Softr Dashboards: Charts, Ask AI and Forms on Your Own Data

Yes, Softr builds dashboards and reporting apps, and the core pieces sit on every plan. Softr's comparison table lists all building blocks, charts and forms included, from Free upward, with unlimited forms and submissions ^[1]. Charts aggregate raw records themselves, follow each viewer's permissions and refresh every 15 minutes in the live app ^[2]. Ask AI adds a chat box that answers questions from the same data and spends AI credits on every query. The gates that shape a serious reporting app sit higher. Three custom user groups and unlimited form branching start on Pro, which costs $119 per month billed monthly or $99 per month billed annually per workspace, with 50 AI credits a month. Global data restrictions need Business.

Choose the source that will feed your numbers

Start with the data, not the chart. Softr recommends its own Softr Databases for charts because aggregation runs natively there, with no external API calls in the way. The revamped chart logic also aggregates raw records from Airtable, Google Sheets and other sources, so nobody has to build summary tables first. Record ceilings belong to Softr Databases only: 5,000 per workspace on Free, 50,000 on Basic, 500K on Pro and 1M on Business. An external source keeps its own limits and, in several cases, its own plan gate. Our Softr databases guide covers each connector.

Warehouse data takes a different path. BigQuery connects through a Google account and stays read-only inside Softr, so nothing can be added, updated or deleted from the app, and forms cannot write to it. A built-in SQL query editor lets you shape results that then feed dynamic blocks. External BigQuery tables backed by Drive, Sheets or Cloud Storage return Access Denied errors; the fix is a native table or a native copy. Advanced sources such as BigQuery, SQL databases and Supabase reach up to 10 million records per app. Snowflake, an Enterprise source, feeds List, Table and Chart blocks.

Build the charts block by block

A chart in Softr is one block bound to one table or query. Each dynamic block reads one data source, although a single page can mix blocks from several sources, so a sales chart from Google Sheets can sit above a table from Softr Databases. The setup follows the same short sequence every time, whether you click through it yourself or describe it to the AI Co-Builder:

• Pick a type: Area, Bar, Donut, Line, Pie, Rose, Scatter or Stacked Bar.
• Choose the calculation: Sum, Average, Min, Max, Count distinct values or Count all.
• Group by a field or a date interval, then segment by a second field where the chart type allows it (bar, line, area, stacked and scatter).
• Add conditional filters, and since June 2026, conditional color coding.

Each chart shows at most 20 categories, with sorting. On Airtable data, linked records cannot be used in chart conditions, though lookup fields can. An older app keeps its existing charts, but the newer aggregation features arrive only when you add a fresh chart block. The Summary Cards block is now legacy. It still runs in existing apps, yet new apps cannot add it, so metric tiles come from charts or custom components instead.

Two AI routes speed this up. In an existing app the Co-Builder reads the page and its data, then adds charts, metrics and action buttons on request; Softr says it can configure an aggregation from a plain description. For views no standard block covers, such as a Gantt timeline or an org chart, it generates a Vibe Coding component that can read several sources and compute its own metrics and chart data. Both routes spend AI credits. Recompiling a Vibe Coding block resets its actions to default permissions, so recheck the restrictions afterwards.

Give every login its own slice of the data

Charts honor the same user and permission rules as the rest of the app. One dashboard page can therefore show each signed-in person only their own numbers. Conditional record filters match on the logged-in user's email or email domain, and Softr checks them on the server, not in the browser. Softr also warns that Airtable views, Google Sheets filters and the items-per-page setting are not security measures. Gated numbers need user-group visibility plus conditional filters. Visitors and logged-in users exist as groups on every plan.

Finer control costs a tier. Pro adds 3 custom user groups and advanced permission rules, Business raises that to 10 groups and adds global data restrictions that apply one table's rules across every block. Each person who logs in counts as an app user. Free has 5 app users in total, and from Basic up they split into Team users on a builder's business email domain and Client users on any other domain, Gmail included; the caps per plan are in our Softr pricing breakdown.

