diff --git a/src/plugins/input_control_vis/public/input_control_vis_type.ts b/src/plugins/input_control_vis/public/input_control_vis_type.ts
index 9f415f2100004..782df67f5c58a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/input_control_vis/public/input_control_vis_type.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/input_control_vis/public/input_control_vis_type.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,15 @@
 
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
 
+import { BaseVisTypeOptions } from 'src/plugins/visualizations/public';
 import { createInputControlVisController } from './vis_controller';
 import { getControlsTab } from './components/editor/controls_tab';
 import { OptionsTab } from './components/editor/options_tab';
 import { InputControlVisDependencies } from './plugin';
 
-export function createInputControlVisTypeDefinition(deps: InputControlVisDependencies) {
+export function createInputControlVisTypeDefinition(
+  deps: InputControlVisDependencies
+): BaseVisTypeOptions {
   const InputControlVisController = createInputControlVisController(deps);
   const ControlsTab = getControlsTab(deps);
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/input_control_vis/public/vis_controller.tsx b/src/plugins/input_control_vis/public/vis_controller.tsx
index faea98b792291..6f35e17866120 100644
--- a/src/plugins/input_control_vis/public/vis_controller.tsx
+++ b/src/plugins/input_control_vis/public/vis_controller.tsx
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ import { RangeControl } from './control/range_control_factory';
 import { ListControl } from './control/list_control_factory';
 import { InputControlVisDependencies } from './plugin';
 import { FilterManager, Filter } from '../../data/public';
-import { VisParams, Vis } from '../../visualizations/public';
+import { VisParams, ExprVis } from '../../visualizations/public';
 
 export const createInputControlVisController = (deps: InputControlVisDependencies) => {
   return class InputControlVisController {
     private I18nContext?: I18nStart['Context'];
-    private isLoaded = false;
+    private _isLoaded = false;
 
     controls: Array<RangeControl | ListControl>;
     queryBarUpdateHandler: () => void;
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ export const createInputControlVisController = (deps: InputControlVisDependencie
     timeFilterSubscription: Subscription;
     visParams?: VisParams;
 
-    constructor(public el: Element, public vis: Vis) {
+    constructor(public el: Element, public vis: ExprVis) {
       this.controls = [];
 
       this.queryBarUpdateHandler = this.updateControlsFromKbn.bind(this);
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ export const createInputControlVisController = (deps: InputControlVisDependencie
         .getTimeUpdate$()
         .subscribe(() => {
           if (this.visParams?.useTimeFilter) {
-            this.isLoaded = false;
+            this._isLoaded = false;
           }
         });
     }
@@ -68,11 +68,11 @@ export const createInputControlVisController = (deps: InputControlVisDependencie
         const [{ i18n }] = await deps.core.getStartServices();
         this.I18nContext = i18n.Context;
       }
-      if (!this.isLoaded || !isEqual(visParams, this.visParams)) {
+      if (!this._isLoaded || !isEqual(visParams, this.visParams)) {
         this.visParams = visParams;
         this.controls = [];
         this.controls = await this.initControls();
-        this.isLoaded = true;
+        this._isLoaded = true;
       }
       this.drawVis();
     }
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_metric/public/metric_vis_type.ts b/src/plugins/vis_type_metric/public/metric_vis_type.ts
index 6b4d6e151693f..1c5afd396c2c3 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_metric/public/metric_vis_type.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_metric/public/metric_vis_type.ts
@@ -18,13 +18,14 @@
  */
 
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
+import { BaseVisTypeOptions } from 'src/plugins/visualizations/public';
 import { MetricVisOptions } from './components/metric_vis_options';
 import { ColorSchemas, colorSchemas, ColorModes } from '../../charts/public';
 import { AggGroupNames } from '../../data/public';
 import { Schemas } from '../../vis_default_editor/public';
 import { toExpressionAst } from './to_ast';
 
-export const createMetricVisTypeDefinition = () => ({
+export const createMetricVisTypeDefinition = (): BaseVisTypeOptions => ({
   name: 'metric',
   title: i18n.translate('visTypeMetric.metricTitle', { defaultMessage: 'Metric' }),
   icon: 'visMetric',
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/table_vis_controller.test.ts b/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/table_vis_controller.test.ts
index 0e548d5bcb8dd..2b4017ae0ee81 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/table_vis_controller.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/table_vis_controller.test.ts
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ describe('Table Vis - Controller', () => {
   function getRangeVis(params?: object) {
     return ({
       type: tableVisTypeDefinition,
-      params: Object.assign({}, tableVisTypeDefinition.visConfig.defaults, params),
+      params: Object.assign({}, tableVisTypeDefinition.visConfig?.defaults, params),
       data: {
         aggs: createAggConfigs(stubIndexPattern, [
           { type: 'count', schema: 'metric' },
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/table_vis_type.ts b/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/table_vis_type.ts
index 80d53021b7866..c1419a4847458 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/table_vis_type.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/table_vis_type.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import { CoreSetup, PluginInitializerContext } from 'kibana/public';
 import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
 import { AggGroupNames } from '../../data/public';
 import { Schemas } from '../../vis_default_editor/public';
-import { Vis } from '../../visualizations/public';
+import { BaseVisTypeOptions, Vis } from '../../visualizations/public';
 import { tableVisResponseHandler } from './table_vis_response_handler';
 // @ts-ignore
 import tableVisTemplate from './table_vis.html';
@@ -28,9 +28,11 @@ import { TableOptions } from './components/table_vis_options_lazy';
 import { getTableVisualizationControllerClass } from './vis_controller';
 import { VIS_EVENT_TO_TRIGGER } from '../../../plugins/visualizations/public';
 
