Best Data Visualization Tools
Data visualization tools and software translate data and metrics into charts and graphs to help companies track business metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time so they can better understand performance and goals. These can be delivered and displayed in various formats, including charts, graphs, reports, and dashboards. These tools help translate quantitative data and metrics into easy-to-understand visualizations. In regards to dashboards, there are various forms of visuals that one can create and view, such as scorecards and easy-to-interpret visualizations of company data to follow the trends and KPIs. Many data visualization software provides drag-and-drop functionality and other non-technical capabilities, so the average business user can build necessary dashboards. However, some do offer the ability to create dashboards using code. Data visualization software can consume data from many sources, including file uploads, databases, and business applications. Connecting certain applications or databases may require some IT involvement or coding knowledge.
Dashboards with real-time data are particularly helpful to allow business users to understand business applications and systems, such as ERP systems and CRM software. However, in some cases, one might want to export these visualizations to share them as reports via email or other communication channels. This can be helpful if one is looking to send a targeted overview of data to busy executives or clients. In addition, these tools can be used to craft visualizations, such as charts and graphs, that can be exported in various formats, such as PNG and JPEG, to create content with visualizations of data. This content creation can often be accomplished collaboratively, allowing users to collaborate across devices and device types. Users looking for tools solely focused on diagramming can look to diagramming software to build flow charts, floor plans, and more.
The best data visualization tools are specifically designed to benchmark and visualize important metrics and are not intended to be used for robust, complicated data analysis. While some data visualization products may offer drill-down or data-joining functionality, their primary purpose is to provide dashboards and visualizations to monitor business-critical data. Users looking for analysis-specific tools should look to analytics platforms. Analytics platforms, specifically of the self-service variety, can help businesses query and visualize their data without the need for IT support. Finally, business users and developers who are interested in embedding their visualizations in applications can use embedded business intelligence software to accomplish this goal.
To qualify for inclusion in the Data Visualization Tools category, a product must:
Best Data Visualization Tools At A Glance
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Canva is an end-to-end AI-powered visual communication and collaboration platform empowering everyone in the world to design everything from presentations to infographics, videos, documents, websites,
Canva is a web-based design tool that allows users to create professional-looking designs without needing advanced design skills. Users like Canva's intuitive interface, vast template library, and time-saving features, which make it easy to create presentations, social media posts, and other designs quickly. Users experienced occasional performance lags, especially when working on larger designs or with slower internet connections, and some features and templates are only available in the paid version.
334,306 Twitter followers
Looker, Google Cloud’s business intelligence platform, enables you to chat with your data. Organizations turn to Looker for self-service and governed BI, to build custom applications with trusted metr
Looker is a data analytics tool that transforms raw data into shareable dashboards and reports, with a powerful modeling layer, LookML, for consistent and scalable reporting. Users like Looker's flexibility, its ability to create interactive, real-time dashboards, and its seamless integration with modern data warehouses and Google Cloud services. Users experienced a steep learning curve with LookML, slower dashboard load times with large datasets, and found the cost to be high for smaller organizations.
31,775,247 Twitter followers
Domo's AI and Data Products Platform empowers organizations to turn data into actionable insights and solutions. It allows users to seamlessly connect diverse data sources, prepare data for use, and g
Domo is a business intelligence tool used to aggregate data from various sources and display it in a unified manner, with features such as custom visualization and app creation. Reviewers appreciate Domo's ease of use, its ability to cater to non-technical users, and its Magic ETL feature which simplifies data transformation and visualization. Users experienced issues with Domo's performance during product launches, difficulties in data cleaning and sorting, and complexities in the pricing model and licensing.
