Below is a long list of tools, website, etc that I have used or found on the web. They can be used to help build data visualizations, charts, graphs, etc. Some require no programing and others can be complex. As with most things the more complex the tool the more possibilities for customization exist.
I originally created this list as a Google Square and it can be found here: Data Visualization Tools . Feel free to go there and make updates or add others (I was hoping to just embed the Square, but it actually took a bit of the massaging). You may notice the descriptions are listed as Google Squared provided them. I may go back at a latter time and add to them if there is interest.
There are a vast number of solutions out there in this area with some really interesting approaches and great technology.
UPDATE: I have created a quick reference for which tools have which Visualization Types.
| Name | Image | Google Description |
| Cartographer.js |  |
Cartographer.js. “Thematic mapping for Google Maps”—which means an easy way of adding heat maps (aka chloropleths), pie charts and point clusters as a layer … |
| Flare |  |
Flare visualization toolkit. http://flare.prefuse.org. Flare is a collection of ActionScript 3 classes for building a wide variety of interactive … |
| Flot |  |
Flot is a pure Javascript plotting library for jQuery. It produces graphical plots of arbitrary datasets on-the-fly client-side. … |
| Google Chart API |  |
The Google Chart API lets you dynamically generate charts. To see the Chart API in action, open up a browser window and copy the following URL into the … |
| Google Maps API |  |
The Google Maps API lets you embed Google Maps in your own web pages with JavaScript. The API provides a number of utilities for manipulating maps (just … |
| Google Visualization API |
 |
The Google Visualization API lets you access multiple sources of structured data that you can display, choosing from a large selection of visualizations. … |
| GraphViz |  |
Graphviz is open source graph visualization software. It has several main graph layout programs. See the gallery for some sample layouts. … |
| JFree |  |
JFreeChart is a free 100% Java chart library that makes it easy for developers to display professional quality charts in their applications. … |
| JGraph |  |
JGraph and mxGraph are leading edge graph visualization component product families. They enable software developers to rapidly add complex and professional … |
| JSViz |  |
I gave in and finally integrated support into JSViz, and just in time for the Safari 3 Beta (which I’m really digging so far)! … |
| JUNG |  |
As a library, JUNG can be used both to build network-oriented tools, and to provide network … Analysis and Visualization of Network Data using JUNG … |
| JavaScript InfoVis Toolkit |
 |
The JavaScript InfoVis Toolkit provides tools for creating Interactive … You may use the JIT with your favorite DOM manipulation framework; Extensible … |
| Many Eyes |  |
quick start · visualization types · about Many Eyes · blog. Throbber_home. visualizations, data sets, people, comments … |
| MooWheel |  |
MooWheel is a mootools based script to create unique and elegant visualize data using JavaScript and the object. Using MooWheel is very simple and … |
| Open Flash Chart |
 |
Info: Open Flash Chart 2 is out. Version 1.x and these pages will never disappear and the charts will continue working forever, but further development on … |
| OpenLayers |  |
OpenLayers makes it easy to put a dynamic map in any web page. It can display map tiles and markers loaded from any source. … |
| PlotKit |  |
PlotKit is a Javascript graph plotting library. It is aimed at web applications that require plotting series of data in modern web browsers. … |
| Prefuse |  |
Prefuse is a set of software tools for creating rich interactive data visualizations. The original prefuse toolkit provides a visualization framework for … |
| Processing.js |  |
Processing.js is an open programming language for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions for the web without using Flash or Java … |
| Protovis |  |
Now researchers at Stanford are offering a suite of tools called Protovis that streamline the process of building data visualizations. … |
| Raphaël JS |
 |
Raphaël is a small JavaScript library that should simplify your work with vector graphics on the web. If you want to create your own specific chart or image … |
| SIMILE Exhibit |  |
The Exhibit project has graduated and moved on with its life. Visit the new home page for more information on how to join the new mailing lists, … |
| SIMILE Runway |  |
SIMILE Widgets; Runway. Runway. This widget lets you display images in a rich interactive visualization similar to that of Apple iTunes known as Cover Flow. … |
| SIMILE Timeline |
 |
This software was originally sponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as part of the SIMILE project. Its original author is David François Huynh. … |
| SMILE TimePlot |  |
Ingo Muschenetz, Area Charts in Timeplot, 2007-08-13. Andrew Plotkin, Use Smile Timelin in a stand-alone Java application? 2007-08-13 … |
