The Best Online Chart Makers for 2026

Hey there! If you’re looking to turn your data into beautiful, shareable charts without losing your mind in the process, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve spent way too much time exploring the top chart-making tools available in 2026, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned.

Whether you’re a journalist on a deadline, a marketer trying to make your data pop on social media, or just someone who needs to make sense of a spreadsheet, there’s a perfect tool out there for you. Let’s dive in!

What’s Changed in 2026?

Before we get into the tools themselves, it’s worth noting that chart makers have gotten seriously impressive lately. AI is now suggesting the right chart types for your data, real-time collaboration is basically standard, and most of these tools work entirely in your browser; no downloads required.

2026 Comparison Table: At a Glance

TLDR: We’ve summarized a few key data points below for easy viewing:

Let’s get started.

Tableau Public: The Free Powerhouse

Website Tableau Public

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

Cost: Free (but your visualizations have to be public)

What Makes It Special

Tableau Public is the free version of Tableau’s mega-popular business intelligence software. It’s incredibly powerful; we’re talking the ability to handle millions of rows of data and create complex, interactive dashboards that would make any data analyst swoon.

The drag-and-drop interface makes it relatively easy to get started, though there’s definitely a learning curve. Think of it as the difference between making toast and baking bread from scratch. More effort, but the results are worth it.

The Catch

Everything you create has to be public. This means it’s perfect for journalists, researchers, or anyone who wants to share their work with the world. But if you’re working with sensitive business data? This isn’t your tool.

If you’d prefer to make private visualizations, you’ll need to download the desktop application: Tableau Public Desktop .

Perfect For

You’re doing serious data analysis and want to create professional, interactive dashboards. You don’t mind the world seeing your work, and you’re willing to invest some time learning the platform.

Summary

Try Tableau Public if you are a data analyst, researcher, or journalist working with complex datasets and require advanced visualization capabilities.

Looker Studio: The Data Dashboard King

Website Looker Studio

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

Cost: Looker Studio is free. The full BI platform, Looker, is $$$$

What Makes It Special

Looker Studio is Google’s free business intelligence tool, and it is shockingly powerful for something that costs nothing. It can connect to over 100 different data sources, including databases, marketing platforms, and cloud services, to create live dashboards that update automatically.

This means you can build a dashboard once and watch it stay current as your data changes. No manual updates, no downloading CSV files, just real-time insights.

The Catch

There’s definitely a learning curve, especially if you’re new to BI tools. Performance depends heavily on how well your data sources are optimized. It’s also less design-flexible than tools built specifically for beautiful visuals.

Perfect For

Businesses that need production-grade dashboards with live data connections. Marketing teams tracking campaign performance, operations teams monitoring metrics, or anyone who needs automated reporting.

Summary

Use Looker Studio for business intelligence, and creating shareable reports and dashboards.

InstaCharts: The Speed Runner

Website InstaCharts

Best For: Small to mid-sized businesses, bloggers, and anyone who needs “set it and forget it” live charts.

Cost: Free, Solo for $10/month

What Makes It Special

We’ve all been there: dragging and dropping data for minutes only to end up with an empty chart. InstaCharts was built to end that frustration and make chart-building as simple as it should be.

InstaCharts stands out for its simplicity and speed (although I may be biased), making it an excellent choice for data exploration and creating charts quickly.

InstaCharts is all about speed. Paste your data, and it automatically suggests the best chart type. No fussing with settings, no endless customization options; just fast, functional charts.

It syncs with Google Sheets, so your charts can update automatically when your data changes.

The Catch

You sacrifice customization for speed. The charts are functional but basic. If you need something publication-ready or highly stylized, this isn’t the tool. Charts are drawn in high definition svg, so they can be imported into your favorite vector editing program for further refinement.

Perfect For

Data exploration (anything interesting in this spreadsheet?), internal reports, quick data checks, and anyone who values speed over full style control. Perfect for developers and analysts who need to generate charts for documentation or quick team updates.

