Whether you run a business website, blog, news site or portfolio, incorporating data visualizations like charts, tables and graphs is an effective way to make your WordPress content more engaging. Using visual representations of data and statistics helps readers understand complex information more easily and drives home key points.
While you could create static charts and graphs in a graphics program and insert them as images into your WordPress posts, a better approach is to use dynamic, interactive charts and tables powered by plugins. WordPress chart plugins make it simple to build professional data visualizations without any coding and embed them into your content.
When evaluating WordPress plugins for charts, tables and graphs, here are some of the most important features and capabilities to look for:
- Responsiveness to adapt to different screen sizes and devices
- Interactivity like pan/zoom, tooltips and click/hover effects
- Animations and visual effects to engage readers
- Wide selection of chart types (bar, line, pie, scatter, bubble, area, etc.)
- Customization options for colors, fonts, legends, labels and styling
- Ability to import data from spreadsheets, databases and files
- Large data set handling and performance optimization
- Accessibility features like keyboard navigation and ARIA attributes
To help you find the best solution for adding charts and graphs to your WordPress site, we‘ve compiled a list of the top 10 plugins. These charting plugins offer excellent design flexibility, robust features and strong user ratings.
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1. Visualizer
Visualizer is a hugely popular free WordPress plugin for creating, managing and embedding interactive charts and graphs. It uses the Charts.js and Google Charts libraries to render the visualizations. The free version includes 9 basic chart types, while the Pro version adds support for more advanced charts and features.
Key features:
- Responsive and cross-browser compatible charts
- Easy to import data from CSV, Excel, Google Sheets or database
- Instant live editor to customize all aspects of your charts
- Scheduled auto-sync for charts that pull data from an online source
- Embed charts via shortcode or PHP anywhere on your site
- Tooltips, legends, titles and other chart elements
Visualizer is a good choice if you want a free, user-friendly WordPress chart plugin with essential features and good customization. Upgrading to Pro adds more advanced capabilities like front-end chart editing, drill-down, and Gutenberg block support.
2. wpDataTables
As the name suggests, wpDataTables specializes in creating tables and charts from various data sources. With over 30,000 users, it‘s one of the top-selling premium WordPress plugins for data visualization. You can build tables manually or import from Excel, CSV, JSON, XML, SQL and more.
Notable features include:
- Responsive, sortable, filterable and paginated tables
- Support for huge tables with millions of rows
- Conditional formatting to highlight cells based on values
- Front-end editing of tables by logged-in users
- Export tables to PDF, CSV, Excel and print
- Render charts from DataTables with 3 charting engines
- Customize every aspect of your tables and charts
If you need to create large, advanced tables with features like pagination, filtering, sorting and editing, wpDataTables is a solid plugin choice. Its wide range of import options and charting capabilities are also standouts.
3. M Chart
M Chart is a free, simple WordPress chart plugin that allows you to create interactive charts powered by the Chart.js or Highcharts libraries. It takes a spreadsheet-based approach, allowing you to manage your data sets via a spreadsheet-like interface in the WordPress admin.
Key features:
- 6 basic chart types: Line, bar, pie, radar, polar area and doughnut
- Handle data sets via a familiar spreadsheet UI
- Populate charts from manually entered data or uploaded CSV files
- Customize chart height, colors, fonts, legends, etc.
- Embed charts anywhere via a simple shortcode
If you‘re looking for a free WordPress chart plugin that‘s beginner-friendly and offers basic spreadsheet-style data management, M Chart is worth checking out. However, it lacks some of the more advanced features in other plugins.
4. Data Tables Generator by Supsystic
Data Tables Generator by Supsystic is a feature-rich WordPress table and chart plugin that‘s available in both free and paid versions. It allows you to create interactive, responsive tables and populate them with data from a variety of sources. The DataTables can then be rendered as animated charts.
Important features:
- Responsive design with mobile-friendly table layouts
- Import table data from Excel, CSV, Google Sheets, JSON or XML
- Multiple pagination and sorting modes
- Search, filtering and dynamic grouping of table data
- Conditional formatting for columns based on values
- User editing of table data from the front-end
- Charts rendered via Google Charts API
Data Tables Generator is a versatile WordPress table plugin with robust import options, customization settings and interactive features. While it offers a number of features for free, many of the more powerful capabilities require the Pro version.
5. Responsive Pricing Table
Responsive Pricing Table is a bit different than the other WordPress "table" plugins featured here, as it‘s designed specifically for creating pricing and comparison tables. However, it‘s a very popular and well-designed plugin for this use case. You can quickly build beautiful, responsive pricing tables to showcase your products, plans and services.
