Gnuplot FAQ

Short, factual answers to the questions people ask most about gnuplot — what it costs, what licence it uses, where to get version 6.0.5, and how it compares. For hands-on help, start with our tutorials or try the online terminal.

Is gnuplot free?

Yes. Gnuplot is free to use, and its source code is available under the gnuplot copyright license. You can download it, run it and share your scripts without paying for the software itself.

Is gnuplot part of the GNU Project or released under the GPL?

No to both. Despite the name, gnuplot is not part of the GNU Project and it is not released under the GPL. It uses its own gnuplot copyright license, which allows free use and distribution, with modifications distributed as patches.

What is the latest version of gnuplot?

The latest stable release is gnuplot 6.0.5, released in July 2026. That is the version our download page and guides are based on.

Where can I download gnuplot?

From our download page, which links to the official SourceForge files for gnuplot 6.0.5. Windows users can go straight to the Windows build from the download page.

Can I run gnuplot without installing it?

Yes, in two ways. You can try gnuplot right now in your browser on our online page, or use the portable build that runs from a folder or USB drive without a system-wide install — our portable guide explains both routes.

Does gnuplot run on Windows 11?

Yes. The current Windows build of gnuplot 6.0.5 runs on Windows 11, including a dedicated build for Windows on ARM machines.

How do I get gnuplot on a Mac?

There is no official Mac binary package from the gnuplot project. The standard route on macOS is to install gnuplot with Homebrew, as covered in our Mac installation guide; building from the source package is the alternative.

How do I plot data from a CSV file?

Set the data separator to a comma, then plot the file by column numbers. Our step-by-step CSV tutorial covers separators, headers and common mistakes, with a complete working example.

Can gnuplot export figures for LaTeX documents?

Yes. Gnuplot has dedicated LaTeX-oriented terminals, including epslatex and the Lua tikz terminal, so text in your figures is typeset by LaTeX itself and matches your document. Our export guides walk through the full workflow.

Gnuplot or matplotlib — which should I learn?

In one line: learn gnuplot for fast, reproducible figures from data files with a tiny standalone tool, and learn matplotlib if your work already lives in Python. Our detailed comparison walks through the same plot both ways.

Where can I get help with gnuplot?

The official documentation and demo collection at gnuplot.info are the canonical reference, and the gnuplot mailing lists are where the community and developers answer questions. Our tutorials and troubleshooting guides cover the most common beginner problems.

Is this website the official gnuplot site?

No. Gnuplot.xyz is an independent community resource, not the official project site — the official home of gnuplot is gnuplot.info. See our Disclaimer page for the relationship, and our Affiliate Disclosure page for how this site is funded.

Useful pages: Download gnuplot · Windows 6.0.5 build · Gnuplot online · Portable gnuplot · Install on Mac · Plot CSV data · epslatex export · LaTeX workflow · Gnuplot vs matplotlib · Disclaimer · Affiliate Disclosure