63,798 Twitter followers
Looker Studio offers self-service business intelligence with unmatched flexibility for smarter business decisions. Featuring connections to more than 1,000+ data sources, you can create highly visual,
31,775,247 Twitter followers
AgencyAnalytics is the only reporting platform designed specifically for marketing agencies. The easy-to-use platform saves you time, improves reporting processes, and impresses your clients with insi
AgencyAnalytics is a platform designed to consolidate data from multiple sources into comprehensive reports, providing a streamlined solution for client progress tracking and reporting. Users like the platform's ease of use, its ability to integrate live data from various sources, and the time-saving benefits of its automated reporting and customizable templates. Reviewers noted some limitations in the platform's customization options, occasional issues with data syncing and integrations, and a steep learning curve for new users.
4,025 Twitter followers
SAP HANA Cloud is a modern database-as-a-service (DBaaS) powering the next generation of intelligent data applications. SAP HANA Cloud offers a competitive edge by incorporating advanced machine learn
SAP HANA Cloud is a cloud-based data management platform that supports finance and procurement operations, providing real-time data processing and analytics. Users frequently mention the platform's high-speed performance, seamless integration with other SAP solutions, and its ability to handle large datasets efficiently. Users reported that the initial setup can be complex and time-consuming, the platform can be expensive, especially for smaller businesses, and it requires specialized technical expertise to manage effectively.
297,265 Twitter followers
With the SAP Analytics Cloud solution, you can bring together analytics and planning with unique integration to SAP applications and smooth access to heterogenous data sources. As the analytics and pl
SAP Analytics Cloud is a platform that combines business intelligence, planning, and predictive analytics into one unified, cloud-based solution, with a focus on real-time data, interactive dashboards, and forecasting tools. Reviewers like the platform's real-time data, interactive dashboards, and forecasting tools, which make reporting faster, more accurate, and actionable, and its tight integration with the SAP ecosystem, which allows for reporting and planning to be combined in one platform. Reviewers experienced performance issues with very large datasets, as dashboards can sometimes load slowly, and advanced customization options for certain visualizations are limited compared to specialized BI tools.
297,265 Twitter followers
MongoDB Atlas is a developer data platform that provides a tightly integrated collection of data and application infrastructure building blocks to enable enterprises to quickly deploy bespoke architec
502,749 Twitter followers
Hurree is an AI-powered platform that consolidates all your reporting data into a single, easy-to-use command centre. It connects with over 70 popular tools, giving you a single, reliable view of perf
Hurree is a data consolidation tool that integrates reporting from various advertising tools and website analytics into one command center to reflect customer lifecycle activities. Reviewers appreciate Hurree's user-friendly interface, clean and intuitive dashboards, and the ability to quickly connect data sources and create dashboards, enabling efficient performance monitoring and decision making. Reviewers experienced challenges with some advanced features not being immediately obvious, requiring more guided walk-throughs, and some metrics needing additional configuration during initial setup, which was not initially anticipated.
909 Twitter followers
The Elastic Stack, commonly known as the ELK Stack, is a comprehensive suite of open-source tools designed for ingesting, storing, analyzing, and visualizing data in real-time. It comprises Elasticsea
64,417 Twitter followers
Visme is a comprehensive visual content creation platform that assists teams in developing, managing, and scaling on-brand materials efficiently. It integrates essential features such as design tools,
64,024 Twitter followers
Swydo’s easy-to-use reporting and monitoring platform retrieves data from multiple sources (Google Ads, Facebook, Google Analytics, and more (34+) ), helping marketers to create professional, customiz
1,364 Twitter followers
Count is a modern data collaboration platform that helps data teams actually work together. It combines a data notebook with a real-time collaborative canvas for analysis and visualisation, so everyon
Count is a data analysis tool that allows users to connect with multiple data sources, deploy SQL queries, run Python scripts, create visualisations, and build a Canvas for presenting findings. Reviewers appreciate Count's flexibility, ease of use, AI functionality, and its unique blend of a data notebook and collaborative whiteboard, which has transformed the way users approach analysis and boosted team productivity. Reviewers noted that Count sometimes experiences issues due to its ongoing development, has limitations in connecting to multiple databases simultaneously, struggles with large datasets, and lacks certain features found in other tools like Tableau and Big Query.
