If you've ever tried to compose a web report, you know what it feels like if the result is close but no cigar. It may work, but the scrolling is slow because of poor data rendering; customization is limited to a basic theme; and there’s no drag-and-drop functionality — slowing down work and irritating users.
Finding a web pivot grid component that fits your project is possible, but not effortless. There are tons of options on the market: pivot table libraries, grid components with pivoting functionality, bundles with lots of reporting stuff, etc.
So I did the research for you! I tested the ten most popular pivot solutions and wrote an honest opinion on every single one. I believe that data analytics rules the world, so I dedicate this project to finding a perfect tool from the developer's side of view.
Every project demands a unique set of features in their pivot table. As a result, some devs pay attention to framework compatibility first, some test the loading speed, and some need flexible customization options.
I decided to categorize these tools based on their licensing models.
Let's start with free and open-source tools to analyze which features this category can offer.
Free and Open-source
Pivot table. js
PivotTable.js is an open-source JavaScript Pivot Table library. Its code is the basis of many other pivot tables, which says a lot about its architecture and ease of work. It is also customizable not only in the way it looks but also for localization.
This pivot grid also allows chart creation, including some types of bars and heat map options, but the variety of charts is relatively poor. The documentation describes the processes well, but this pivot is still simple in a functional way, so you probably will need to choose a more prosperous solution or make a lot of changes.
You can also check other people's forks and play with the library yourself the way you need. It's a simple, yet excellent tool to start with.
Loading speed: 10 000 rows / per 90 msec
Licensing:
WebDataRocks Pivot Table
WebDataRocks Pivot Table offers data analysis and visualization with simple integration and complex data analysis. Its functionality is similar to Flexmonster (a more advanced pivot grid we will review later), though mileage may wary in terms of integration, customization options, and adding data sources.
This tool was created by true fans of data, and the functionality shows. The tool is more functional than pivot table.js and looks up-to-date, with constant technical support.
Another good thing about WebDataRocks Pivot is that it is absolutely free. But it does have some data limitations, which is fine as long as your needs don’t exceed 1 MB. The tool also serves as entry way into Flexmonster’s commercial options, since their team developed this free offering.
Loading speed: 10 000 rows / per 58 msec
Licensing: Free,
Commercial tools
Flexmonster Pivot Table & Charts
Flexmonster Pivot is a JavaScript tool for visualizing business data. This pivot table can be integrated with any stack due to the wide support of modern development technologies and frameworks.
Rich functionality, including basic ones, is situated on a comfy, customizable toolbar. You can easily aggregate, filter, sort, and group data for specific insights. Try a drill-up-and-down function to see your data from different points of view.
The great advantage of Flexmonster Pivot is that you can work with massive data sets from MongoDB, ElasticSearch, OLAP cubes, any SQL database, or files up to 1GB. Rendering even millions of rows won't cause any freezes or lags, as shown in one of the demos.
True pros - the extensive API and the constant product update and support with the biweekly minors, so the team is working only on this one product.
The only drawback I can call is the price for one pivot solution. Though, in my opinion, it is worth it if your aim is a pivot table in its best version.
Loading speed: 10 000 raws / per 35 msec
Licensing: starting at $799
Ag-grid
Ag-grid is a JavaScript data grid. It works with popular frameworks, such as Angular, Vue, or React, and of course, pure JS, and boasts of a simple toolbar with all basic functions. Among them are column selection, column reorder, row expansion, pagination, and virtual scroll. More functions can be found in the documentation, which is well-structured but not often updated.
And the rendering works fast, even with 100k rows. The ability to handle big data sets is an excellent advantage of Ag-grid, as seen in the comparative analysis towards the end of the article. Ag-grid can load 10 000 rows faster than most of the tools in this list.
Nonetheless, Ag-grid might not be the best solution out there as it’s just a grid with a pivot function. Not necessarily a tool ultra focused on pivoting as a whole.
Loading: 10 000 rows / 38 msec
Licensing: MIT for non-commercial usage (without pivot option)
A commercial license starts at $750
Dev bundles with pivot table controls
Developers also have the choice of software packages that provide a full range of solutions. These are good for those looking for a full-fledged reporting solution within an analytical or planning application. Among these kits are Syncfusion, DevExtreme, Kendo UI Grid, and JQwidgets, which offer the ability to purchase pivot functionality either separately or as part of an overall package.
Syncfusion
Well-trusted enterprise company Syncfusion offers many software components, including a pivot table. Like most of the products in the list, this tool is compatible with popular frameworks and has basic pivot functionality: data binding, drilling up and down, Excel-like filtering and sorting, editing, Excel and PDF exporting, several built-in aggregations, field lists, and calculated fields.