| TufteGraph |  |
Tags: Design Tactics, edward tufte, graph, information visualization, mint, mint .com, moma, newsmap, tufte, Web 2.0, widget. Much has been made of Mint.com, … |
| Ubigraph |  |
for visualizing both 1-mode and 2-mode social network data; Ubigraph, in 3D, requires coding skills and runs on Linux and Mac; TouchGraph and TouchGraph … |
| jQ Chart |  |
J Q Adams Elementary – TAKS Test Scores – 6th Grade – Reading … About the charts. This graph shows two data columns for the “% met standard” of the Texas … |
| jQuery Google Charts |
 |
jQuery Google Charts. DEMO SITE. Basic usage: var api = new jGCharts.Api(); jQuery(‘ .attr(‘src’, api.make({data : [[153, 60, 52], [113, 70, 60], … |
| jQuery Sparklines |
 |
I gave a quick 5 minute demo at the Splunk Developers Boot Camp on using the Splunk PHP SDK with jquery.sparkline.js to chart the traffic this page received … |
| jQuery Visualize |
 |
This is an example from the Filament Group Lab Article: jQuery Visualize Plugin: Accessible Charts & Graphs from Table Elements using HTML 5 Canvas … |
| pChart |  |
pChart | a PHP Charting library. Sunday, September 20, 2009. opensource: del. icio.us tag/opensource · PHP graphics image graph visualization charts … |
| Style Chart |  |
a free chart engine and API that is available as both a hosted JavaScript service and a downloadable Java library |
| Visualize Free | a free web-based tool that allows you to build sophisticated interactive dashboards using your own data in a Flex GUI in your browser |
The Pearl 
I also came across a post on ReadWriteWeb.com that cover this topic, but they do not separate what is being visualized from the tool, but a really amazing post and worth checking out.
[…] List of Data Visualization Tools for Designers and Developers « The Pearl perlitalabs.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/list-of-data-visualization-tools-for-designers-and-developers – view page – cached Below is a long list of tools, website, etc that I have used or found on the web. They can be used to help build data visualizations, charts, graphs, etc. Some require no programing and others can… Read moreBelow is a long list of tools, website, etc that I have used or found on the web. They can be used to help build data visualizations, charts, graphs, etc. Some require no programing and others can be complex. As with most things the more complex the tool the more possibilities for customization Read less […]
Another two to add to the list:
Style Chart – http://chart.inetsoft.com – a free chart engine and API that is available as both a hosted JavaScript service and a downloadable Java library
Visualize Free – http://visualizefree.com – a free web-based tool that allows you to build sophisticated interactive dashboards using your own data in a Flex GUI in your browser
Hi Byron,
I added those to the Google Square and the table above. Do you have any experience using them?
Yes, I do.
I had played with some of the other packages in your list, but Style Chart is the most flexible chart API I’ve ever seen. This is evidenced by the diversity of examples in the gallery: http://chart.inetsoft.com/gallery.html
For interactive visualizations, I used ManyEyes and Google Visualization before, but they focus on single presentations using a limited set of options. Visualize Free on the other hand let’s you add multiple components, including charts, gauges, text, images, and filtering widgets. Here’s one of my favorite examples: http://visualizefree.com/public.jsp?id=WOghOnyu
really good list. cheers
Great list. I thought I would also mention Big Faceless Graph Library – http://big.faceless.org/products/graph/
Hi Daniel, It looks like there are a lot of good graphs created by your tool. I have been trying to focus on free or open chart and graphing libraries. What is the extent of your trial offering?
Thank you.
It’s fully functional free trial software. Just download and use to evaluate the software. If someone decides to make a purchase we will issue them with a license file to remove the demo stamp.
[…] any of the other graphing and charting libraries that I have reviewed (see list of Data Visualization Tools), but it should be. It is an extremely powerful way to filter through data and see associations […]
[…] List of Data Visualization Tools for Designers and Developers « The Pearl (tags: visualization graphs javascript tools) […]
[…] for visualizing data on the web. Some of the best of them are even free. In my post providing a list of data visualization tools, I briefly covered about 30 of these tools, but I felt there was something more to do here. Each […]
Here is another great list: 28 Rich Data Visualization Tools
this is fascinating stuff. how do you explain the inherent value of visualization to others?
I struggle trying to state my opinions on changing why data is so much more effective when using some of the stated visualization techniques above.
would love to see a post on the ‘values of visualization’
Thanks Lucy,
Check out this post on what data visualization matters.