A comparison infographic maker
for two options and one set of rows.
A side-by-side comparison works when the reader’s eye travels along a row rather than between two pictures. Give it the options and the criteria — typed, or in a spreadsheet — and it builds the comparison chart, keeps the labels readable and leaves the gaps honest. Free to start, online, nothing to install.
Make a comparisonComparison
Generating a sheet vs building one by hand
| Criterion | Generated | By hand |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first draft | About a minute | 2–4 hours |
| Layout decisions | Made for you | All yours |
| Chart chosen from the data | Yes | No |
| Editing by asking | Yes | No |
| Full manual control of every pixel | No | Yes |
| Cost of the first one | Free | Your afternoon |
Illustrative · row five is the one where the other column wins, and it stays on the sheet
The format
What is a comparison infographic?
A comparison infographic sets two or three options against each other on the same criteria, on one sheet, so a reader can travel along a row instead of holding two separate pictures in their head. You will also see it called a comparison chart, a comparison table or a side-by-side chart — the same artefact under four names. It earns its place whenever a decision is genuinely close: products against each other, plans against each other, before against after, or the option you are recommending against the one the reader already has.
Start to finish
How to make a comparison infographic
- 1
Name the options and the criteria
Two or three options across the top, and the rows you will judge them on down the side. Write the rows before you know which column you want to win — that ordering is what makes the finished sheet believable.
- 2
Give it the values, or the file they live in
Type them, paste a table out of a document, or upload the spreadsheet — .xlsx, .xls, .csv and .tsv all work, alongside PDF, Word, Markdown and plain text up to 25MB. Every row gets read into a column of the table.
- 3
Check that every row applies to every column
A row where one option has no equivalent reads as a zero to the eye, whatever the label says. Find the equivalent or delete the row — this is the single most common way a comparison sheet loses a reader.
- 4
Keep the row where the other side wins
One honest concession buys more credit than four more ticks, because readers arrive looking for the catch. Leave it in and let them find it where you put it.
- 5
Date it, then export or share
Put the date on the sheet: what you are comparing will change, and a dated sheet ages into a snapshot rather than a false claim. Then take the PNG, the sheet as a web page, or a share link.
A comparison is only persuasive if it is fair
Readers arrive at a comparison already suspicious, because most of the ones they have seen were built backwards from a conclusion. These five rules are how you earn the benefit of the doubt.
- 01
Every row must apply to every column
A row where one option simply has no equivalent reads as a zero to the eye, whatever the label says. Either find the equivalent or drop the row.
- 02
Pick the rows before you know the winner
The comparison that convinces is the one where you would have been happy with either answer. Choosing the rows after choosing the outcome is how you get a sheet nobody believes.
- 03
Include a row where the other side wins
One honest concession does more for your credibility than four more ticks. Readers are looking for the catch — show them where it is.
- 04
Compare like for like
Monthly against monthly, per-seat against per-seat, list price against list price. A comparison that quietly switches units is the oldest trick on the internet, and readers spot it.
- 05
Date it
Whatever you are comparing will change. A dated sheet ages into a snapshot; an undated one ages into a false claim.
Four ways to lay a comparison chart out
Two columns
Us and them, before and after, plan A and plan B. The clearest form, and the one to default to.
Three columns
Good, better, best — or three vendors. The practical maximum on a portrait sheet.
Before and after
The same measures at two moments, with the delta drawn between them. Strongest when the change is the point.
Paired bars
When every row is a number rather than a tick, drawn bars beat a table of digits.
Questions
What is a comparison infographic?
A single sheet that sets two or three options against each other on the same criteria, so the reader’s eye travels along a row rather than between two separate pictures. It is also called a comparison chart, a comparison table or a side-by-side chart, and it is the format people reach for when a decision has to be made and the options are genuinely close.
How do I create a comparison chart?
Name the options and the criteria, give it the values or the spreadsheet they are in, check that every row genuinely applies to every column, keep the row where the other side wins, and date the sheet. The five steps above walk through each one — the middle three are about fairness, which is what actually decides whether a comparison chart persuades anyone.
Is the comparison infographic maker free?
Yes to start. The free plan needs no card and is exactly one comparison sheet to try, with every shape and every layout available — enough to run a real comparison through it and decide. The download is standard quality and a small badge sits in the footer. Paid plans go from about 80 pieces a month upward and add brand kits, editing by asking, best-quality downloads and removal of the badge.
Do I need to sign up before I can use it?
Not to look around, and not to open a comparison someone shares with you — those links need no account at all. Making and downloading your own needs a free account so the sheet is saved and you can come back and correct a row. No card, and it takes a moment with Google.
Can I build it from a spreadsheet?
Yes, and it is usually the fastest route. Upload an .xlsx, .xls, .csv or .tsv with the options as columns and the criteria as rows, and the table is drawn from it. If your comparison already lives in Excel or Google Sheets, export it and start there rather than retyping.
How many options can I compare?
Two or three columns work on a sheet. Four is possible on the wide shape but the labels start losing their room; beyond that a table in a document is a better format than an infographic.
Can I compare my product with a competitor?
Yes, and it is one of the most common uses. Keep it factual, compare like for like, date the sheet, and only state things you could evidence — a comparison you cannot back up is a legal problem as well as a credibility one.
Does it use ticks and crosses?
Where a row is genuinely binary, yes. Where it is a number or a phrase, the value is shown instead — a tick that stands for “sort of, with conditions” is a lie told with an icon.
Can I do a before and after?
Yes. Give it both sets of figures and it draws them paired, with the change between them shown as a delta.
Where do the column names go?
In a legend above the table when the columns are narrow. A header cell on a portrait sheet is often under twenty pixels wide, which is not enough for a word like “Freelancer”.
Can I match my brand?
Yes — one accent from your brand kit carries the highlighted column, and the rest of the sheet stays neutral so the comparison does not look pre-decided by colour alone.
What are the 7 types of infographics?
The list usually given is statistical, informational, timeline, process, comparison, hierarchical and geographic. Five of them have a page here — statistical, timeline, process, comparison and list. The two we do not cover, hierarchical and geographic, want a diagramming tool and a mapping tool respectively.
Can I make one in Word or PowerPoint instead?
You can, and for a rough two-column table it is a reasonable choice — PowerPoint even ships a Comparison slide layout. What you will spend your time on is alignment: the moment a row wraps to two lines, the two halves stop lining up and you are nudging text boxes. What this makes is a composed sheet where the rows stay aligned by construction. There is no .pptx export, so it arrives on your slide as a PNG.
Can I download it as a PDF?
Not directly — there is no PDF export. Take the PNG, which comes out at up to triple resolution and prints cleanly at A4 and A3, or open the share link and use your browser’s Print to PDF. The share link is usually the better answer anyway: it is a real page, so the figures stay selectable and you can correct a row after sending it.