2,097 Twitter followers
TruBI is an enterprise-ready business intelligence platform that provides a modern & responsive user interface. It supports self-service analysis, 360 degree view of a single-version-of-truth, and
1,435 Twitter followers
Infogram is a data visualization company that helps people create infographics, reports, dashboards, maps, charts and social media assets. We show people how to communicate with data in a clear and e
174,459 Twitter followers
Learn More About Data Visualization Tools
What are Data Visualization Tools?
Data visualization tools are basic analytics platforms for business users to easily consume and interpret data, KPIs, and other critical metrics using dashboards. These dashboards can pull data from a number of sources, including databases and spreadsheets and other applications, such as CRM systems and digital analytics tools. Users can build a variety of visuals based on the data sets to easily track and measure important metrics. Such chart types include column charts, bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, tables, general tracking meters, maps for geographical data, and even just raw numbers.
Data visualization software is the most simplistic in the business intelligence category of software. They are built to display data in one central location instead of forcing employees to dig through different solutions to find important metrics. Business intelligence platforms, self-service business intelligence software, and embedded business intelligence software all contain more in-depth analytics features, such as drill-downs, and are most often used by analysts or data scientists. But for companies interested in displaying visual analytics dashboards, data visualization tools are the proper applications.
Setting up and implementing data visualization tools are relatively straightforward compared to implementing other business intelligence tools. It may require a bit of development knowledge to connect the product to a database or third-party application. However, if a non-developer is interested in building a visualization using a spreadsheet, implementation is basic.
Key Benefits of Data Visualization Tools
- Turn complex data into easily understandable graphics
- Track and visualize live and static metrics
- Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Visualize and compare related metrics
- Provide various options to communicate complex information
Why Use Data Visualization Tools?
The main reason for using data visualization is to track real-time data, metrics, goals, and KPIs. Businesses frequently set high goals, so tracking each metric as teams and companies progress is essential. By displaying data visualizations of each KPI, businesses can reinforce the importance of these goals and even help prioritize work based on which metrics need the most attention. General business metrics may include web traffic, revenue, and customer acquisition, among others. With data visualization products, it is easy to pull those business metrics from data sources such as digital analytics and CRMs, so that employees do not need to find them on their own.
Outside of this initial benefit of using data visualization software, another advantage is that data visualization tools help users easily understand critical business data. By using data visualization solutions, employees and businesses can easily interpret data. It makes the purpose of the information very evident to all users. If employees understand the business data, they can align around long-term goals and improve overall company growth.
Critical business data differs among every company and industry, so allowing for extensive customization is beneficial. There is no one-size-fits-all business dashboard; therefore, pulling data from a variety of sources is useful and necessary. When new employees start, it is helpful to understand said critical business data, and with the help of data visualization tools, that understanding is simplified.
Data visualization software also allows users to quickly and easily identify trends in business metrics. If certain metrics are not on pace to hit month-end, quarter-end, or year-end goals, companies can see that up front with data visualization tools. Businesses can adjust their strategies and methods for attaining goals based on how KPIs are tracked. Being able to react to data is an important overall strategy for greater business modernization and digital transformation.
Who Uses Data Visualization Tools?
All employees have an opportunity to utilize data visualization tools; however, there are a number of roles that can use the solutions in different ways. For example:
C-level executives – C-suite employees utilize data visualization software such as KPI dashboards to keep a holistic view of all company goals and how they are progressing. Instead of checking in with every team or digging into disparate software for each KPI, a CEO can track all company metrics in one location. If a CFO wants to observe all financial metrics, data visualization is an option instead of going through accounting and CRM products to find necessary information. Additionally, C-level executives may take dashboards into board meetings to help illustrate how the company is performing as a whole.