Summary

Choose InstaCharts if you want to immediately get and share a chart without fumbling around a BI platform.

Google Sheets: The Reliable Friend

Website Google Sheets

Best for: Teams who live in Google Workspace

Cost: Free with a Google account, or $7/month/user for Google Workspace

What Makes It Special

If you’re already using Google Sheets (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?), you’ve got a chart maker built right in. The magic here is the seamless collaboration: multiple people can edit the same spreadsheet and watch charts update in real-time. It’s kind of mesmerizing.

The chart editor is straightforward: select your data, click a button, pick your chart type, and boom, you’re done. It’s not going to win any design awards, but it gets the job done quickly.

The Catch

The charts are pretty basic. If you need something fancy or highly customized, you’ll bump up against the limits pretty quickly. Also, performance can get sluggish once you’re dealing with tens of thousands of rows.

Perfect For

You’re collaborating with a team, you need something quick and easy, and you’re already living in the Google ecosystem. Bonus points if you’re combining data from Google Forms or Google Analytics.

Summary

Choose Google Sheets 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.

Datawrapper: The Professional Editor

Website Datawrapper

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

Cost: Free up to 10,000 views/month, paid plans from $599/month for teams

What Makes It Special

Datawrapper was built specifically for newsrooms, and it shows. Every chart you create looks polished and professional, works beautifully on mobile devices, and loads lightning-fast on web pages. The New York Times, The Guardian, and the UN all use it. That should tell you something.

The interface is wonderfully simple: upload your data, pick a chart type, customize it (or don’t, the defaults are already great), and publish. The whole process can take just a few minutes once you get the hang of it.

The Catch

The free tier has a monthly view limit, which can sneak up on you if a chart goes viral. Also, while it’s fantastic for creating publication-ready charts, it’s not ideal for exploratory data analysis.

Perfect For

You’re creating content for publication; whether that’s a news article, blog post, or report. You need charts that look professional out of the box and work flawlessly across all devices.

Summary

Choose Datawrapper if you’re creating content for publication and need responsive charts that look great on different devices.

Flourish: The Storyteller

Website Flourish

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

Best for: Creating engaging, animated visualizations

Cost: Free for public projects, $20/month for private work

What Makes It Special

Flourish is all about making your data move. Remember those mesmerizing bar chart races that went viral a few years back? Flourish made those easy to create. The platform has over 50 templates for everything from simple line charts to complex scrollytelling narratives.

The animations are smooth, the interactivity is engaging, and you can even export your visualizations as video files for social media. It’s particularly great for showing change over time or guiding people through a data story.

The Catch

You’re limited to the templates they provide. While they’re extensive and customizable, you can’t create completely custom visualizations from scratch. The free tier requires your work to be public.

Perfect For

Content creators, social media managers, and educators who want to grab attention and tell compelling data stories. If you need your audience to actually watch and engage with your data, Flourish is your friend.

Summary

While some advanced features require a paid subscription, Flourish is user-friendly and excellent for creating animated and interactive visualizations, making it ideal for marketers, journalists, and data storytellers.

RAWGraphs: The Designer’s Secret Weapon

Website RAWGraphs

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

Cost: Free (it’s open-source!)

What Makes It Special

RAWGraphs is completely different from everything else on this list. It’s open-source, runs entirely in your browser, and specializes in unusual chart types you won’t find elsewhere: think alluvial diagrams, circle packing, dendrograms, and other visualizations that make people say “wait, how did you make that?”

The best part? Your data never leaves your computer. Everything happens in your browser, making it perfect if you’re working with sensitive information. Plus, it exports to SVG, so designers can open the files in Illustrator and customize to their heart’s content.

The Catch

You need to know what chart type is appropriate for your data; RAWGraphs won’t hold your hand. There’s no account system, no saving projects in the cloud, and no collaboration features. It’s a tool for people who know what they’re doing.

Perfect For

Designers, data visualization specialists, and anyone working with data that can’t be uploaded to the cloud. Great for creating unique visualizations that you’ll polish further in design software.

