What is a radar chart?

A radar chart plots one or more measures across a shared set of category spokes arranged in a circle, with each measure drawn as a polygon connecting its value at every spoke. It is the chart type for seeing an entity's overall shape across many variables at once - well-rounded versus lopsided - rather than comparing one variable at a time.

Which field becomes the spokes, and which becomes the shapes?

The Column field's distinct values become the spokes around the circle - for example, five product features. Each Row (measure) becomes one polygon drawn across those same spokes - for example, one polygon per competitor, each tracing how it scores on every feature. This is the reverse of most charts, where rows are usually the values plotted against a column's categories.

Why does one of my measures look flat or invisible on the chart?

All spokes share one uniform scale, calculated as 1.2 times the single highest value found across every measure and every category combined. If one measure's values are naturally much larger than another's - revenue in the thousands next to a satisfaction score from 1 to 10 - the smaller measure's polygon collapses near the center and becomes hard to read. Radar charts work best when every measure shares a comparable scale, like several percentage metrics or scores all rated 1 to 10.

How many spokes and polygons can a radar chart show?

Exactly one Column field for the spokes - the number of spokes is however many distinct category values that field has. 1 to 10 Row fields, each becoming one polygon. Past 8 or so spokes, labels start to crowd and the chart thins them out automatically; past 5 or 6 overlapping polygons, the shape becomes difficult to read regardless of formatting.

Can I change the radar's shape?

Yes. Radar Styles offers Polygon (straight edges between spokes, the default) or Circle (a smooth curve through the same points). Polygon is generally easier to read precise values from; Circle can look cleaner with many spokes but makes individual spoke values slightly harder to judge.

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

Use a radar chart when the point is comparing the overall shape or balance of several entities across many variables at once - is this product well-rounded or strong in only one area. Use a grouped bar chart when precise value comparison on each variable matters more than the overall shape, since bars are easier to read exact values from than a polygon's vertex position.

I turned on Show Legends but the legend looks empty - why?

Check the Show Name setting in Legends. It defaults to On Hover, which only displays each polygon's name while you're hovering over it - the legend area is reserved but the text stays hidden until then. Switch Show Name to Default if you want the names visible at all times.

Radar Chart | Edilitics Docs

Compare up to 10 measures across shared categories as overlapping polygons. Best for spotting which entity is strong or weak across many variables at once.

A radar chart plots one or more measures across a shared set of category spokes arranged in a circle, with each measure drawn as a polygon connecting its value at every spoke. Drop exactly one categorical or date field into Column - its distinct values become the spokes - and 1 to 10 numeric fields into Row, each becoming one polygon. Use it when comparing an entity's overall shape across several variables matters more than any single value.

When to Use

A radar chart answers "is this entity strong across the board, or only in a few areas" - a question a table of numbers or a bar chart answers one variable at a time, but a radar chart answers visually, all at once. A well-rounded, evenly-scored entity traces a roughly symmetric polygon; a lopsided one produces a shape with obvious spikes and dents.

All spokes share one uniform scale. The scale's maximum is calculated once, as 1.2 times the single highest value found across every measure and every category combined - then applied to every spoke equally. If your measures have very different natural scales (revenue in thousands next to a 1-to-10 satisfaction score), the smaller-scale measure's polygon will collapse near the center and become unreadable. Radar charts work best when every Row field shares a comparable unit or range.

Switch to a different chart when:

Measures have very different natural scales - use a Highlighted Table or separate charts instead
Precise value comparison matters more than overall shape - use Grouped Bar
You're comparing one measure across many categories, not several measures across the same categories - use Horizontal Bar

Scenario	Column (Spokes)	Row(s) (Polygons)
Competitor comparison across product features	Feature name	Competitor A score, Competitor B score
Employee skill assessment across competencies	Competency	Average rating
Team performance across KPIs, one polygon per team	KPI name	Team A score, Team B score, Team C score
Product comparison across rated attributes (1-10 scale)	Attribute	Product 1 rating, Product 2 rating
Department balanced scorecard across categories	Scorecard category	This quarter's score, Last quarter's score

Required Inputs

Field	Type	Count
Dimension (Spokes)	Categorical or Date	Exactly 1
Measure (Polygons)	Numeric	1 to 10

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

Formatting Options

The Format tab unlocks after the dimension and at least one measure are assigned.

Style

Use the chart title to state what's being compared, especially with several overlapping polygons on screen.

Control	What it does
Show Chart Title	Shows or hides the title.
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.

With multiple Row fields, the legend is what tells viewers which polygon belongs to which measure - essential once more than one polygon is on screen.