-export function getTableVisTypeDefinition(core: CoreSetup, context: PluginInitializerContext) {
+export function getTableVisTypeDefinition(
+  core: CoreSetup,
+  context: PluginInitializerContext
+): BaseVisTypeOptions {
   return {
-    type: 'table',
     name: 'table',
     title: i18n.translate('visTypeTable.tableVisTitle', {
       defaultMessage: 'Data Table',
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/vis_controller.ts b/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/vis_controller.ts
index d87812b9f5d69..5e82796e66339 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/vis_controller.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_table/public/vis_controller.ts
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ export function getTableVisualizationControllerClass(
       }
     }
 
-    async render(esResponse: object, visParams: VisParams) {
+    async render(esResponse: object, visParams: VisParams): Promise<void> {
       getKibanaLegacy().loadFontAwesome();
       await this.initLocalAngular();
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/vis_type_vislib/public/vis_controller.tsx b/src/plugins/vis_type_vislib/public/vis_controller.tsx
index 86ef98de045d7..c422e9f4f3a0a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vis_type_vislib/public/vis_controller.tsx
+++ b/src/plugins/vis_type_vislib/public/vis_controller.tsx
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export const createVislibVisController = (deps: VisTypeVislibDependencies) => {
       this.container.appendChild(this.legendEl);
     }
 
-    render(esResponse: any, visParams: VisParams) {
+    render(esResponse: any, visParams: VisParams): Promise<void> {
       if (this.vislibVis) {
         this.destroy();
       }
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/index.ts b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/index.ts
index 17c292a1b183b..3e3926bc5c8d8 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/index.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/index.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export { getSchemas as getVisSchemas } from './legacy/build_pipeline';
 
 /** @public types */
 export { VisualizationsSetup, VisualizationsStart };
-export { VisTypeAlias, VisType } from './vis_types';
+export { VisTypeAlias, VisType, BaseVisTypeOptions, ReactVisTypeOptions } from './vis_types';
 export { VisParams, SerializedVis, SerializedVisData, VisData } from './vis';
 export type VisualizeEmbeddableFactoryContract = PublicContract<VisualizeEmbeddableFactory>;
 export type VisualizeEmbeddableContract = PublicContract<VisualizeEmbeddable>;
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/types.ts b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/types.ts
index f47ffbbe921a2..897a8c1e32319 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/types.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/types.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  * under the License.
  */
 
+import { ExpressionAstExpression } from 'src/plugins/expressions';
 import { SavedObject } from '../../../plugins/saved_objects/public';
 import {
   AggConfigOptions,
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ import {
   TimefilterContract,
 } from '../../../plugins/data/public';
 import { SerializedVis, Vis, VisParams } from './vis';
+import { ExprVis } from './expressions/vis';
 
 export { Vis, SerializedVis, VisParams };
 
@@ -35,7 +37,7 @@ export interface VisualizationController {
 
 export type VisualizationControllerConstructor = new (
   el: HTMLElement,
-  vis: Vis
+  vis: ExprVis
 ) => VisualizationController;
 
 export interface SavedVisState {
@@ -71,4 +73,7 @@ export interface VisToExpressionAstParams {
   abortSignal?: AbortSignal;
 }
 
-export type VisToExpressionAst = (vis: Vis, params: VisToExpressionAstParams) => string;
+export type VisToExpressionAst = (
+  vis: Vis,
+  params: VisToExpressionAstParams
+) => ExpressionAstExpression;
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/base_vis_type.ts b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/base_vis_type.ts
index fa0bbfc5e250a..283286648ff16 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/base_vis_type.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/base_vis_type.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import { VisToExpressionAst, VisualizationControllerConstructor } from '../types
 import { TriggerContextMapping } from '../../../ui_actions/public';
 import { Adapters } from '../../../inspector/public';
 
-export interface BaseVisTypeOptions {
+interface CommonBaseVisTypeOptions {
   name: string;
   title: string;
   description?: string;
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@ export interface BaseVisTypeOptions {
   image?: string;
   stage?: 'experimental' | 'beta' | 'production';
   options?: Record<string, any>;
-  visualization: VisualizationControllerConstructor | undefined;
   visConfig?: Record<string, any>;
   editor?: any;
   editorConfig?: Record<string, any>;
@@ -42,9 +41,20 @@ export interface BaseVisTypeOptions {
   setup?: unknown;
   useCustomNoDataScreen?: boolean;
   inspectorAdapters?: Adapters | (() => Adapters);
-  toExpressionAst?: VisToExpressionAst;
 }
 
