Comparison
MakeCharts vs Flourish
Flourish is a data-storytelling platform: interactive, animated visualisations built from templates and embedded in articles. MakeCharts is an editor for charts that end up in a deck, a report or a post as an image. They overlap on chart types and diverge on almost everything else.
Feature by feature
| Feature | MakeCharts | Flourish |
|---|---|---|
| What you get out | A static chart: SVG, PNG, PDF | An interactive, animated embed, plus PNG/JPEG/SVG/HTML |
| Editing | Plain-language chat over the whole chart | Template settings panels |
| Attribution on the free plan | A small watermark on exports, removed on paid plans | Flourish attribution required on free published work |
| Are free projects public | Private unless you turn on link sharing | Published projects are public on the free plan |
| Interactivity and animation | An animated export, but the chart itself is static | Its whole reason to exist |
| Template range | 15 chart types with 120 worked examples | A large template gallery including maps and racing bars |
| Live co-editing | Yes, with roles and presence | Team features sit on paid plans; check their pricing |
| Paid pricing | €19.90 a month, published | Custom contracts, not published |
Plans and limits read from Flourish in August 2026. Pricing changes — check theirs before deciding.
When Flourish is the better choice
If the output is going on a web page and should move — a scrollytelling piece, a racing bar chart, a map a reader can hover — Flourish is built for that and MakeCharts is not. Newsrooms use it for good reason, and its template gallery is far wider than fifteen chart types.
The short version
Flourish for interactive journalism on the web. MakeCharts for the chart that has to look right in a slide on Monday, be edited by asking, and export as clean vector without a public URL.
Questions people ask
- Is MakeCharts a free alternative to Flourish?
- For static charts, yes: the editor and exports are free, and unlike Flourish's free plan your charts are not published publicly unless you choose to share them. For interactive embeds Flourish remains the stronger tool.
- Can I keep my charts private?
- Yes. Charts are private to your workspace by default. Sharing is opt-in per chart, and until you turn it on the public URL returns nothing even to someone who knows the id.
- Do I need an account to try MakeCharts?
- No. The editor opens and works without signing up — import data, edit by chatting and export. An account is only needed to save charts to the cloud and to collaborate with a team.