Best SharePoint Charting Tools Compared (2025)SharePoint remains a core collaboration and intranet platform for many organizations. Visualizing business data inside SharePoint pages and dashboards helps teams make faster decisions, track KPIs, and communicate insights. In 2025 the landscape of charting tools for SharePoint includes Microsoft’s built-in options, first‑party Power Platform components, and several strong third‑party vendors. This article compares the best SharePoint charting tools available in 2025, their strengths and weaknesses, typical use cases, licensing considerations, and integration tips to help you pick the right solution for your site or intranet.
Why charting inside SharePoint matters
- SharePoint often stores business data (lists, document metadata, library counts) that stakeholders want visualized without moving it to another BI platform.
- Embedded charts keep context—users can see visuals alongside related documents, processes, or pages.
- Good charting tools allow interactive filtering, drilldown, and real‑time updates, which improves decision workflows.
Comparison overview
Below is a concise comparison of leading SharePoint charting approaches in 2025: out-of-the-box SharePoint capabilities, Microsoft Power Platform (Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate), and third‑party tools (e.g., Plumsail, Lightning Tools, ShortPoint, DevExpress, and AMCharts/AnyChart integrations).
| Tool / Approach | Best for | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| SharePoint Online built-in (List views, Quick Chart, Column charts) | Simple list-level visuals | No extra license, quick to add, integrated permissions | Limited interactivity, basic chart types, scaling issues |
| Power BI (embedded) | Enterprise analytics & dashboards | Rich visuals, advanced analytics, strong integration, row‑level security | Licensing cost (Pro/Premium), embedding complexity |
| Power Apps + Web Parts | Custom interactive visuals & mini‑apps | Highly customizable UI, works with many data sources | Requires app development skill, performance on large data |
| Plumsail Charts & Forms | Custom visuals, forms + charts | Easy low-code connectors, nice UX, good SharePoint integration | Paid, limited to vendor features |
| ShortPoint | Intranet design + visual widgets | Page design focus, many widgets incl. charts | More design than analytics, cost |
| DevExpress / Syncfusion web parts | Developer-grade charts | High performance, many chart types, responsive | Requires dev work, licensing |
| AMCharts / AnyChart via SPFx | Advanced custom visuals | Complete control, modern visuals, client-side speed | Needs SPFx development, licensing for some libs |
Detailed tool breakdown
SharePoint built‑in charts
What it is: SharePoint Online provides list view formatting, column charts in modern lists, and simple Quick Chart web part.
Best for: Lightweight scenarios—show counts, simple trends, or categorical breakdowns directly from a list.
Pros: No additional licensing, easy setup, respects SharePoint permissions.
Cons: Very basic visual types, no advanced filtering, lacks drilldown and calculated measures.
Practical tip: Use list view formatting JSON to add inline bar or KPI-style indicators when you need lightweight visuals without extra tools.
Power BI (embedded in SharePoint)
What it is: Power BI offers a full analytics stack; reports can be embedded into SharePoint pages with the Power BI web part.
Best for: Enterprise dashboards, cross‑source analytics, and scenarios needing complex calculations or RLS (row‑level security).
Pros: Rich visuals, custom visuals marketplace, scheduled refresh, AI features (Q&A, automated insights).
Cons: Power BI Pro or Premium licensing needed for broad sharing; embedding paged/premium features can add cost and complexity.
When to choose: If you need multi‑source analytics (SharePoint lists, SQL, Excel, APIs) and interactive drilldown for managers or executives, Power BI is the default recommendation.
Integration note: Use the Power BI web part and ensure report and SharePoint site users have appropriate Power BI licensing; for large audiences, consider Premium or Premium Per User (PPU) planning.
Power Apps and custom Web Parts (SPFx)
What it is: Power Apps lets you build low‑code apps and interactive visuals; SPFx (SharePoint Framework) web parts enable custom React/Vue/Vanilla JS visuals using charting libraries.
Best for: Highly interactive, transactional UI where charts are part of an app (edit data, trigger flows).
Pros: Tailored UX, can include editing and workflows, works with Microsoft Dataverse and other connectors.
Cons: Requires development/design effort; performance can vary with client-side code and large datasets.
Example: Build a Power Apps dashboard that shows a SharePoint list trend chart and includes buttons to create items or start approvals via Power Automate.
Third‑party low-code tools (Plumsail, ShortPoint, Lightning Tools)
What they are: Vendor solutions that add charting web parts, templates, and UX widgets to SharePoint with minimal coding.
Best for: Teams wanting richer visuals than built‑ins without full Power BI investment or custom dev.
Pros: Faster to deploy than custom SPFx, support included, often designed for SharePoint contexts.
Cons: Ongoing licensing, capability limits vs. BI platforms, vendor dependency.
Advice: Evaluate trial versions on a representative site and check how they handle permissions, mobile responsiveness, and data refresh.
Developer libraries via SPFx (AMCharts, AnyChart, DevExpress, Syncfusion)
What it is: Use SPFx to embed commercial/OSS charting libraries into custom web parts.
Best for: Organizations with dev teams needing bespoke visuals, animations, or performance on complex datasets.
Pros: Total control over visuals, can be optimized for performance, supports advanced charts (Sankey, network, geospatial).
Cons: Requires SPFx knowledge, maintenance overhead, and potential library licensing costs.
Security note: Keep client-side rendering mindful of large data volumes; use server APIs or pagination for heavy datasets.
Typical selection guidance (by scenario)
- If you need a simple chart directly from a SharePoint list: use SharePoint built-in charts.
- For enterprise reporting, cross‑dataset analytics, and secure sharing: choose Power BI.
- For interactive apps combining charts and data entry: use Power Apps or SPFx custom web parts.
- For quick intranet visuals with better aesthetics than built‑ins without heavy dev: try Plumsail or ShortPoint.
- For fully custom, high‑performance visuals: build with SPFx + commercial chart library.
Licensing & cost considerations
- SharePoint Online built‑ins: included with Microsoft 365 licensing.
- Power BI: Pro (per user), Premium Per User (PPU), and Premium Capacity tiers — assess audience size and distribution needs.
- Power Apps: per‑app or per‑user plans may apply for production usage beyond included M365 allowances.
- Third‑party vendors: usually subscription or perpetual license plus support; check per‑tenant vs per‑user pricing.
- Commercial chart libraries: often require runtime licensing for production use.
Performance, security, and governance tips
- Limit client‑side rendering for very large lists; use server‑side aggregation or Power BI to precompute.
- Ensure charts respect SharePoint permissions or implement RLS in Power BI for sensitive data.
- Standardize look & feel (colors, fonts, legend placement) across the intranet for consistent interpretation.
- Include accessible alternatives: data tables, alt text, and color‑blind friendly palettes.
- Establish governance: approved chart types, data sources, refresh cadence, and review process for vendor web parts.
Implementation checklist
- Identify data sources (SharePoint lists, SQL, Excel, APIs).
- Choose the tool based on interactivity, audience size, and licensing constraints.
- Prototype on a test site and validate performance with realistic data volumes.
- Define refresh strategy (real‑time, scheduled, manual).
- Apply accessibility and security checks (RLS, permissions).
- Train content owners on maintaining visuals and data sources.
Final recommendation
- For enterprise analytics and broad sharing: Power BI is the strongest choice in 2025.
- For low‑code intranet visuals and faster deployment without Power BI overhead: consider third‑party web parts (Plumsail/ShortPoint).
- For highly custom interactive experiences: use Power Apps or SPFx with charting libraries.
Choose based on who will consume the charts, how interactive they must be, and whether you need enterprise governance features like RLS and scheduled refresh.
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