I did look at lists.js and actually started my project with it. It seemed the best at the time. However, I soon realized the filtering capabilities were limited (eg running multiple filters at the same time). I can't remember some other challenges I had at the time.

Also, datatables has a large user base which means you can find many examples of it on stackoverflow or other such sites. Lists.js on the other hand has limited examples on their site and even fewer in the wild.

I'm not an everyday programmer and needed all the help I could get. Also, considering I'm not a developer, I found datatables quite easy to use.