Data Visualization Tools: Top picks of the season

written by Carlotta Krajcik on March 2, 2022

Graphical representation of the data and information with the use of visual elements like charts, graphs maps, and other tools is called data visualization. The data visualization tools enable an approachable technique to see and understand trends, outliers, and patterns in data. In this era of Big Data, data visualization tools and techniques are essential to analyse an astonishing amount of information and make data-driven decisions.

Here is the list of the best picks of Data Visualization Tools that every business needs today:

Microsoft Power Bi:

Power Bi is used to creating and running reports and surface insights based on the company’s data. It connects to a wide range of data sets, and the reports and insights generated from this can be shared with others.

Pros:

• It is inexpensive. If the use is personal, it is free, and if more than one people use it or its use is industrial, its fee is minimal.
• It is effortless to use. To use this application, even the basic knowledge of Excel is adequate.
• There are constant latest updates in the application from time to time. It listens to people’s suggestions for improvements, and these suggestions can also be ranked based on their importance.
• It connects to various sources like XML, JSON, SQL and can read data from it. It can also read data from Azure and other clouds.
• It has the ability to save data in Excel. It also helps in analysis.
• It has various tools and widgets that can make the data come alive.

Cons:

• It has a bulky interface. The help windows block the vital view, and that makes scrolling the dashboard an effort.
• It does not allow the creation of new formulas. The concatenate statement only combines two elements.
• The free version of Power Bi has a data ingest capacity. It cannot process extensive data, and for that, it has to be upgraded to the paid version.

In conclusion, Microsoft Power BI can be used by the organization that are already familiar with the MS products. It works great for the analysis of big data in lesser investment if you have chosen right Power BI Consulting Services Provider. Its regular updates make it easy and current with market trends. A non-designer can also use it.

Tableau:

Tableau’s primary work is to connect and extract data stored in various places. It can extract data from any platform, be it excel, pdf, oracle, etc., and that data can then be connected live to the Tableau data engine.

Pros:

• It has hundreds of data import options.
• The mapping capability of this tool is great.
• The public version is available for free.
• There are lots of video tutorials available that teach how to use tableau.

Cons:

• The non-free version is expensive.
• The public version doesn’t allow to keep data private.

In conclusion, a tableau is a great option for creating maps along with different charts.

Infogram:

Infogram allows the creation and sharing of digital charts, infographics, and maps that can be published, embedded, or shared.

Pros:

• Tiered pricing includes a free plan with basic features.
• 35+ chart types and 550+ map types are available in this.
• Drag and drop editor.
• API for importing additional data sources.

Cons:

• Significantly fewer built-in data sources than some other apps.

In conclusion, Infogram is the best option for designers and non-designers, as the drag and drop editor makes the task of creating professional-looking designs easier without a lot of visual skills.

Google charts:

It is an interactive web service that is used to create graphical charts from user-supplied data.

Pros:

• It is available for Free.
• A wide variety of chart formats are available for data visualization.
• Since it uses HTML5/SVG, it is compatible with a Cross-browser.
• Works with dynamic data

Cons:

• There’s limited support available beyond the tutorials and forum.

In conclusion, if a designer is comfortable with coding and wants a powerful free solution, Google charts are a great option. It is able to use any SQL database, and thus it makes a good option for large data sets.

Chartist.js:

A charting library provides a simple configuration override mechanism on media queries and simple responsive charts.

Pros:

• It is free and open source.
• The size of the files created in this is tiny.
• Charts can be animated.

Cons:

• Not the widest selection of chart type available
• No mapping capabilities
• Limited support outside of developer community

In conclusion, chartist.js is a good option for designers who want responsive and straightforward charts with small file sizes.

Zoho analytics:

Zoho analytics is an online reporting and BI service that helps quickly analyse business data and create meaningful insights and reports for informed decision-making.

Pros:

• Great value for the price
• Good customer service
• Available connections, reports, and shareable features

Cons:

• Issues found while update and improvements.
• Limited customization
• Dashboard design not up to the mark

In conclusion, Zoho analytics can be used to create basic reports and insights. This can be useful for personal use with small data.

Sisense:

It is an agile BI solution that allows businesses to analyse big and disparate datasets and generate relevant business trends.

Pros:

• Both on-premises and off-premises cloud options
• Works well with large data sets
• Allows the user to take data snapshots.
• Dashboards are well designed.

Cons:

• Elasticube by Sisense isn’t user-friendly.
• Is a ‘heavy’ application.
• Dashboards only interact on the web.
• Few pricing and support issues.

In conclusion, Sisense can be used for businesses with big data that need cloud storage and technical expertise.

There are a variety of tools available in the market. Choosing the right tool is a challenging but critical task. The right kind of tool will help with the insights and analysis, which in return help the business grow. Sometimes more straightforward tools work better for the business. The 7 tools mentioned above are the best tools for data visualization. Businesses can decide on the type of tool they want to use based on their needs and the amount of data they generate. The list of pros and cons makes choosing the proper tool more accessible for the business. Most of the tools from the above list delivers a free trial, so these tools can be tried once to verify the one works the best for you.