Gephi
Gephi is an open-source, non-profit software project for visual network analysis, serving academic researchers, journalists, students, and analysts. Its Gephi Desktop and web-based Gephi Lite enable interactive graph visualization free of charge under GPL license.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Gephi does
Gephi is an open-source, non-profit software project specializing in interactive network visualization and analysis. Founded in 2008, the platform serves academic researchers, data journalists, students, and professional data analysts who need to explore and understand complex relational data—handling networks from ten to ten million nodes—across disciplines such as sociology, biology, and digital humanities. Its user base is dominated by global academic institutions, with the original 2009 Gephi paper cited by more than 10,000 peer-reviewed publications.
The platform consists of two core products: Gephi Desktop, a Java-based desktop application powered by a custom OpenGL rendering engine, and Gephi Lite, a browser-based application launched in 2025 and built on the sigma.js and Graphology JavaScript libraries. The technology stack includes the proprietary Force Atlas 2 force-directed layout algorithm, built-in community detection (Modularity), and a network metrics suite (Betweenness Centrality, Closeness, Diameter, Clustering Coefficient, PageRank, shortest paths). Gephi Desktop is extensible via 97 community-built plugins covering layout, export, import, metrics, clustering, and more. Gephi Lite ships with a TypeScript driver (@gephi/gephi-lite-broadcast) for programmatic integration and supports GEXF, GraphML, and CSV file formats, with integrations including Neo4j, Oracle, Twitter/Bluesy importers, GitHub Gist cloud storage, and an official Docker image. Both products are free under the GPL license.
Gephi operates under a non-profit, community-led model with no traditional management team, no institutional owners, and no commercial revenue stream. The only revenue identified is voluntary donations via Open Collective, and the software is fully free with no paid tiers or subscriptions. Distribution is entirely self-serve through GitHub releases (Windows, macOS, Linux) for the desktop app and a browser URL for Gephi Lite. Growth is driven by academic citations, GitHub community contributions, the annual Gephi Week community events, and word-of-mouth in research networks.
Gephi firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Gephi
- Legal name
- Gephi
- Website
- https://gephi.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Gephi is an open-source, non-profit software project for visual network analysis, serving academic researchers, journalists, students, and analysts. Its Gephi Desktop and web-based Gephi Lite enable interactive graph visualization free of charge under GPL license.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Gephi is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Gephi business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Donations: Gephi is a non-profit organization. Revenue is generated entirely through voluntary donations via Open Collective. The software is free for all users (free as in 'free beer' and free as in 'free speech').
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Open-Source (No Cost) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Gephi product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Gephi provides free, open-source desktop and web applications for interactive visualization and statistical analysis of complex networks ranging from 10 to 10 million nodes. The platform pairs a custom OpenGL rendering engine with built-in algorithms (Force Atlas 2, OpenOrd, Früchterman-Reingold) for layout, alongside community detection, centrality metrics, and dynamic filtering—distributed under the GPL license via self-serve channels with no licensing cost.
Product overview
Gephi is an open-source network analysis and visualization platform consisting of two main products: Gephi Desktop (Java-based desktop application since 2008) and Gephi Lite (web-based version launched in 2025). Both products enable visual exploration and analysis of complex networks through interactive interfaces, layout algorithms, and statistical metrics. The platform is extensible through community-built plugins for Gephi Desktop, while Gephi Lite offers a TypeScript driver for web application integration. Gephi has been cited in over 10,000 academic publications and is trusted by researchers globally.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Gephi Desktop Open-source Java desktop application for visual network analysis and exploration. Handles networks from 10 to 10 million nodes with real-time OpenGL-powered visualization, built-in layout algorithms, statistical metrics, and a 97-plugin extensible ecosystem. Targets researchers, journalists, students, and data analysts.
- Gephi Lite Open-source web application for network visualization requiring no installation. Built on sigma.js and Graphology libraries. Supports touch interactions, responsive design for mobile/tablet, serverless client-side operation, and optional GitHub Gist integration for cloud storage.
