Are you looking to enhance the design of your next animated chart or graph?
Animated charts allow you to visualize and tell a story with data. For example, with a bar graph, you can increase or decrease each bar. A pie chart can have its split sections animated. In fact, animation can be used to liven up and reinforce practically any sort of chart.
There is no doubt that animation creates a more engaging chart than the average static representation.
Available tools allow you to customize timeframes and other features related to statistical graphics. You can also export charts as GIFs or videos, or export and publish your chart directly to a website.
Start creating animated charts, and get inspired by this compilation of stand-out animated chart tools to help you tell your data story.
Awesome tools to create animated charts with
Recommended: wpDataTables
wpDataTables can help you create animated charts in WordPress. There’s a good reason why it’s the #1 WordPress plugin for creating responsive tables and charts.
And it’s really easy to do something like this:
- You provide the table data
- Configure and customize it
- Publish it in a post or page
And it’s not just pretty, but also practical. You can make large tables with up to millions of rows, or you can use advanced filters and search, or you can go wild and make it editable.
“Yeah, but I just like Excel too much and there’s nothing like that on websites”. Yeah, there is. You can use conditional formatting like in Excel or Google Sheets.
Did I tell you how you can create charts with your data? And that’s only a small part. There are lots of other features for you.
LiveGap Charts
Create a variety of animated charts with LiveGap. A straightforward and user-friendly interface means anyone can do it. The procedure is the same as when you’re creating a standard chart. If you’re struggling to find a particular graphic template, then check out what’s available on Flourish Studio.
Select your animated chart type, and insert your data—it’s that simple or use the spreadsheet to add data to be mapped. You can also import data from or to a CSV file. Data immediately shows up on the chart as the information is entered.
After that, you can customize an array of details such as subtitles, legends, color, annotations, titles, animation, and segments. Choose the duration of your animated charts, and then save your creation as a WEBM video.
Visme
Visme happens to be one of the most powerful online graph-making tools available, and it’s free. Anyone can produce their own animated charts, social media imagery, infographics, presentations, adverts, or banners. As an online, cloud-based platform you can easily visualize your data and work together with other Visme users on your projects.
Inform and entertain with your graphs using such elements as animated graphs, live statistics integration, and voice-over. If you’re a business that depends on charts and graphs to get data points across or a teacher or student looking to create a great presentation, this is the tool for you.
Select the right chart types for your data story from a library of hundreds of templates. Visme’s animation and interactive characteristics are exactly what you need to generate an animated chart to outdo any static chart.
Chart.js
Chart.js is a basic and adaptable JavaScript library for different chart types. Chart.js is a tech stack tool. Some key elements include a wide choice of chart types and the fact that it’s open source and enables animation and interaction. Several community players have contributed to the features and operation of this free, independent tool.
Render quality charts throughout all current browsers utilizing HTML5 Canvas for output. The charts are responsive, which enables you to create mobile-friendly graphics. A range of plugins provides support for data streaming, financial charts, and crosshairs.
Datawrapper
Developed in Germany about a decade ago, Datawrapper is set to shake up the data visualization world. This user-friendly tool allows you to design tables, maps, and charts.
It’s so simple to generate, embed, or share visualizations, and its responsiveness and interactivity with map features put it ahead of the competition. Try it out with dummy data if you’d like to familiarize yourself with the tool first. However, it’s important to note that other features, such as title fonts and color, are limited.
The basic wizard concept tool will assist you in creating the right interactive visualization to communicate your data to your audience, whether it’s a breaking news story or a niche history blog. Be inspired by the online gallery of works from other users with Datawrrapper’s River, and get going with your own creation.
This tool is free and doesn’t require any sign-up to start using it.
Bar Chart Race
This program’s name speaks for itself, literally. Bar Chart Race sets out to create bar chart race examples that focus on how changes in values occur over a specified timeframe and other metrics. This free tool communicates your insights and progress using bar chart race design principles to create context.
This generator tool works with data from a CSV file. The website guides you on how to enter the data. This program transforms your data into an animated bar chart that displays on the screen.
Unfortunately, there is no available option to download or share the data visualization you have created. If you’d like to add this animated chart to your website, you’ll have to use GitHub to retrieve your code, substitute the datasets with your CSV file, and then attach that to your webpage.
Flourish Studio
With Flourish Studio, you transform data into an animated interactive experience. Design any number of heatmaps, graphs, scatter charts, 3D maps, hierarchy diagrams, pictograms, and others.