Control	What it does
Show Legends	Shows or hides the legend entirely.
Vertical Position / Horizontal Position	Where the legend sits within the chart area.
Show Name	Default (always visible) or On Hover (names appear only while hovering a polygon). Defaults to On Hover - if your legend looks empty, check this setting before assuming it's broken.
Orientation	Horizontal or vertical layout of legend items.
Item Gap	Spacing between legend entries.
Font Size / Color	Styling for the legend text.

Radar Styles controls the overall shape, size, and color treatment of the chart - the broadest visual lever on this chart type.

Control	What it does
Shape	Polygon (straight edges between spokes, default) or Circle (smooth curve through the same points).
Gradient Start Color / End Color	The two endpoints of the color range spread across your polygons - with one Row field assigned, only Start Color is used; with several, each polygon gets one distinct color stepped between the two. Each polygon's own fill then fades from that single assigned color to transparent.
Radius (%)	1 to 100. How large the radar shape is within its container.
Start Angle	0 to 360. Rotates where the first spoke begins around the circle.
Show Split Area	Shows or hides the alternating shaded rings between spokes, which help judge distance from center.
Show Split Line	Shows or hides the circular grid lines at each scale increment.

Radar Values controls the value labels printed directly at each polygon vertex - separate from the tooltip, which always shows full values on hover regardless of this setting.

Control	What it does
Show Values	Shows or hides on-chart vertex labels. Off by default - useful for a small number of spokes, but can clutter a chart with many spokes or overlapping polygons.
Font Family / Color / Font size / Bold / Italic	Styling for the vertex labels, when shown.
Number Type	Default, Scientific, Decimal, Currency - Custom, Currency - Standard, Percentage, or Custom.
Currency	Choose the currency code. Available when Number Type is Currency - Standard.
Display Unit	None, Thousand, Million, or Billion.
Decimal Places	0 to 6. Available when Number Type isn't Default.
Prefix / Suffix	Custom text added before or after the value. Available when Number Type is Currency - Custom or Custom.

Axes

Radar Axis controls the spoke labels printed around the perimeter - the distinct values from your Column field.

Control	What it does
Show Axis Labels	Shows or hides the spoke labels entirely.
Font Family / Color / Font size	Styling for the spoke labels.
Text Case	Uppercase, lowercase, capitalize, or none.
Label Interval	Show every Nth label (1 shows all). The chart also thins labels automatically once there are more than 24 spokes, to keep them from overlapping - this control lets you thin them further or earlier.

Interactivity

The tooltip appears on hover over a polygon, listing the measure name and every spoke's value for that polygon in one panel.

Control	What it does
Show Tooltip	Shows or hides the tooltip entirely.
Header / value text styling	Font, size, and color for the measure name and the per-spoke value list shown in the tooltip.

Animation controls the polygons' transition when the chart first renders or the data changes.

Control	What it does
Enable Animation	Turns the transition animation on or off.
Duration	How long the transition takes.
Delay	How long the transition waits before starting.
Easing Function	The transition curve.

Emphasis controls the visual response when hovering over a polygon - a scale-up effect and a drop shadow. Off by default.

Control	What it does
Show Emphasis	Turns hover effects on.
Focus Type	Item, Series, or None.
Enable Scale	Scales the hovered polygon up slightly.
Scale Size	1.0x to 2.0x.
Shadow Blur / Color / Offset X / Offset Y	Drop shadow styling on the hovered polygon.
Border Width	Border added around the hovered polygon.

Enable the Toolbox when viewers need to export the chart or inspect its underlying data.

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 a separate view.

Best Practices

Only compare measures that share a comparable scale. Since every spoke uses one uniform maximum derived from the single highest value across all measures, mixing a measure in the thousands with one rated 1 to 10 will flatten the smaller measure into an unreadable sliver near the center. Normalize to percentages or a common rating scale before building the chart if your real measures don't naturally share a range.

Keep the polygon count low enough to actually distinguish shapes. Two or three overlapping polygons are easy to compare visually; five or more on the same chart usually turn into a tangle of overlapping lines that's harder to read than a table of the same numbers. If you need to compare many entities, consider splitting into smaller groups or switching to a table.

Use Legends whenever more than one measure is assigned. Without a visible legend, there's no way for a viewer to know which polygon corresponds to which measure - this matters more on a radar chart than most others, since color is the only thing distinguishing overlapping shapes.

Choose Polygon over Circle when exact spoke values matter. Polygon's straight edges make it easier to judge where a vertex sits relative to the grid lines; Circle's smoothed curve looks cleaner but makes precise reading slightly harder.

Watch spoke count on charts built from high-cardinality categories. A Column field with many distinct values produces many spokes, and past roughly 8, labels start crowding even with automatic thinning. If your category field naturally has dozens of values, filter it down to the most relevant subset before building the radar chart.

FAQs

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Radar Chart