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Tables, some say, they are a thing of the past. While that's true from a design point of view when creating a website, a table is still an excellent way to show varying information in an easy to digest manner. The humble table shouldn't be overlooked for fancier alternatives. To show the appreciation for tables, lets take a look at some of the best table plugins for WordPress.

In any table plugin you want to look for the functionality that's important to you. This may be pagination, searching for the entire table, import and export functionality and responsiveness to name just a few. So in no particular order, here we go.

wpDataTables ($35)

Ok so we said this isn't in any particular order, but wpDataTables is hands down the best table plugin/chart plugin for your WordPress website. Period. But what makes wpDataTables so great, you ask? The ability to create a vast array of tables and charts in minutes to show any data you need quickly and easily. Responsive out the box and the ability for visitors to print, download an Excel version, download a CSV or just copy the table.

An easy to use interface makes wpDataTables one of the best options. Not only do you get the above, but unlike other table plugins wpDataTables works with large tables that are millions of rows. You can't get much better than that. There's a built in highlighting, allowing you to highlight rows, columns and even individual cells.

If you want to see the power of wpDataTables check out their website for yourself. You can't go wrong with using wpDataTables on your WordPress powered website.

TablePress  (Free)

TablePress is a free plugin available from the WordPress.org plugin repository. While it does it core job well (handling the output of tables and information). It doesn't have any groundbreaking features and isn't as nicely presented as wpDataTables. It is, however, a very solid plugin and if you don't need something fancy with a bunch of features or you don't want to pay out for a premium plugin, TablePress is still a good choice for your WordPress website.

League Table ($14)

League Table is a premium plugin available on CodeCanyon in the same vain as wpDataTables. It comes with a range of functionality including a spreadsheet editor, sortable columns, responsive out the box and much more. Another good feature of League Table is the import and export feature, allowing you to export your tables in a .xml format and import them to another website.

Ultimate Tables  (Free)

Ultimate Tables is a free plugin available on the WordPress.org plugins repository. Just like TablePress, it includes functionality such as searching and pagination. However unlike all the other plugins mentioned so far there is no import or export functionality. It also isn't responsive which with the rise of mobile and tablet visitors nowadays means you'd need to spend a considerable amount of time writing custom CSS to make your tables fully responsive which, when there are plugins that are responsive out the box, feels like a waste of valuable time and makes it difficult to recommend.

Visual Table Formatting Lite  (Free)

Yet another free table plugin available from WordPress.org. It is an interesting solution and unlike other table plugins here it doesn't use the database making it more lightweight and easily transferable between sites or posts. The interface is slightly confusing and does leave you yearning for the better thought out interface of something like wpDataTables. There also isn't much functionality out the box with features you'd usually find in a free plugin locked off to the premium version. If you are going to use a free table plugin, TablePress does the same job a lot better.

MCE Table Buttons  (Free)

MCE Table Buttons is also a free plugin available from the WordPress.org repository. It has an interesting approach to table creation by adding a table button directly to the TinyMCE editor toolbar within the WordPress editor (hence the name). It allows you to create and manipulate tables directly when writing posts and pages, from what is actually quite an intuitive interface. While the plugin hasn't been updated for two years and thus should be used with caution, in my tests it worked perfectly and was certainly a change from the other table plugins mentioned.

Conclusion

Table plugins are still important to many websites, and wpDataTables, in my opinion, is by far the best. It may cost $35/per website but it justifies that cost in a well thought out and well-rounded plugin that offers all the functionality you'd need from such a plugin. Have you used a table plugin before? Perhaps your favorite table plugin isn't mentioned in the article? Let us know in the comments below.