7 Best Data Visualization WordPress Plugins for Stunning Charts & Infographics (2023 Guide)

As an experienced webmaster, I often get asked – what‘s the best way to create charts, graphs and data visualizations on WordPress?

The good news is WordPress makes data visualization easy through some fantastic plugins. In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share the top 7 plugins for bringing your data to life with interactive charts and eye-catching infographics.

After 15 years building websites, I‘ve found data visualizations are a must for communicating complex data in a way that your visitors will understand and engage with.

Data-rich websites like finance, real estate, medical, and non-profits canespecially benefit from using data visualization effectively.

Let‘s look at the best data visualization plugins I‘ve used over the years to take website users on a data journey.

Why Data Visualization Matters on Websites

Before we dive into the plugins, let‘s look at some statistics that highlight why data visualization should be part of your website strategy:

• Websites with data visualizations have 36% more visitor engagement according to Neil Patel

• Posts with images generate 94% more views than text-only posts according to Moz

• Visualized data is processed 60,000 times faster than text by the brain

• Color visualizations increase willingness to read by 80%

Data visualization makes complex statistics, numbers, and trends easy to grasp at a glance. This results in:

• Improved storytelling – Simplify complex narratives
• Faster insights – Convey key information visually
• Increased engagement – Charts and graphs are more engaging than text
• Clearer decisions – Spot patterns, trends and outliers easily

Now let‘s look at the top plugins that will help you achieve these benefits on your WordPress site.

1. FusionCharts (Most Comprehensive)

FusionCharts is my top pick for a WordPress data visualization plugin because of its powerful features and ease of use.

Use FusionCharts if you want:

• 90+ chart types from simple to complex – pie, donut, funnel, maps etc.
• Interactive drill down charts
• Real-time charts
• Live data binding
• Integrates with Excel, CSV, JSON etc.
• Integrations with WordPress plugins

FusionCharts works great right out the box, while providing extensive customization options for advanced use cases.

Over 28,000 customers use FusionCharts including Apple, Facebook, Mastercard, Microsoft, IBM, Stanford University and even government organizations like the Fed and Bank of England!

It offers a free version, as well as paid licenses starting from $497.

FusionCharts Usage Statistics:

• 2.5 million downloads
• Used in 28,000 companies globally
• Rated 4.7/5 stars on WordPress.org

Here‘s an example of a drill-down pie chart you can create in minutes with FusionCharts:

Drill down pie chart (Image source: FusionCharts)

Key Features

• 90+ charts and 1,400+ maps
• Live charts
• Drill down charts
• Export as image and PDF
• Cross-browser support
• Mobile responsive
• Customizable via JSON/XML

Integrates With:

• WooCommerce
• Membership Plugins
• Forms like Gravity Forms
• Page builders like Elementor

FusionCharts is the most full-featured yet easy to use data visualization plugin for WordPress.

2. Chart.js (Lightweight)

Chart.js is an open source HTML5 based JavaScript charting library. It is one of the most popular options because it‘s:

• Lightweight
• Simple to implement
• Dependency free

Use Chart.js when you need:

• Fast loading, simple charts
• Canvas based charts
• Web responsive charts
• Animation support

Chart.js Usage Statistics:

• Used in over 350,000 websites
• 8.5 million downloads/month on npm
• 4.7/5 stars on WordPress.org

Attendance chart made with Chart.js (Image source: HowToChart)

Some examples of Chart.js charts:

• Bar charts
• Line charts
• Area charts
• Doughnut and pie charts
• Polar area charts
• Radar charts
• Scatter charts
• Bubble charts

Chart.js uses HTML5 canvas for rendering charts out of the box. You also have the option to render charts in SVG or CSS.

It supports animation for smooth interactions as data changes. Charts also render perfectly across desktop and mobile.

The library is beginner friendly but highly flexible for advanced customizations. You can extensively style charts using the API.

Key Features:

• Lightweight (only 56kB minified+gzipped)
• Intuitive API
• 8 chart types
• Animation support
• Responsive & retina displays
• Browser compatibility

Integrates With:

• React, Angular, Vue via wrappers
• Django, Ruby on Rails, Laravel etc.
• Bootstrap, Material Design etc.

