Top 10 Online Chart Makers in 2024- A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

In today’s data-driven world, the ability to create clear, compelling charts is more important than ever. Whether you’re a business professional preparing a presentation, or a student working on a research project, having the right tools to visualize your data can make all the difference. Chart makers have become increasingly sophisticated in the past 10 years, offering a wide range of features and capabilities to suit various needs and skill levels.

This article will explore the top ten chart makers available in 2024, highlighting their key features, pros and cons, and ideal use cases. We’ll also consider factors such as ease of use, customization options, collaboration features, and pricing to help you choose the best tool for your specific needs.

Tableau Public

Website Tableau Public

Tableau Public is a powerful data visualization tool that offers a free version of its professional software. It provides a variety of chart types and advanced visualizations, capable of handling large and complex datasets. Users can create interactive dashboards and benefit from a strong community and abundant learning resources.

While it may have a steeper learning curve than simpler tools, its ability to handle complex data analysis makes it a valuable asset for data analysts, researchers, and journalists.

Pros:

• Professional-grade tool with powerful features
• Excellent for complex data analysis and visualization
• Free for public use

Cons:

• All visualizations are public
• Steeper learning curve compared to simpler tools
• Limited private sharing options in the free version

Pricing:

• Tableau Public: Free
• Tableau Public Desktop: Free
• Tableau Desktop: $115/user/month and up

By default, all visualizations made in Tableau public are publicly available and viewable by anyone. If you’d prefer to make private visualizations, Tableau Public Desktop allows you to create private visualizations using downloaded desktop software.

Ideal For: Data analysts, researchers, and journalists working with complex datasets and requiring advanced visualization capabilities.

Google Sheets

Website Google Sheets

Google Sheets offers a free and accessible way to create charts and graphs online. Its integration with Google’s suite of productivity tools makes it a popular choice for individuals and teams looking to visualize data.

Pros:

• Free to use with a Google account
• Cloud-based, allowing for easy sharing and collaboration
• Variety of chart types available
• Real-time updates and syncing
• Familiar spreadsheet interface

Cons:

• Limited customization options compared to dedicated chart-making tools
• Can be slow with large datasets
• Requires internet connection for full functionality
• Less suitable for complex or highly specialized visualizations

Google Sheets serves as a convenient online chart maker for basic to intermediate visualization needs. It’s particularly useful for those already working within the Google ecosystem and for teams requiring collaborative charting capabilities.

Pricing:

• Google Sheets is free for individual use
• For businesses, it’s part of Google Workspace, with plans starting at $6 per user per month

Datawrapper

Website Datawrapper

Datawrapper is a widely used data visualization tool among journalists and news organizations, known for its simplicity and polished outputs.

It features a user-friendly interface and produces responsive charts that look great on different devices. The tool excels in mapping capabilities and includes built-in data cleaning features.

Although it may have limited advanced customization options, its ease of use and speed make it a great choice for those who need to create publication-ready charts quickly.

Pros:

• Quick to learn and use
• Produces publication-ready charts
• Good for creating maps and location-based visualizations

Cons:

• Limited advanced customization options
• Free tier has some restrictions on usage and features
• Does not handle raw data automatically. Recommended to upload only the columns you want to chart, pre-aggregated in the format you’d like to chart in.

Pricing:

• Free: Basic features, unlimited charts
• Custom: Starting at €599/month, includes full feature set and custom branding

Ideal For: Journalists, bloggers, and content creators who need to produce charts quickly without sacrificing quality. Ideal for online publications.

Flourish

Website Flourish

Flourish has made significant strides in recent years, offering a blend of ease of use and powerful features. It provides a wide range of chart types and data visualizations, along with animation and storytelling features. The platform includes templates for quick starting points and collaboration tools. While some advanced features require a paid subscription, it’s user-friendly and excellent for creating animated and interactive visualizations, making it ideal for marketers, journalists, and data storytellers.

Pros:

• User-friendly interface with powerful capabilities
• Excellent for creating animated and interactive visualizations
• Good balance of simplicity and advanced features

Cons:

• Some advanced features require a paid subscription
• Can be overwhelming with the number of options available

Pricing:

• Free: Basic features, public projects only
• Team: Custom pricing, includes collaboration features and custom templates

Ideal For: Marketers, journalists, and data storytellers who want to create engaging, interactive visualizations without extensive technical knowledge.

Infogram

Website Infogram

Infogram is a go-to choice for creating infographics and data visualizations. It features a drag-and-drop interface, a wide range of templates and design elements, and integrates with various data sources.

The tool also offers team collaboration features. While advanced features and full customization require a paid plan, it’s very user-friendly, even for beginners, and great for creating visually appealing infographics.

Pros:

• Very user-friendly, even for beginners
• Great for creating visually appealing infographics
• Good selection of charts and graphs
• Looks beautiful

Cons:

• Advanced features, private infographics and full customization require a paid plan
• Some users find the interface cluttered

Pricing:

• Free: Basic features, limited templates
• Pro: $19/month, more features and templates
• Business: $67/month, full feature set and team collaboration

Ideal For: Marketers, social media managers, and anyone needing to create visually appealing infographics and reports quickly.

InstaCharts

Website InstaCharts

InstaCharts stands out for its simplicity and speed (although I may be biased), making it an excellent choice for quick visualizations. InstaCharts automatically generates charts from data and features a minimal interface that focuses on the data itself. Charts can be shared via URLs. While it has limited customization options and only basic chart types, it’s extremely fast and easy to use, ideal for data analysts and researchers who need to quickly visualize data for exploration or sharing with colleagues.

