A pie chart shows how a single measure breaks down across a small number of categories, with each category drawn as a slice of a circle sized by its share of the total. It answers one question well: what proportion of the whole does each category represent. Use it when there are 2 to 6 categories and the relative share is the point - not the exact value or a precise comparison between similarly sized slices.

When should I use a pie chart instead of a bar chart?

Use a pie chart when there are very few categories (2 to 6) and the story is about one or two dominant shares of a whole - for example, market share or budget allocation where one category clearly leads. Use a bar chart whenever there are more than 6 categories, when categories have similar sizes that are hard to compare by angle, or when viewers need to read precise values rather than relative proportions.

How many slices should a pie chart have?

Keep a pie chart to 2 to 6 slices. Beyond 6, slices become too thin to label or compare visually, and the chart stops communicating anything a bar chart would not show more clearly. If you have more categories, group the smaller ones into an 'Other' category in Transform, or switch to a Horizontal Bar chart.

Why is it hard to compare two similarly sized pie slices?

The human eye is much better at comparing the length of two bars than the angle or area of two pie slices. When two slices are close in size, it is genuinely difficult to tell which is larger without reading the data labels or tooltip. This is a known limitation of pie charts, not a configuration issue - if precise comparison between similar values matters, use a bar chart instead.

What does Start Angle control?

Start Angle sets where the first slice begins, measured in degrees around the circle. The default of 90 degrees places the first slice's edge at the top of the circle (12 o'clock), which is the most common and intuitive starting point. Changing it rotates where every slice begins without changing slice sizes.

Can I show both the value and the percentage on each slice label?

Yes. Show Value and Show Percentage are independent toggles in Pie Data Label. Turn on both to show the category name, its raw value, and its percentage share together. With more than 6 slices, showing all three at once gets crowded - consider showing only percentage, which is usually the more relevant figure for a pie chart.

Why are some of my slice labels missing?

If Auto Format Labels is on, labels are automatically thinned once the category count exceeds the Max Labels setting (24 by default) to prevent overlapping text. Increase Max Labels if you need more labels visible, reduce the category count in Transform, or turn off Auto Format Labels and rely on the tooltip instead - though with many categories, dense full labeling usually becomes unreadable regardless.

Does the pie chart support a donut hole?

No. The basic Pie Chart always renders as a solid disc with no inner radius. For a chart with a hole in the center, use the Donut Chart, which is built on the same underlying chart engine with an adjustable inner radius.

Pie Chart | Edilitics Docs

Show how a single measure breaks down into a small number of categories as slices of a whole - best with 2 to 6 categories and a share-of-total question.

A pie chart shows how a single measure breaks down across a small number of categories, with each category drawn as a slice of a circle sized by its share of the total. Drop one categorical field into Column and one numeric field into Row. Use it when there are 2 to 6 categories and the question is about proportion - what share of the whole each category represents, not the exact value or a precise comparison between similarly sized slices.

When to Use

A pie chart works well for one specific job: showing one or two categories that clearly dominate a small set. Market share where one competitor leads, budget allocation where one line item is the majority, or a yes/no split. It does not work well as a general-purpose comparison tool - that is a bar chart's job.

The eye cannot reliably compare two similar-sized slices. Humans are much better at judging the length of a bar than the angle or area of a slice. If two categories are close in size, viewers will likely misjudge which is larger without reading the label. If your data has several categories of similar magnitude, a Horizontal Bar chart will communicate the comparison far more reliably.

Switch to a different chart when:

You have more than 6 categories - use Horizontal Bar
Categories are similar in size and need precise comparison - use Horizontal Bar
You want a hole in the center for a label or icon - use Donut Chart
You need to track proportion over time - use Stacked Bar in 100% mode or Stacked Area

Scenario	Dimension	Measure
Market share by competitor	Competitor name	Sum of market share %
Budget allocation by department	Department name	Sum of budget
Survey responses by answer choice	Answer choice	Count of responses
Revenue split by customer segment	Segment name	Sum of revenue
Device type breakdown of site visits	Device type	Count of sessions

Required Inputs

Field	Type	Count
Dimension	Categorical	Exactly 1
Measure	Numeric	Exactly 1

For step-by-step build instructions, see Build Your First Chart.

Formatting Options

The Format tab unlocks after at least one field is assigned. Once your chart is rendering, use these controls to define how it looks and how viewers interact with it.

Style

Use the chart title to state what the whole represents - viewers need to know what 100% means before they read the slices.

Control	What it does
Show Chart Title	Shows or hides the title. The text is preserved when hidden so you can toggle it back without re-entering.
Enter Chart Title	Title text. Maximum 50 characters.
Font family	Font applied to the title.
Font size	5 to 30.
Bold / Italic	Weight and style.
Alignment	Left, center, or right within the chart container.

Pie Styles controls the color palette across slices, the rotation of the first slice, and the border between slices.

Control	What it does
Start Color	The color applied to the first slice.
End Color	The color applied to the last slice. Slices in between are interpolated between Start and End. Each slice also has its own radial gradient, lighter near the center and full color near the outer edge.
Border Width	Thickness of the border drawn between slices, 0 to 10px. At 0, slices touch with no visible separator.
Border Color	Color of the border between slices. Only available when Border Width is greater than 0.
Border Type	Solid, Dashed, or Dotted. Only available when Border Width is greater than 0.