Summary

Best for: Creating unique, custom visualizations

Choose RAWGraphs if you’re looking to make a unique chart and don’t mind further editing it in Illustrator.

Visme: The Swiss Army Knife

Website Visme

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

Cost: Free (limited), $29/month Starter, $59/month Pro

What Makes It Special

Visme isn’t just a chart maker, it’s a complete visual content creation platform. You can create presentations, documents, infographics, social media graphics, and yes, charts, all in one place. The AI Designer feature helps suggest layouts and designs, which is genuinely helpful.

The Brand Kit feature is particularly nice if you’re on a team. Set your colors, fonts, and logos once, and everything you create automatically stays on-brand.

The Catch

With great power comes a steeper learning curve. There are so many features that it can feel overwhelming at first. Also, while the charts are good, dedicated chart tools offer more advanced visualization options.

Perfect For

Teams that need to create lots of different types of visual content while maintaining brand consistency. Great if you’re bouncing between creating presentations, social posts, and reports.

Summary

Choose Visme if your focus is diverse visual content with consistent branding rather than analyzing data.

Infogram: The Marketing Pro

Website Infogram

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

Cost: Free (limited), Pro from $25/month

What Makes It Special

Infogram gives you way more than just charts. You get access to over a million icons, images, and illustrations, plus hundreds of map templates. It’s designed for creating complete infographics that combine data visualization with compelling design.

The drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to create professional-looking content without any design skills. Plus, with brand kit features, you can ensure everything matches your company’s style guide.

The Catch

It’s not the best choice if you just need a simple, quick chart. The interface can feel a bit busy compared to more focused tools, and some of the fancier features are locked behind higher-tier plans.

Perfect For

Marketing teams and social media managers who need to create eye-catching, branded content that combines data with design elements. Great for anyone who needs to make an impression.

Summary

Choose Infogram if you are creating branded infographics and already know what your chart will look like.

Canva: The People’s Champion

Website Canva

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

Cost: Free (limited), $15/month Pro

What Makes It Special

Canva has evolved from a simple design tool into a full-fledged content creation platform, and its Magic Charts feature is genuinely magical. Paste in your data, and the AI figures out what kind of chart makes sense and creates it for you. No expertise needed.

But the real power is how seamlessly charts integrate with all of Canva’s other features. Need to add your chart to a presentation? Social media post? Infographic? It’s all in one place, and everything can match your brand style automatically.

The Catch

It’s not built for heavy data analysis. If you’ve got huge datasets or need complex statistical visualizations, look elsewhere. But for most everyday needs? It’s perfect.

Perfect For

Social media managers, small business owners, teachers, and anyone who needs good-looking visualizations without learning complex software. If you’ve ever wished making charts was as easy as making a post on Instagram, Canva is your answer.

Summary

Choose Canva if you’re a non-designer who wants pretty charts and you already know what the chart will look like.

So… Which One Should You Choose?

After testing all of these tools, here’s what I’ve learned: there’s no single “best” chart maker. It really depends on what you’re trying to do.

Here’s my quick decision tree:

Need it fast and don’t care about fancy features? → InstaCharts or Google Sheets

Creating content for publication? → Datawrapper for static/simple, Flourish for animated/interactive

Making social media content? → Canva (easy) or Infogram (more features)

Need serious data analysis? → Tableau Public (if public is okay) or Looker Studio (for live dashboards)

Creating diverse branded content? → Visme (all-in-one) or Canva (easiest)

Need unique chart types or total privacy? → RAWGraphs

Already living in Google Workspace? → Google Sheets or Looker Studio

Final Thoughts

Making good charts isn’t just about the tool; it’s also about understanding your data and your audience. But having the right tool definitely helps. Start with one of the easier options (Google Sheets, Canva, or InstaCharts), and once you bump up against its limits, you’ll have a better sense of which features matter to you.

And remember: the best chart maker is the one you’ll actually use. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. A simple, clear chart created in Google Sheets is infinitely better than a fancy, complex visualization you never got around to making.

Happy charting! 📊