Free tools for making charts and data visualisations: an overview by type

Spreadsheets

• Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc are free, and Microsoft Excel is widely available through work or school.
• Good for: quick bar, line, scatter and pie charts from data already in a table, and for cleaning and summarising data first.
• Limits: default styling often needs work, interactive charts are basic and very large datasets get slow.
• Tip: spend a few minutes removing gridlines, shortening labels and changing the default colours. It makes a big difference.

Online chart builders

• Datawrapper is widely used by newsrooms. Its free plan lets you publish and embed charts, maps and tables and export PNG images. Some advanced options, such as custom house styles and vector export, are on paid plans.
• Flourish offers templates for animated and interactive charts, including bar chart races and scrollytelling. On the free plan, published visualisations are public.
• Good for: clean, accessible charts quickly, with sensible defaults and mobile-friendly embeds.
• Limits: less control than code. Check the privacy terms before uploading sensitive data, since free plans may publish your work publicly.

Code libraries

• Python: matplotlib is the long-established plotting library, seaborn builds on it for statistical charts, and Plotly makes interactive charts.
• R: ggplot2 is one of the most widely used plotting libraries, based on a grammar of graphics that builds a chart in layers.
• JavaScript: D3.js gives complete control over web visualisations but has a steep learning curve. Higher-level libraries such as Chart.js and Vega-Lite are easier to start with.
• Good for: reproducible charts you will update with new data, custom designs and analysis and charts in one place.
• Limits: you need to learn some programming, though plenty of free tutorials exist.
• Free environments: notebooks such as Jupyter let you write code and see charts side by side.

Mapping tools

• QGIS is a free, open-source desktop geographic information system for serious mapping and spatial analysis.
• Online chart builders such as Datawrapper include map types for common regions, often the easiest route to a simple shaded map.
• Code libraries in Python and R also handle maps.
• Always check the licence for the boundary files and base maps you use.

Dashboards and business intelligence tools

• Some vendors offer free desktop versions or free tiers of their dashboard software. These are useful for exploring data and sharing interactive dashboards, though the free versions often restrict private sharing.
• Good for: exploring a dataset with filters and linked charts.
• Limits: they can be heavy for a single static chart.

Diagram and design tools

• General design tools with free plans can be used to polish a chart exported from elsewhere, adding annotations, titles and layout.
• Vector graphics editors such as Inkscape, which is free and open source, are good for refining an exported SVG chart.

How to choose

1. One quick chart for a report? A spreadsheet or an online chart builder.
2. A chart to embed on a website or blog? An online chart builder with responsive embeds.
3. A chart you will update regularly? Code, so you can re-run it with new data.
4. A map? An online builder for simple shaded maps, QGIS or code for anything more complex.
5. Exploring a big dataset? Code or a dashboard tool.

Whatever you use

• Start with the question the chart should answer.
• Keep the source data and note where it came from.
• Check colour choices for colour-blind readers.
• Export at a good resolution, or as SVG where supported.