+interface ExpressionBaseVisTypeOptions extends CommonBaseVisTypeOptions {
+  toExpressionAst: VisToExpressionAst;
+  visualization?: undefined;
+}
+
+interface VisualizationBaseVisTypeOptions extends CommonBaseVisTypeOptions {
+  toExpressionAst?: undefined;
+  visualization: VisualizationControllerConstructor | undefined;
+}
+
+export type BaseVisTypeOptions = ExpressionBaseVisTypeOptions | VisualizationBaseVisTypeOptions;
+
 export class BaseVisType {
   name: string;
   title: string;
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/index.ts b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/index.ts
index 625c8be414c74..8f38e33569162 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/index.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/index.ts
@@ -18,3 +18,5 @@
  */
 
 export * from './types_service';
+export type { BaseVisTypeOptions } from './base_vis_type';
+export type { ReactVisTypeOptions } from './react_vis_type';
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/react_vis_controller.tsx b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/react_vis_controller.tsx
index 643e6ffcb730b..ceb6435dce27e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/react_vis_controller.tsx
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/react_vis_controller.tsx
@@ -19,17 +19,12 @@
 
 import React from 'react';
 import { render, unmountComponentAtNode } from 'react-dom';
-import { Vis, VisualizationController } from '../types';
+import { VisualizationController } from '../types';
 import { getI18n, getUISettings } from '../services';
+import { ExprVis } from '../expressions/vis';
 
 export class ReactVisController implements VisualizationController {
-  private el: HTMLElement;
-  private vis: Vis;
-
-  constructor(element: HTMLElement, vis: Vis) {
-    this.el = element;
-    this.vis = vis;
-  }
+  constructor(private element: HTMLElement, private vis: ExprVis) {}
 
   public render(visData: any, visParams: any): Promise<void> {
     const I18nContext = getI18n().Context;
@@ -51,12 +46,12 @@ export class ReactVisController implements VisualizationController {
             renderComplete={resolve}
           />
         </I18nContext>,
-        this.el
+        this.element
       );
     });
   }
 
   public destroy() {
-    unmountComponentAtNode(this.el);
+    unmountComponentAtNode(this.element);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/react_vis_type.ts b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/react_vis_type.ts
index 68979abe52a3c..047d36d804111 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/react_vis_type.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/react_vis_type.ts
@@ -20,8 +20,14 @@
 import { BaseVisType, BaseVisTypeOptions } from './base_vis_type';
 import { ReactVisController } from './react_vis_controller';
 
+export type ReactVisTypeOptions = Omit<BaseVisTypeOptions, 'visualization' | 'toExpressionAst'>;
+
+/**
+ * This class should only be used for visualizations not using the `toExpressionAst` with a custom renderer.
+ * If you implement a custom renderer you should just mount a react component inside this.
+ */
 export class ReactVisType extends BaseVisType {
-  constructor(opts: Omit<BaseVisTypeOptions, 'visualization'>) {
+  constructor(opts: ReactVisTypeOptions) {
     super({
       ...opts,
       visualization: ReactVisController,
diff --git a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/types_service.ts b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/types_service.ts
index 14c2a9c50ab0e..157dbd41ce8a2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/types_service.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/visualizations/public/vis_types/types_service.ts
@@ -19,10 +19,8 @@
 
 import { IconType } from '@elastic/eui';
 import { visTypeAliasRegistry, VisTypeAlias } from './vis_type_alias_registry';
-// @ts-ignore
-import { BaseVisType } from './base_vis_type';
-// @ts-ignore
-import { ReactVisType } from './react_vis_type';
+import { BaseVisType, BaseVisTypeOptions } from './base_vis_type';
+import { ReactVisType, ReactVisTypeOptions } from './react_vis_type';
 import { TriggerContextMapping } from '../../../ui_actions/public';
 
 export interface VisType {
@@ -71,17 +69,17 @@ export class TypesService {
     return {
       /**
        * registers a visualization type
-       * @param {VisType} config - visualization type definition
+       * @param config - visualization type definition
        */
-      createBaseVisualization: (config: any) => {
+      createBaseVisualization: (config: BaseVisTypeOptions): void => {
         const vis = new BaseVisType(config);
         registerVisualization(() => vis);
       },
       /**
        * registers a visualization which uses react for rendering
-       * @param {VisType} config - visualization type definition
+       * @param config - visualization type definition
        */
-      createReactVisualization: (config: any) => {
+      createReactVisualization: (config: ReactVisTypeOptions): void => {
         const vis = new ReactVisType(config);
         registerVisualization(() => vis);
       },