- Microsoft Power BI: Best for business intelligence (BI)
- Tableau: Best for interactive charts
- Qlik Sense: Best for artificial intelligence (AI)
- Klipfolio: Best for custom dashboards
- Looker: Best for visualization options
- Zoho Analytics: Best for Zoho users
- Domo: Best for custom apps
In any data-driven business, data visualization is necessary. It turns data into visuals, making it easier to understand, digest and make important business decisions from. Data visualization creates actionable insights your team might not have found otherwise.
There are many data visualization tools available, and we’ve done the research to determine the best for small businesses. These tools should be versatile, easy to use and allow you to visualize data in a variety of ways to suit your business’s needs.
The Best Data Visualization Software of 2024
Forbes Advisor Ratings
Company | Forbes Advisor Rating | Software Integrations | Real-Time Analytics | Trend Analysis | LEARN MORE | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Microsoft Power BI | 4.5 | Yes | Yes | Yes | View More | ||||
Tableau | 4.4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | View More | ||||
Qlik Sense | 4.4 | Yes | Yes | Yes | View More | ||||
Klipfolio | 4.3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | View More | ||||
Looker | 4.3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | View More | ||||
Zoho Analytics | 4.3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | View More | ||||
Domo | 4.2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | View More |
Methodology
To help businesses find the best data visualization tool for their needs, our team of business experts looked at a variety of options and narrowed our list down to the top seven data visualization tools on the market. We considered features that included ease of use, pricing, customer support, customization, data security and the ability to share data outside of the tool. Our team also looked at user reviews to get insights into real-world experiences with each data visualization tool.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is data visualization?
Data visualization is the act of representing data in a visual form, such as graphs, charts and maps. This enables people to glean insights from data more easily and make data-driven decisions. By representing data in a visual form, data visualization makes data more accessible and easier to understand.
What are the types of data visualization?
There are many types of data visualization, but some common ones include bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs, scatter plots, tree charts, polar graphs, radar polygon, mind maps, dichotomous keys, choropleth maps, timelines and project (or program) evaluation and review technique (PERT) charts.
What should I look for in a data visualization tool?
The most important factors to consider when choosing a data visualization tool include how easy it is to learn and use, if it offers access to several different graph and chart types―and that they’re easy to understand, even to beginners, that the tool allows you to export your data into different formats, that it can handle a number of different formats, is interactive, offers plugins and supports many different devices.
Is Microsoft Excel a data visualization tool?
It depends on who you ask. It offers many features for creating visuals, such as graphs, charts and maps. Excel data can also be imported into data visualization tools for further analysis. However, some data visualization experts consider Excel to be more of a data management tool than a data visualization tool.