Pros:

• Fast and easy to use - appeals to non-technical users looking for no-code solutions
• A data first approach - good for quick data exploration and analysis
• Automatic insights and chart suggestions

Cons:

• Limited customization options
• Basic chart types only
• Only offers an integration with Google Sheets at this time

Pricing:

• Free (up to 500 rows of data per spreadsheet)
• Solo $10 a month to process up to 20k rows of data
• Pro $20 a month to process up to 100k rows

Ideal For: Data analysts, researchers and academics who need to quickly visualize data for exploration or sharing with colleagues.

Visme

Website Visme

Visme has evolved into a comprehensive design tool that includes robust chart-making capabilities. It offers a wide range of templates for various content types, a drag-and-drop interface, and options for animation and interactivity. The tool also includes a brand kit for consistent design. While the free version has limited features, it provides a good balance of ease of use and customization options, making it suitable for designers and marketers who need to create a variety of visual content with a strong emphasis on aesthetics.

Pros:

• Versatile tool for creating various types of visual content
• Good balance of ease of use and customization options
• Strong design focus

Cons:

• Free version has limited features
• Can be overkill if you only need simple charts
• Not for data exploration

Pricing:

• Free: Basic features, limited storage
• Starter: $12.25/month, more features and templates
• Pro: $24.75/month, team collaboration and brand kit

Ideal For: Designers and marketers who need to create a variety of visual content, including charts and infographics, with a strong emphasis on aesthetics.

Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio)

Website Looker Studio

Looker Studio, previously known as Google Data Studio, is a free tool for creating interactive dashboards and reports. It offers easy integration with Google products, drag-and-drop report building, collaborative features, and a wide range of data connectors. While it has limited advanced customization options and some users report performance issues with large datasets, it’s free to use, easy to learn for users familiar with Google products, and good for creating shareable reports and dashboards, making it suitable for small to medium businesses, marketers, and analysts who need to create reports and dashboards, especially those already using Google products.

Pros:

• Free to use
• Easy to learn for users familiar with Google products
• Good for creating shareable reports and dashboards

Cons:

• Limited advanced customization options
• Some users report performance issues with large datasets

Ideal For: Small to medium businesses, marketers, and analysts who need to create reports and dashboards, especially those already using Google products.

Pricing:

• Free for individual use
• Looker (full BI platform): Custom pricing for enterprises

RAWGraphs

Website RAWGraphs

RAWGraphs is an open-source visualization tool made for designers. Designers can create a basic chart in RAWGraphs, export it, then edit their chart in a vector editing program (Illustrator, Figma, Inkscape). This allows a designer to have much finer control over typography, color schemes, and sizes in the final illustration. Charts made this way are ready for print publications - RAWGraphs has a gallery to showcase illustrations initially created with its software here https://www.rawgraphs.io/gallery.

RAWGraphs offers 30+ chart types, is open-source and customizable, and works entirely in the browser. Users can export their creations to various formats. While the interface can be confusing for beginners and lacks chart customizations found in other software, it’s excellent for data visualization enthusiasts and designers looking to produce charts in svg form.

Key Features:

• 30+ charts
• Open-source and customizable
• SVG file export is structured in layers to make editing the svg in vector programs easier
• Export to various formats

Pros:

• 30+ charts
• No account required
• Good for creating unique, eye-catching charts with extra work in a vector program

Cons:

• Interface can be confusing for beginners
• Limited options for common chart types

Pricing:

• Free and open-source

Ideal For: Data visualization enthusiasts and designers looking for unique ways to present data, especially those comfortable with a bit of a learning curve.

Canva

Website Canva

While primarily known as a graphic design tool, Canva has significantly improved its chart-making capabilities. It’s integrated with Canva’s extensive design tools and offers a wide range of templates and design elements. The platform includes collaboration features and an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface. While it has limited advanced chart customization options and isn’t ideal for data analysis, it’s very user-friendly and excellent for creating visually appealing designs that incorporate charts.

Pros:

• Very user-friendly
• Excellent for creating visually appealing designs that incorporate charts
• Vast library of design elements and templates

Cons:

• Limited advanced chart customization options
• Not ideal for data analysis - presentation only

Pricing:

• Free: Basic features and templates
• Pro: $15/month, full feature set for individuals

Ideal For: Marketers, small business owners, and non-designers who want to create visually appealing charts and infographics as part of broader design projects.

Conclusion

The landscape of online chart makers in 2024 offers a diverse range of tools to suit various needs and skill levels. From the powerful data analysis capabilities of Tableau Public to the user-friendly design focus of Canva, there’s a tool for every user and purpose.

When choosing the right chart maker for your needs, consider factors such as:

• The complexity of your data and analysis requirements
• Your design skills and the level of customization you need
• The types of charts and visualizations you commonly create
• Your budget and whether you need collaborative features

Remember, the best tool for you will depend on your specific needs, skills, and the type of projects you typically work on. Many of these tools offer free trials or limited free plans, so don’t hesitate to experiment with a few to find the one that fits you best.

As data continues to play an increasingly important role in decision-making and communication, mastering the art of data visualization becomes ever more valuable. With these powerful online chart makers at your disposal, you’re well-equipped to turn your data into compelling, insightful visualizations that inform and engage your audience.