For fast loading, dependency-free charts, Chart.js is a stellar choice.

3. DataTables (Interactive Tables)

DataTables lets you enhance HTML tables on your site with interactive features like:

• Searching
• Sorting
• Pagination

Its charting integration also provides powerful data visualization capabilities.

Use DataTables when you need:

• Interactive HTML tables
• All table data visualization
• Excel-like interactions
• CSS styling options

DataTables is the most popular plugin for interactive tables in WordPress with over 2 million active installs.

It works seamlessly with server-side data sources and integrates with jQuery. You can also export your data to Excel, CSV and PDF.

Interactive table example (Image source: DataTables)

Key Features:

• Table searching, sorting etc.
• Server-side processing support
• Multi-column ordering
• Extensive API and events
• Localization for i18n sites
• Extensive styling with CSS

Integrates With:

• Bootstrap, Foundation etc.
• Frontend frameworks like Vue
• Server-side platforms like ASP.NET

For interactive, sortable tables and charts from table data, DataTables is the go-to plugin.

4. TablePress (Responsive Tables)

TablePress offers an intuitive Excel-like editor to create and manage tables in WordPress posts and pages.

Its key highlights include:

• Spreadsheet-like table builder
• Responsive tables
• Sorting, searching and pagination
• Easy to embed tables anywhere

Use TablePress When You Need:

• A spreadsheet-style table builder
• Responsive tables for mobile
• Tables embedded via shortcodes
• Import from CSV files

TablePress makes entering even large data tables easy through its familiar spreadsheet interface. Your tables will look great on all screen sizes.

Over 200,000+ active installs makes TablePress the #1 table plugin for WordPress.

Sortable table created with TablePress (Image source: TablePress)

Key Features:

• Intuitive Excel-like builder
• Insert, delete & merge cells
• Automatic responsive output
• Filters, sorting etc.
• Embed via shortcodes
• Custom CSS styles
• CSV import & export

Integrates With:

• Classic Editor and Block Editor
• Themes like Divi, Avada etc.
• Page builders like Elementor, BeaverBuilder, SiteOrigin etc.

For responsive, mobile-ready data tables, TablePress is the best fit.

5. wpDataTables (Premium Features)

wpDataTables is a premium WordPress plugin for creating complex tables, charts and graphs.

It‘s a good fit when you need advanced table features like:

• Editable tables
• Frontend table editing
• Multiple data sources
• Conditional formatting
• Calculated columns

Use wpDataTables When You Require:

• Spreadsheet-style editing
• Charts and graphs
• Filter and search tables
• Frontend table editing
• Excel and CSV imports

wpDataTables is used on over 19,000 websites like NBC, Wired, and Kim Komando.

It starts at a regular price of $99 per year but often has seasonal sales.

Interactive crypto currency price chart built with wpDataTables (Image source: wpDataTables)

Key Features:

• Excel-like builder
• Charting functionality
• Calculated columns
• Frontend editing
• Sorting, filtering etc.
• PDF and CSV exports

Integrates With:

• Bootstrap 3 & 4
• Page builders like Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder
• Forms like Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms etc.

For advanced data table management paired with data visualization, wpDataTables is a robust premium choice.

6. Table of Contents Plus (TOC)

While Table of Contents Plus is designed for creating a table of contents on a page, it offers a Chart and Graphs integration.

This allows you to create bar charts and graphs to visualize page contents, word count statistics, and other data.

Use TOC Plus When You Need:

• Automatically generate TOC
• Basic data visualization
• Charts based on content

Though not a full featured data visualization plugin, TOC Plus offers an easy way to generate charts from your page‘s contents.

Charts visualization data from post contents (Image source: WordPress.org)

Key Features:

• Automatic TOC generation
• Insert TOC anywhere
• Chart creation from content stats
• Customizable look and feel
• No coding required

Integrates With:

• Classic Editor
• Block Editor
• Themes and page builders

For basic data visualization specifically from your post contents, TOC Plus provides an easy solution.

7. QuadMenu (Menu Data Visualization)

QuadMenu is a unique WordPress plugin that lets you visualize your website menu usage data through interactive charts and graphs.