You can find all the needed demos and rich documentation on the site. They have a rich knowledge base and an active blog with various articles that can be helpful when using the component.
It's a good choice for when you’re already within the Syncfusion ecosystem and need to add a pivot functionality.
Loading speed: 10 000 rows / 53 msec
Pricing: starting at $995
DevExtreme
DevExtreme has a bundle of JS components for web development. Their DataGrid is a client-side grid control available as a jQuery component that supports binding from local arrays, JSON files, Web API, OData services, and custom remote services.
I have to note that this one has huge community support. For example, DevExtreme has 1.6K stars and 487 forks on GitHub. However, the pivot table does not seem to be the most popular products of this bundle. According to reviews, the company doesn’t focus on pivot tables as much as on other of its products.
Loading speed: 10 000 rows / per 90 msec
Licensing model:
A commercial license starts at $499
Kendo UI
This bundle of web dev components are natively built for the most popular frameworks, and include one for a pivot grid. The component differs slightly from other pivot grids, but does include basic features such as paging, sorting, filtering, grouping, frozen columns, virtualization and endless scrolling, state management, binding to SignalR Hub, etc.
Personally, this one looked abandoned, though developers claim they are working on enhancing the component. Due to a lack of a freemium version and rather basic demos, recommending this one is going to be difficult. However, many reviews say it works pretty well with Vue, so consider this if that’s what you’re working with.
Loading: 10 000 rows / 125 per msec
A commercial license starts at $999
JQwidgets
The JqxPivotGrid is a jQuery Grid widget that provides basic pivot functionality. This pivot can be customized with JavaScript APIs. It also works across different devices and browsers. JqxPivotGrid offers an intuitive and easy-to-use user interface with basic data interaction features like grouping, sorting, filtering, paging, and scrolling.
This tool is a little clumsy, though you may like its support. This pivot was seriously puzzled when I tested 10 000 rows of data, meaning it’s not well suited for big data or those looking for customization. The website is also challenging to browse. But given that you get 60+ tools in the bundle with a price of $199, this could be an ideal choice for some.
Licensing: Non-commercial license
Commercial license start at $199
Webix
Webix offers JavaScript UI libraries for speeding up web development, among which you can find pivot tables and charts.
This component works with popular frameworks and claims to be highly flexible for any project. It provides automatic organizing, summarizing, and comparison of complex data.
Demos to show their main functionality are presented on the site: filtering, sorting, highlighting cells with different colors, total amounts by columns and rows, ready-made structures for reports, etc.
The pro: samples are helpful.
The con: the documentation is uncomfortable.
The speed test showed Webix has one of the highest scores and Flexmonster Pivot Table and Ag-Grid.
Loading speed: 10 000 rows / per 36 msec
Commercial license starts at $889
DHTMLX JS Pivot Table
**DHTMLX is a front-end toolkit for implementing complex user interfaces in enterprise web apps. With cross-browser and cross-platform support, they also have an extensive API list to configure your pivot table for any needs. You can customize each aspect of this pivot by modifying one of the available attributes.
They are easy to integrate because all the required information, including documentation, forum, video tutorials, and technical support is super easy to reach.
This product is actively managed, though the loading speed needs to be improved as my analysis detected this as one of the slowest pivot tables. As the DHTMLX pivot and Webix pivot belong to the same company and have many similarities, it still seems Webix pivot is better. Maybe they focused on different tools from their kit.
Loading: 10 000 rows /per 86 msec
A commercial license starts at $299
Comparative Graph
Conclusion
Now, after reading this research on the ten best pivoting components that are available on the market, you can make your own decision based on your needs and preferences. Have to say, they are placed in random order and divided into different categories.
Note!
The speed testing of the pivot grids is tricky, so the results are approximate. Even when testing on the same data, you need to ensure all tools are configured the same, otherwise the results might not be accurate across tools.
I tried my best to arrange all the information and tested the tools on the same data - 10 000 rows of CSV file. Yet, I believe the testing process could be far more accurate, so I hope in my next article I'll be able to show the most precise comparison of the speed on even bigger files up to several million rows.
Such a test could show the pros and cons of using different approaches to loading files and rendering grids that all these tools use. As some of them are fast with small amounts of data, others can show a lot more stable results on all file sizes and also whether they can handle more rows at a time.
This list contains the information and analysis of the most used and known pivot tools on the web right now.
I hope this research was helpful for your project and provided you with a broad and thorough basis for choosing the most suitable component!