Pie Radius controls how large the circle is relative to the chart container. The basic Pie Chart has no inner radius control - it always renders as a solid disc.

Control	What it does
Outer Radius	Size of the pie as a percentage of the available space, 20 to 80%. Default is 60%. Increase to fill more of the chart container; decrease to leave more room for labels or a legend around the edges.

Pie Data Label controls what text appears on or near each slice and how it is formatted. By default, labels show only the category name - turn on Show Value and Show Percentage to add more detail.

Control	What it does
Show Data Labels	Shows or hides labels on slices entirely.
Inside / Outside	Inside places the label within the slice - readable only on larger slices. Outside places the label beyond the slice edge with a connecting line, which works better for thin slices.
Auto Format Labels	When on, labels are automatically thinned if the category count exceeds Max Labels, preventing overlapping text on charts with many categories.
Max Labels	Maximum number of labels shown when Auto Format Labels is on, 1 to 100. Default is 24. Beyond this count, labels are skipped at a regular interval.
Show Percentage	Adds each slice's percentage share of the total to its label.
Show Value	Adds each slice's raw value to its label. Turn on both Show Value and Show Percentage to display category, value, and percentage together - this gets crowded on charts with more than 6 slices.
Number Type	Default, Scientific, Decimal, Currency, Percentage, or Custom. Applies when Show Value is on.
Display Unit	None, Thousand, Million, or Billion.
Decimal Places	0 to 6. Available when Number Type is not Default.
Font Family / Color / Font Size / Bold / Italic	Text styling for the label.
Text case	Uppercase, Lowercase, or Capitalize. Applies to the category name portion of the label and the legend.

The legend lists every category and is the primary way viewers identify which color belongs to which slice, especially for thin slices where the label does not fit.

Control	What it does
Show Legends	Shows or hides the legend. On by default, positioned to the right of the pie.
Vertical position	Top, middle, or bottom alignment of the legend block.
Horizontal position	Start, center, or end alignment.
Show Name	Default: labels always visible. On Hover: labels appear only when viewer hovers the legend.
Orientation	Vertical or Horizontal legend layout. Vertical is the default and works best alongside a circular chart.
Item Gap	Spacing between legend items.
Font Size	Legend label font size.
Color	Legend label text color.

Interactivity

The tooltip shows the category name, its value, and optionally its percentage when hovering any slice.

Control	What it does
Show Tooltip	Shows or hides the tooltip on hover.
Background Color	Tooltip background color.
Headers / Values tabs	Separate styling for the category name row (Headers) and the value row (Values). The Values tab includes Number Type, Display Unit, and Decimal Places. The percentage row, when Show Percentage is on, follows the same header styling.

Keep animation on when the chart is first presented - the slices sweeping into place draws attention to the relative sizes as they form. Turn it off on dashboards that auto-refresh.

Control	What it does
Enable Animation	Turns the build animation on or off.
Duration	How long the animation runs, 0 to 3000ms. Default is 1000ms.
Delay	Time before the animation starts after the chart loads, 0 to 2000ms.
Easing Function	The motion curve. Cubic Out (the default) gives a natural deceleration.

Emphasis highlights the hovered slice, making it easier to track which slice corresponds to which part of the legend or tooltip.

Control	What it does
Show Emphasis	Enables or disables the hover effect.
Focus Type	Item: highlights the hovered slice and dims the rest. None: no visual change on hover.
Enable Scale	Scales the hovered slice slightly larger, making it visually pop from the rest of the pie.
Scale Size	How much the slice scales. Keep at 1.1 or below - large values can push the slice outside the chart boundary on a tightly cropped container.

Enable the Toolbox when viewers need to export the chart or inspect the exact values behind each slice.

Control	What it does
Show Toolbox	Shows or hides the toolbox icon bar.
Save as Image	Adds a download icon that saves the chart as a PNG.
Data View	Adds an icon that opens the underlying data table in the chart area.

Best Practices

Keep slice count at 6 or fewer. Beyond 6 categories, slices become thin, hard to label, and hard to compare. A pie chart with 10+ slices communicates less than a sorted bar chart would. Group minor categories into an "Other" slice in Transform if you have more than 6.

Sort slices by size before publishing. Although the chart does not sort automatically, a pie chart reads best when the largest slice comes first and slices decrease in size moving around the circle - viewers expect a logical order, not an arbitrary one tied to row order in the data.

Use Outside label position for thin slices. Inside labels only fit on large slices. For a chart with one dominant slice and several small ones, set Position to Outside so every slice gets a readable label with a connecting line, rather than only the largest slice having visible text.

Show Percentage, not just Value, for proportion questions. The whole point of a pie chart is showing share of total. If only Show Value is on, viewers have to do the percentage math themselves. Turn on Show Percentage so the proportion is stated directly on the chart.

Use a bar chart instead when slices are close in size. If your top categories are within a few percentage points of each other, a pie chart will not let viewers tell which is actually larger without reading every label. A sorted Horizontal Bar chart makes the ranking immediately visible.

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Pie Chart