We recently did a roundup of the best online spreadsheet software for 2017, but while spreadsheets are undeniably great for managing data, they are rather limited when it comes to visualising data. You could turn to Power View in Excel, but why not look instead at the many fantastic chart libraries that are available? They are highly customisable, include animations (if that’s your thing), and in most cases can output charts that your audience can interact with. So get ready to say goodbye to flat, static data visualisations with our roundup of the best chart libraries of 2017.

Datawrapper

Datawrapper’s primary audience is journalists and newsrooms, and it is built and supported by a dedicated team of engineers, journalists and designers. Since launching in 2012, Datawrapper has grown to count The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, and other top publications as clients. Their pride has always been in giving users the ability to create interactive charts and maps in minutes.

This line chart shows in a simple and understandable way results from COD game.

Pricing

A feature-limited demo version is available, with full versions priced from 19€ /mo to more than 499€ /mo.

Key Features

• Copy and paste data from Excel, CSV, PDF, or the web.
• Supports line charts, bar charts, stacked bar charts, column charts, grouped column charts, donuts, data tables, and maps.
• Charts can be embedded into any website or CMS with ease, are fully responsive, and can be customised according to your own branding requirements.
• Charts can be converted in a variety of printable formats for print editions, while charts for online editions are fully interactive.
• Limited support via email, but the website includes an extensive gallery of examples, with the Datawrapper Academy offering guides on getting started and creating different types of charts.

Highcharts

Highcharts began as a side-project for Torstein Hønsi , who wanted to include a simple chart of snow depth measurements on his homepage. Highcharts was ready to be publicly launched by 2009, and is now considered a premier charting-tool. Not just in Norway, but across the world, with 97% of revenue generated from customers outside of Norway.

This line chart illustrates the interactivity of Highcharts, which helps keep your chart uncluttered without reducing any value.

Pricing

Highcharts is completely free for non-commercial use. Licenses for using Highcharts in SaaS projects, web applications, intranets, and websites start at $410 for a single developer.

Key Features

• Supports line, spline, area, areaspline, column, bar, pie, scatter, angular gauges, arearange, areasplinerange, columnrange and polar chart types. And many of these can be combined in one chart.
• Does not need client-side plugins, and you don’t need to install anything on your server. Highcharts needs only one JavaScript file to run, and data can be loaded externally.
• Can be used with React, Angular, and Meteor.
• Highcharts website includes general documentation, API reference documentation, a community showcase, and extensive code examples.
• Support for free users is via a forum and Stack Overflow, with premium email and Skype support only available for commercial users with the appropriate license.

Plotly

Plotly was founded in Montreal in 2012 , and by 2013 they had already been named one of the hottest innovative companies in Canada. The backend of this analytics and data visualisation tool uses Python and Django, but the front-end is Javascript, with visualisations rendered using D3.js, HTML and CSS.

Plotly’s interactive chart reveals information in relation to where your cursor is positioned, not only when hovering directly over a segment.

Pricing

A free community edition is available, with limited features. Personal and professionals editions are priced at $396 /year and $948 /year, with a full-feature on-site edition priced from $9,950 /year.

Key Features

• Support for basic charts, statistical charts, scientific charts, and maps. Charts can be interactive, embedded in websites, exported in a variety of formats, and even used to create dynamic presentations.
• APIs for Python, MATLAB, R, and the ability to write your own API client.
• The use of D3.js enables you to create online dashboards incorporating your charts, with the ease of drag-and-drop.
• Create charts using Excel spreadsheets, or connect to your database. Plotly supports several SQL and NoSQL databases.
• Support varies from community based, through to chat, email, and telephone. Website includes extensive API documentation, a growing knowledge base, and a showcase of Plotly charts submitted by users.

amCharts

Founded by Antanas Marcelionis more than 10-years ago, amCharts started out as a digital pin-map , and has grown to include pie, line, column and bar charts – among others – managed by a distributed team of 13 people, including two cartography specialists.