- Gephisto One-click simplified version of Gephi, designed as an alternative for users who find the full Gephi too complicated. Provides a lighter entry point into network visualization.
Quantifiable outcome
- Handles networks from 10 to 10 million nodes
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Gephi
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Gephi technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration17 records
AI capability3 records
Feature8 records
Gephi partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Gephi competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- UCINET: Long-standing social network analysis software package widely used in sociology and management research. Comparable to Gephi on academic SNA audience and metric coverage, though more focused on matrix-based analysis than visual exploration.
- Cytoscape: Open-source desktop platform for visualizing complex networks, originally for biological research but widely used across disciplines. Closest open-source peer to Gephi in terms of audience (researchers), distribution model (free desktop download), and graph-visualization scope.
- Visone: Academic network-analysis and visualization software from ETH Zurich, used primarily in social-network-analysis research. Directly comparable to Gephi on academic SNA audience and algorithms (centrality, layouts), though with a smaller community footprint.
- Palladio: Web-based network-visualization tool developed at Stanford's Humanities + Design lab for humanists and historians. Comparable to Gephi Lite on delivery model (browser-based, no install) and academic DH audience, including publication at the same Digital Humanities venue.
- NodeXL: Network analysis and visualization tool that runs inside Microsoft Excel, popular with social-media researchers and journalists. Directly comparable to Gephi on target users (researchers/journalists) and graph-analysis workflow, differentiated by Excel-native delivery.
- Graphviz: Mature open-source graph-visualization project from AT&T Labs producing static layouts via the DOT language. Comparable as the canonical open-source graph-viz ancestor; Gephi integrates Graphviz as a plugin, positioning it as a more interactive successor for exploratory analysis.
Emerging players
- NetworkX: Python library for the creation, manipulation, and study of complex networks, ubiquitous in data-science and academic research workflows. Competes indirectly with Gephi by offering programmatic network analysis that many researchers use instead of a visual desktop tool.
Broad incumbents
- Neo4j Bloom: Commercial graph-visualization product from Neo4j, the leading graph database vendor. Competes with Gephi in the same graph-viz category but offers paid enterprise features, support, and tight integration with the Neo4j database — covering an overlapping customer base at the commercial end.
- Cambridge Intelligence (KeyLines / ReGraph): Commercial graph-visualization toolkit (KeyLines for web, ReGraph for React) used by enterprises and government agencies for fraud, security, and intelligence analytics. Adjacent competitor to Gephi at the commercial/enterprise tier where Gephi does not currently play.
- Linkurious: Commercial graph-visualization and analytics platform used by enterprises for fraud detection, AML, and cybersecurity investigations. Overlaps with Gephi's graph-viz capability but operates in a commercial segment Gephi does not address.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Gephi social profiles
Digital presenceGephi financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Gephi leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Gephi funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Gephi M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Gephi
What does Gephi do?
Gephi provides free, open-source desktop and web applications for interactive visualization and statistical analysis of complex networks ranging from 10 to 10 million nodes. The platform pairs a custom OpenGL rendering engine with built-in algorithms (Force Atlas 2, OpenOrd, Früchterman-Reingold) for layout, alongside community detection, centrality metrics, and dynamic filtering—distributed under the GPL license via self-serve channels with no licensing cost.
Is Gephi a public or private company?
Gephi is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Gephi founded?
Gephi was founded in 2008. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Gephi based?
Gephi is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Gephi make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations.
Who are Gephi's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are UCINET, Cytoscape, Visone, Palladio, NodeXL and Graphviz. NetworkX is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Neo4j Bloom, Cambridge Intelligence (KeyLines / ReGraph) and Linkurious.
Does Gephi have an API?
Yes. Gephi Lite offers a TypeScript/JavaScript driver (@gephi/gephi-lite-broadcast) that allows web applications to control Gephi Lite instances via the Broadcast Channel API. Developers can read or set graph data (Graphology graphs), appearance state, and filter state. Available via npm package. Developer documentation is at www.npmjs.com/package/@gephi/gephi-lite-broadcast.