It offers insight into:

• Most visited menu items
• Least clicked items
• Menu items with high bounce rates

Use QuadMenu When You Want:

• Data on menu usage
• Optimization recommendations
• Menu click visualizations

Having clear menu usage data helps you optimize navigation for maximum engagement.

Nav menu usage data visualized in QuadMenu (Image source: QuadMenu)

Key Features:

• Interactive menu usage charts
• Data to improve navigation
• Discover broken submenu links
• Recommendations to optimize menus
• Integration with Google Analytics

Integrates With:

• Google Analytics
• Major WordPress themes like Astra
• Page builders like Elementor, Brizy etc.

QuadMenu provides unique yet invaluable data visualization about your website navigation.

Data Visualization Plugins Comparison

Here‘s a quick overview of some key differences between these top plugins:

Plugin	Paid/Free	Key Features
FusionCharts	Paid	90+ complex chart types, 1,400+ maps, real-time charts, full customization
Chart.js	Open source	Lightweight with minimal dependencies, clean HTML5 charts
DataTables	Free	Interactive data tables, sorting/search/export, basic charts
TablePress	Free	Responsive spreadsheet-style table builder, embed via shortcodes
wpDataTables	Paid	Frontend table editing, advanced charts, calculated columns
TOC Plus	Free	Create charts from your post content stats
QuadMenu	Paid	Menu usage statistics and insights

As you can see, there is a data visualization plugin for virtually any need and budget!

Beginner‘s Guide to Implementing Data Visualizations in WordPress

Here are some pro tips to help you get started with using data visualization plugins in WordPress:

• Choose the right chart type – Pick charts that make sense for your data type like bar charts for comparisons over time

• Simplify the design – Avoid overly complex visualizations and 3D effects

• Make it interactive – Enable features like filtering, drill down etc. where possible

• Optimize page load – Use a caching plugin and lazy load images/charts

• Focus on mobile – Use responsive chart sizes and retina resolution

• Pick the right plugin – Evaluate free vs paid and customization needs

• Have a data strategy – Plan how you‘ll integrate live data sources where required

• Test audience response – See which visualizations your visitors engage with most

• Provide context – Use text and captions to explain the data shown

Following these tips will help you implement data visualizations that effectively communicate insights to your readers.

Top Themes and Page Builders for Data Visualization

These WordPress themes and page builders make it easy to add charts and graphs to your website:

Themes

• Astra – Popular free theme, integrates with major plugins
• GeneratePress – Lightweight premium theme, Elementor integration
• OceanWP – Features boxes to highlight charts
• Divi – Drag and drop insertion of visualizations

Page Builders

• Elementor – Leading freemium page builder, seamless chart insertion
• Beaver Builder – Easy graph and chart modules to add
• Brizy – Visual editor to style charts and graphs
• SiteOrigin – Widgets and shortcode support for visuals

These solutions help you implement data visualizations without needing custom code.

Which Businesses Benefit Most from Data Visualizations?

Here are some examples of sites and industries that can derive massive value from using data visualizations effectively:

• Finance – Interactive charts to display stock prices, market trends etc.
• Cryptocurrency -Graphs to showcase currency values and price fluctuations
• Marketing – Charts to compare growth metrics and campaigns
• Real estate – Maps and graphs to display property prices and trends
• Medical – Visualize patient health records and medical research
• Non-profits – Showcase impact and statistics to supporters
• Government – Enable data-driven policy and budget decisions
• Education – Engaging ways to display student performance
• Sports – Game and player statistics visualized through graphs

Any website with data is a candidate for better visualization. Implementing these techniques can lead to higher engagement and faster insights for your readers.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, WordPress offers diverse yet user-friendly plugins for all your data visualization needs.

Whether you want a lightweight charting library like Chart.js or a full featured data charting engine like FusionCharts, there are fantastic options.

Think strategically about the data you want to highlight, and choose the right plugin for your specific needs. Emphasize mobile-friendly and interactive charts to provide the best user experience.

Used well, data visualization plugins empower you to communicate complex insights and tell visual data stories that engage your readers. Just as a picture speaks a thousand words, a chart can convey the insights from a thousand data points!

So explore these plugins, start experimenting, and watch your website visitors enjoy interacting with your data like never before.