebPlotDigitizer shines
Credit where due. WebPlotDigitizer handles unusual chart types (ternary plots, polar plots, maps with custom scales), offers fine-grained mask-and-filter controls, and its results have appeared in thousands of publications. If your figure is exotic, it remains a strong choice.
Where Plot2CSV is faster
Automatic multi-series detection. Upload a figure with three overlapping curves and Plot2CSV counts them, labels them Y1, Y2, Y3, and extracts all of them in one pass — no manual color picking, no per-series masking. WebPlotDigitizer typically requires you to configure and run each dataset separately.
One aligned table. Plot2CSV exports every detected series as aligned X, Y1, Y2, … columns, ready for regression or plotting. You don't stitch per-series CSVs together afterwards.
Auto-crop and guided calibration. The plot region is detected when you upload; calibration is three taps (origin, max X, max Y) with linear and log scales. The workflow is designed so a first-time visitor finishes without reading anything.
Edit before you export. Drag, add, or delete points on the canvas, clean stray points automatically, or type exact values into the live table. Undo/redo included. Fixing a misdetected point takes seconds, not a re-run.
Nothing to install, nothing uploaded. Plot2CSV runs entirely in your browser — images are processed client-side. No account, no desktop app, no Java.
Quick comparison
| Plot2CSV | WebPlotDigitizer | |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-series detection | Automatic, one pass | Per-dataset setup |
| Export | Aligned CSV, Excel, JSON | CSV per dataset |
| Point editing | Drag / add / delete / table editing | Limited |
| Log scales | Yes | Yes |
| Exotic chart types (polar, ternary, maps) | No | Yes |
| Runs in browser, no signup | Yes | Yes |
| Price | Free | Free |
The bottom line
If you digitize polar plots or need pixel-level masking control, keep WebPlotDigitizer bookmarked. If you mostly extract line charts and scatter plots — the case for the vast majority of researchers, students, and analysts — try Plot2CSV. Upload a figure, and you'll have an editable, aligned dataset in under a minute.
Want the exact numbers it produces? See our worked examples, or read how the five-step workflow works.