Understand

Overview

Understand turns charts and complex dashboards into stories made of cards that appear as readers scroll. That format lets authors put narrative around visualizations and lead readers through an insight rather than leave them with a dashboard to interpret alone. Stories can be shared publicly or embedded, and the product supports scheduled updates and mobile-friendly viewing.

Data may come from files, Google, SQL databases, OLAP cubes, or APIs, but the useful connections are tiered. Starter is limited to CSV uploads and manual entry; Growth adds Google Sheets and PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MariaDB. More specialized connectors and API-based story creation carry separate charges or require Enterprise-ready.

Key features

Guided stories and distribution

Scrolling cards, interactive visualizations, narrative annotations, and presentation flow make Understand a better fit for communicating a sequence of findings than for simply publishing an isolated chart. Starter allows public sharing, while Growth adds unlimited viewers, custom themes, and email and Slack notifications. This distinction matters for teams: an editor can create a public story on the free tier, but recurring internal distribution is a paid capability.

AI and data connections

Understand AI can analyze and summarize stories and find anomalies. Growth includes AI for 30 cards; additional usage costs $15 per 30 cards per month. Growth also includes Google Sheets and three named relational databases. BigQuery, Redshift, Azure, and Snowflake are available through Advanced connectors at $99 per connector per month, so teams using several of those sources should account for the cumulative connector cost.

Enterprise-ready adds OLAP connectors, custom API and connectors, and custom charts. Its private-cloud or single-tenant deployment, SSO, and access control make it the tier aimed at organizations with deployment and access requirements beyond a standard team plan.

Pricing

Understand is freemium, with a 14-day trial and paid plans from $25/user/mo on annual billing. The entry plan is genuinely free, but it is designed for a single author and basic inputs rather than a connected team workflow.

The main trade-off is that the free plan has one editor and only CSV or manual input, while several capabilities that make Understand a connected team tool require Growth or separately priced add-ons. Growth's annual billing is also a commitment to factor in, rather than a monthly per-editor price.

Platforms

Understand is available on web, Android, and iOS, and offers an API. Its mobile-friendly stories can reach readers on phones, while the API tier supports creating stories at scale.

Who it's for

Choose Understand if you need to turn data into a guided, shareable narrative, especially when readers benefit from annotations and a sequence of visualizations. It is also a candidate for teams distributing recurring stories through Growth, or organizations embedding white-labeled stories with custom branding and a custom domain.

It is a weaker fit for an individual or small team that needs multiple editors, richer connectors, or AI usage without paying beyond the free tier. Teams that only need to publish standalone charts may not need a story-first format. Understand says users own their data and that it does not sell or rent user data; its privacy policy also describes encryption, regular penetration testing, physical security measures, and rights to request access, correction, erasure, portability, or account deletion. The website is for individuals aged 13 or older.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Card-based scrollytelling combines visualizations with narrative, giving authors a clear way to guide readers through findings.
• Pros: Starter includes unlimited stories and public sharing, so an individual can publish without a subscription.
• Pros: Growth combines unlimited viewers, team notifications, custom themes, and useful Google Sheets and SQL connections.
• Pros: White labeling and enterprise deployment and access controls support embedding stories in a branded product or serving stricter organizational needs.
• Cons: Starter has only one editor and CSV/manual input, limiting collaboration and connected-data use.
• Cons: AI beyond Growth's 30-card allowance and advanced connectors are additional monthly charges, which can raise the cost for data-heavy teams.
• Cons: Growth is priced per editor and billed annually, making it less flexible for teams that need only a short-term or small amount of paid access.

Alternatives

Compare data storytelling tools if you want to consider the broader category. Datawrapper is worth considering when charts, maps, and tables with web publishing and embedding are the priority; its free plan includes PNG downloads but displays attribution. ArcGIS StoryMaps is another free-plan option for web-based story creation, with usage limits on its public account.

BStreams may suit a small collaboration workflow: its free Basic plan allows one collaborator, 50 MB storage, 3 MB maximum uploads, and includes a watermark. Datastory is an alternative for teams that want a free allowance of 10 visualizations, three team members, and 100 AI credits per month.

Flourish offers unlimited projects and stories, its full template range, and public publishing and embeds with attribution on the free plan. Infogram is an option for a chart-focused workflow, with its Basic plan describing one user, 35+ interactive chart types, and up to 10 projects. Observable may fit a web or self-hosted workflow that can work within its free plan's few daily tokens, 1 GB monthly file attachments, and watermarked embeds. Storyline JS is a free, open-source alternative.

Verdict

Understand is best for analysts and teams who want a narrative to shape how audiences read data, with an upgrade path to notifications, branded embeds, and enterprise controls. Its strongest reason to choose it is the combination of scroll-based storytelling and shareable, embeddable stories; its strongest reason to look elsewhere is the cost of moving beyond one editor and basic data input, especially when advanced connectors or extra AI usage are needed.