After selecting your data visualization template and adding your info, the Flourish Studio presents a preview. Data can be entered manually or imported from Excel, TSV, GeoJSON, JSON, and CSV files.
You can tweak any of the graph features, which include text, filters, color background, and even add-ons, such as pop-up panels, layout, headers, footers, and annotations.
Features related to animation include configuration and duration options. The process itself is set to private, and you’ll need to add a credit name to your chart. Flourish Studio also boasts a story feature allowing you to add audio to your graphical representation, which makes it more interesting.
Data GIF Maker by Google
Whatever the right format for you, graph, chart, or map, Data GIF Maker from Google will assist you in creating fantastic, animated data visualizations for your report, presentation, or proposal. Simply select your template, add your data, and create an animated data representation. You can even pick from circles, rectangles, and racetracks.
This uncomplicated, free online tool creates common graphs with up to four values.
Data GIF Maker was designed for the storyteller. If you want to do more than just relay the cold, hard facts, then this is your tool.
Everviz
Don’t know how to code? Not a tech expert? It is not a problem. The same team that worked on Highcharts (a notable Javascript software library for charting) put together Everviz. And although it’s not complicated to work with, its price tag is a little steep. As a chart-making tool, it is somewhat limited, but you can still create and publish different types of interactive charts or graphs that are appealing and practical.
Use the video download feature to incorporate visualization into your videos and breathe energy and fun into your animated data. With this tool, you can create some eye-catching animated charts and graphs that turn your data into stories.
You’ll also find collaborative options available. You can upload custom fonts, incorporate dummy data, make use of extensive templates, and even update data with embedded charts. Everviz keeps up with functional accessibility trends by supporting users with visual, motor, and cognitive disabilities.
Tableau
Tableau is considered a leader in the industry of business intelligence software. The program is supported by Salesforce and integrates smoothly with Slack. A wide range of businesses recognize and use Tableau due to its outstanding performance in data visualizations. And no wonder, data analytics is the program’s focal point.
Users can pick from a variety of products that cater to specific audiences and functions. Go in-depth with your data, make sense of statistics, and shine a spotlight on your data story with Tableau.
You might wonder if there are any drawbacks. Tableau has a complex learning curve, so be sure you’re ready to invest the time and mental energy.
With this tool, you can bring together data from several sources to create data-centric visualizations (such as interactive bar charts and graphs) to transform facts and figures into practical narratives. Large datasets also perform well with Tableau’s applications.
The free version, Tableau Public, allows you to create and publish your animated data visualizations and share them with your audience.
Frequently asked questions about animated charts
What are animated charts and why are they useful?
Data visualizations that employ animation to communicate information are called animated charts.
They are helpful because they may make difficult-to-understand data more interesting and understandable, especially when it comes to demonstrating changes over time.
What types of data are best suited for animated charts?
For data that fluctuates over time, such as stock prices, weather patterns, or population increase, animated charts work well.
They can be helpful in demonstrating how several variables interact with one another over time.
What are some common types of animated charts?
Line charts, bar charts, area charts, scatter plots, and bubble charts are examples of common animated chart types.
These graphs can compare data from many categories, show how data has changed over time, or highlight certain data points.
How do I create an animated chart?
Typically, employing specific software or programming languages like the ones presented in this article is required to create an animated chart.
In order to make the animation understandable and obvious, it is crucial to select the proper style of chart for your data.
What are some best practices for using animated charts?
The use of clear and succinct labeling, keeping the animation basic and easy to follow, and avoiding overcrowding the chart with information are some best practices for using animated charts. It’s crucial to keep the audience in mind and make sure that everyone, even those who are visually impaired, can access the chart.
Ending thoughts
In conclusion, animated charts are a powerful tool for capturing the attention of your audience and bringing your data to life.
Using the fantastic tools we’ve looked at, making animated charts is now simpler than ever.
These tools offer a variety of features and customization choices to help you build attractive visualizations, from straightforward bar charts to intricate interactive dashboards.
So why use static, uninteresting charts when you can make dynamic charts with the help of these fantastic tools that enthrall your audience and effectively communicate your message?
If you enjoyed reading this article with tools to create animated charts, you should read these as well:
- The Different Types of Charts and Graphs You Will Use
- The Best Open-Source Data Visualization Tools You Should Use
- The Best Survey Graph Maker Tools You Can Use for Insightful Charts