FUGA, a music distribution and marketing company, says it runs one client portal for more than 800 users on Softr, Airtable and BigQuery. Conditional filters show each client different data from the same pages, and FUGA reports 4 client workflows automated and 5+ hours a week saved on reporting. EvenUp tells a similar story internally: it built a performance tracker for 340+ employees and contractors on BigQuery in about 24 hours, according to its Softr customer story, with role-based visibility deciding who sees which metrics.

Know how fresh each number is

Chart data refreshes every 15 minutes in preview and live mode, and each chart states when it last refreshed. Builders can force an instant refresh, but only in preview. App users cannot. Edit mode works from a small sample of real records, so totals there will not match the published app. External sources otherwise connect in real time with short-term caching, which means a table can show a fresh record before the chart beside it counts it. Plan for that gap. Coverage has a ceiling too: in live mode a chart reads all the records you specify, up to the plan's maximum per dynamic block, and Softr does not publish that number. For very large tables, test with your real volume before launch.

Scheduled reporting belongs to Workflows. A schedule trigger, available on every plan, can run as often as every minute, and an AI step can summarize the latest figures before an email goes out. That AI step spends AI credits and also counts as a workflow action. Workflows pause when the monthly action limit is reached: 500 on Free, 2,500 on Basic, 10,000 on Pro and 25,000 on Business.

Let viewers question the data with Ask AI

Ask AI is a chat assistant attached to blocks that list several records, such as tables, lists, calendars and kanbans. One toggle adds it as a top-bar action button, with no API key to supply ^[3]. The builder decides whether it reads only the fields the block shows or the entire underlying table, and can set custom instructions, a tone and suggested questions. A sales lead can then ask which accounts slipped this quarter without opening a filter. Answers stay inside the user's permissions.

The limits are specific. As of November 2026, Ask AI works only at block level, and Softr lists app-wide Ask AI as coming soon. Static blocks and REST API sources are not supported. Every query consumes AI credits according to response complexity and the amount of data analyzed. No per-query price is published. Softr's changelog says Ask AI became 5x more cost-efficient in March 2026. Included credits, shared by all AI features, run 5, 10, 50 and 100 a month on Free, Basic, Pro and Business, and Softr sells add-ons on every plan from +$10 per month for 100 credits. Plan credits do not roll over, and at zero Ask AI pauses, with no overage charge, until credits renew or you buy an add-on (pricing details).

Collect the inputs with forms

Dashboards are only as good as what flows in. Standalone Softr Forms, launched in January 2026, work without an app and are unlimited in number and submissions on every plan, Free included ^[4]. Submissions land in a Softr Database by default or route to Airtable, Notion, Google Sheets, monday.com, email or a webhook. A form can live on a subdomain or a custom domain, or be embedded on any website, with reCaptcha v3 against bots. A submission can also start a workflow.

Logic is where the plans differ. Multi-page forms come with every plan. Conditional section visibility starts on Basic, where branching and logic jumps are capped at 2 branches; Pro removes that cap. Restricting who may submit by email domain is a Pro form feature, separate from domain-restricted app signup on Business. Pro also brings advanced input validation and e-signature capture, stored as an image in the data source. Every form needs at least one ending, and logic can route answers to different endings. Set multi-step branching by hand in the Logic tab, because the Co-Builder does not configure it.

The bottom line

Softr fits teams who want a reporting app their colleagues or clients can log in to, with each person seeing only their own numbers. Charts, forms and Ask AI work from Free, which makes a small pilot cheap, with 5 app users in total. The real decisions are the data source, the refresh rhythm and the permission tier. If the dashboard serves outsiders with different data, budget for Pro's custom groups at least, and Business when one table's rules must hold everywhere. If you need numbers that update instantly, the 15-minute chart cycle is the thing to test first.