Sales teams – There are many use cases for sales teams when it comes to data visualization solutions, and not just to track revenue numbers or how many deals they have closed. Business development teams often connect sales acceleration tools as a data source to track how many calls each rep is making or how many meetings they are setting up. Sales managers can track individual account representatives’ performances to see how much revenue and deals each of their employees are closing, and how much they have in the pipeline. They may also set goals and determine how they are tracking on a quarterly or yearly progression. Displaying personal metrics with data visualization tools is one method to help motivate sales employees to hit their quotas.
Marketing teams – For marketers, data visualization solutions are ideal for recording real-time data regarding customer and prospect interactions. Users can pull specific digital analytics metrics, such as web traffic, and easily visualize progress. Additionally, marketers can see how email campaigns or advertising campaigns are progressing, whether that be open rates or how many impressions Facebook, Twitter, and other social advertisement campaigns are receiving. Businesses benefit by quickly visualizing conversion rates and cost-per-customer acquisition, among many other key marketing metrics.
Customer service teams – There are a variety of different instances where data visualization software is helpful for customer support teams, whether they be in a contact center or receiving customer inquiries via a help desk, among other scenarios. Representatives at call centers can visualize the number of calls they have taken that day, how many calls are waiting to be answered, and how long the average call has been, among many other business-critical data points. For support teams that use a help desk, users benefit from data visualization by tracking how many tickets they have resolved and how many are still in their queues. Customer success teams may choose to measure KPIs such as customer retention or churn rates to ensure they are maintaining the appropriate number of customers.
Human resources teams – Data is aplenty for recruiters and human resources professionals, so having a single dashboard to display the information is advantageous. Recruiting coordinators can track how many applications have been submitted for specific roles or monitor how often the career page has been viewed. Other general human resources professionals use it to display employee engagement, whether that is an overall satisfaction of work life within a company or a gamification of certain tasks. Even third-party services such as Glassdoor may be a data source for businesses interested in tracking their rating at all times.
Development teams – If a business is responsible for running multiple applications and needs to track performance in real time, data visualization tools are an excellent way to keep tabs on all of them simultaneously. This allows development teams to react quickly to potential bugs or issues and ensure that performance is trending in the correct direction. Some data sources valuable to development teams include databases, public cloud infrastructure as a service offering, and application performance monitoring software.
Data Visualization Tools Features
While data visualization software might seem fairly straightforward, there are some features that impact the user experience with these tools. The main feature, and often most critical component buyers should look for when purchasing data visualization software, is which data sources the tool can integrate with and pull from. Most solutions can pull from SaaS applications, cloud and on-premise databases, and even solutions built in-house. But, if one of the main reasons for a company purchasing a data visualization software is to track marketing campaigns, but the tool cannot integrate with the marketing automation tool the business is already using, then it defeats the purpose.
Tracking real-time data is another important feature of data visualization software. Observing progress and trends in a business’ KPIs in real time ensures that employees can react and improve on strategies and methods.
Data visualization vendors often offer mobile functionality, so users can observe and track business metrics regardless of their physical location. In today’s business world, employees are often on the go, so the ability to see dashboards from mobile phones or tablets is convenient. This is important for C-level employees who might not always be in the office.
The ability to share dashboards is another important feature of data visualization software. If a sales leader needs to send numbers to a company’s board of directors, easily emailing an entire dashboard is quick and easy. It is also beneficial to be able to share metrics internally with teams via email, if employees are unaware of how metrics are progressing.
Other features of data visualization software: Charts and Graphs, Contact Center, Education, Finance, IT & Development, and Reports.
Kinds of Data Visualization Tools
Some data visualization solutions target specific industries or teams within a company, making them more unique than general data visualization software. A marketing team may opt to use a marketing analytics solution since they only want to visualize and track progress for specific marketing metrics. There are also sales analytics tools that only track sales metrics.
Additionally, many software products have some data visualization within them. For example, a CRM or help desk tool might have data visualization features, but they differ in the sense that these are simply features, not the product's main function.