A Gantt chart using amCharts, this time with more than just values being revealed when hovering over each bar segment.

Pricing

amCharts is free for any use, but all charts will include a small, branded link. To remove the link, and get access to priority support, costs from $140.

Key Features

• Three separate products, Javascript Charts, Javascript Stock Chart, and Javascript Maps. A WordPress plugin is also available.
• Can be incorporated into other frameworks with a React component, and an Angular2 directive.
• All maps and charts are responsive and can be made interactive for a richer experience.
• External data can be loaded in JSON or CSV format, and an online editor is available for anyone not comfortable working with Javascript.
• Support for live charts, full customisation, and W3C-approved accessibility functions.
• Full support available, with priority support reserved for licensed customers. Website includes a comprehensive knowledge base, along with demos, class reference guides, and an inspiration gallery.

Chart.js

Chart.js is a completely open-source Javascript chart library launched in 2013. Despite appearing to have no traditional organisation structure, Chart.js is being actively developed, with V 2.5.0 released in early 2017. The aim of the developers is to keep Chart.js as a simple yet flexible chart solution for designers and developers.

Like amCharts, this demo using Chart.js allows you to display a lot more information when hovering over each segment, not just values.

Pricing

Chart.js is an open-source project, released under the MIT license.

Key Features

• Supports line charts, bar charts, radar charts, polar area charts, pie & donut charts, bubble charts, mixed charts, and scales.
• All chart types can be customised and animated, and when used online, all charts are responsive.
• Functionality can be extended through the use of plugins.
• Comprehensive documentation is available on the Chart.js website, with support via Stack Overflow.

FusionCharts

FusionCharts has been around for quite some time. Since 2002, to be exact. Although initially developed using a combination of Flash and ASP, FusionCharts now uses Javascript, with support for multiple programming languages.

Like amCharts, this demo using Chart.js allows you to display a lot more information when hovering over each segment, not just values.

Pricing

Unlimited free trial, but commercial use requires a license. Licences cost from $299 /year for the full suite, or from $149 /year for individual products.

Key Features

• 90+ chart types, in both 2D and 3D. 950+ maps covering all continents.
• All charts and maps can be animated, with full interactivity.
• Server-side APIs for ASP.NET, PHP, and Ruby on Rails.
• Easily add charts to your website or app with extensions for jQuery, AngularJS, PHP, ASP.NET, JSP, Django, React, and Ruby on Rails.
• Multi-platform, browser, and device support, including older browsers.
• Detailed user’s guide and API reference available online, along with a demo gallery of charts and business dashboards, and a resource page.
• Support is via a knowledge base and community forum, with unlimited priority support for license holders.

ZingChart

ZingChart started out as a solution to a problem being experienced by Thomas Powell, with the first version of ZingChart launched in 2009. The goal has always been to have a flexible and fast product that makes use of modern technologies, and can be used anywhere.

This ZingChart shows how your charts can be dynamic even without any interactivity. The animation used loads the chart in steps, rather than a fluid reveal.

Pricing

Free version available using a branded license. Commercial licenses, with no branding, are available from $199.

Key Features

• Supports more than 30 different chart types.
• Fully customisable with CSS inspired styling.
• Ability to render charts using real-time data, and built-in support for fast rendering of data sets of any size.
• Charts are interactive, and responsive.
• Data can be loaded via JS Objects, JSON, CSV, PHP, AJAX, or MySQL.
• Comprehensive use documentation on the website, including a gallery featuring more than 170 demos.
• Free support available via the ZingChart Help Centre, Stack Overflow, email and chat. Premium support is available in hourly and annual packages.

Conclusion

Chart libraries are a visual tool, and as such should be evaluated on the quality and usefulness of the visualisations they render in relation to your need. However, they are not the only feature you should be evaluating. Support, integrations and overall stability are just as important, but no matter what libraries any roundup list, the overall winner is always the one that meets your specific needs.