Notable features include:
- Library of pre-designed templates and skins to customize
- Drag-and-drop pricing table builder
- Responsive, mobile-friendly design
- Animations and hover effects
- Highlight recommended plans with labels and colors
- Add PayPal buy buttons to create click-to-purchase flows
- Embed pricing tables anywhere via shortcode
While it‘s not a general-purpose data table plugin, Responsive Pricing Table is an excellent tool for creating comparison and pricing tables. The design options strike a good balance between ease of use and flexibility.
6. league table
league table is a user-friendly and free WordPress table plugin designed for creating sports league tables, but suitable for many other use cases. It allows you to build sortable, searchable and paginated tables to display tournaments, rankings, charts and other tabular data.
Features include:
- Easy adding of columns and rows with a spreadsheet-like interface
- Manual data entry or import tables from CSV files
- Responsive table layout adapts to any screen size
- Customize cell colors based on conditional formatting
- Sort tables by any column (text, numeric or date)
- Front-end table searching and pagination
- Embed tables with a simple shortcode
If you need to create basic data tables for sports/gaming data or other information and want an intuitive, lightweight plugin, league table is a good choice. It may lack advanced features, but it covers the essentials well.
7. TablePress
TablePress is one of the most popular WordPress plugins for creating and managing tables, with over 800,000 active installations. It‘s a free, open-source plugin that allows you to build feature-rich tables with a user-friendly spreadsheet-like interface.
Key features:
- Add and edit tables with an Excel-like editor
- Import and export table data from/to CSV, HTML and JSON
- Responsive tables adapt to any screen size
- Sortable, paginated and filterable tables
- Spreadsheet formulas like SUM(), AVG() and IF()
- Combine tables with shortcode nesting
- Extensive documentation and community support
TablePress is an excellent choice if you want a free, widely-used WordPress table plugin with robust features and a strong user community. While it doesn‘t include charting or advanced capabilities, it handles the table creation and management basics very well.
8. Visualime Table and Charts Addon for Elementor
Visualime is a premium WordPress table and chart plugin that‘s designed specifically as an add-on for the popular Elementor page builder plugin. It allows you to create interactive tables and charts and insert them into your content with Elementor widgets.
Notable capabilities:
- Build tables and charts visually with Elementor
- Includes basic tables, DataTables, Google Charts and ChartJS
- 6 customizable chart types (bar, line, pie, gauge, etc.)
- Front-end post and user tables for directories and listings
- WooCommerce product and pricing tables
- Dynamic tables from custom field values
- Popup lightbox for charts and tables
If you‘re an Elementor user looking for an easy way to embed tables and charts into your designs, Visualime is an excellent option. It offers a wide range of table and chart designs, all easily insertable with Elementor widgets.
9. Ultimate Tables
Ultimate Tables is a flexible and affordable WordPress data table plugin that emphasizes ease of use and performance. You can quickly create basic tables or advanced DataTables, populated with data from spreadsheets or entered manually.
Key features include:
- Simple spreadsheet-like table editor
- Import tables from Excel, Google Sheets or CSV
- Export table data to PDF, Print, CSV or Excel
- Sortable, searchable and paginated tables
- Responsive, mobile-friendly table layout
- Row grouping and collapsible rows
- WooCommerce product tables
With its intuitive table builder, extensive import/export options and solid feature set, Ultimate Tables is a strong value for the price. It‘s a good fit for both basic and advanced WordPress table needs.
10. Ninja Charts
Ninja Charts is a user-friendly WordPress chart plugin that allows you to create beautiful interactive charts powered by the Chart.js library. It features a simple chart builder with live previews and offers a number of customization options.
Notable features:
- 6 responsive chart types (line, bar, pie, doughnut, radar and polar)
- Beginner-friendly chart editor with live previews
- Customizable colors, fonts, borders, legends, etc.
- HTML5 tooltips to display data on hover
- Import chart data from CSV files
- Insert charts anywhere with a shortcode or Gutenberg block
Ninja Charts is a good choice if you want to create eye-catching charts without advanced features like front-end editing and lots of import sources. The live chart editor and HTML5 tooltips are nice touches.
Tips for Using WordPress Charts and Graphs Effectively
Once you‘ve chosen a WordPress chart plugin, how can you use it to maximum effect? Here are some tips:
- Choose the right chart type for your data (line for trends over time, bar for comparisons, pie for parts-of-a-whole, etc.)
- Keep your charts simple and clutter-free – don‘t try to convey too much at once
- Use colors strategically to highlight key data points and reinforce your branding
- Make your charts interactive with tooltips and hover effects to engage readers
- Ensure your charts are mobile-responsive and look good on any device
- Optimize your data files and scripts for fast page load times
- Use the custom CSS options in your plugin to refine the chart design and spacing
- Allow users to download the underlying data or export the chart for further analysis
With a little thought and creativity, charts and graphs can elevate your WordPress content and make your data come alive for visitors. Choose the right plugin for your needs and have fun experimenting with different chart types and designs.