A radar chart — also called a spider chart, web chart, or star plot — is one of the quickest ways to compare several items across the same set of categories. This guide walks through making one in Excel step by step, and shows a faster way to make an animated version online.
What is a radar chart?
A radar chart plots several variables on axes that radiate from a shared center. Each spoke is one category, and connecting the points forms a polygon whose shape reveals strengths, weaknesses, and overall balance at a glance. Because every item is drawn on the same axes, radar charts are ideal for multi-metric comparison — one product’s profile, a candidate’s skills, or a game character’s stats. People reach for them when a bar chart would need five or six separate bars to tell the same story.
When to use a radar chart (and when not)
Radar charts shine when you have three to eight related metrics and want to see a profile or compare a handful of items. They are a poor fit when the categories are unrelated, when you have many items (the polygons overlap into mush), or when reading exact values matters more than the overall shape — a bar chart wins there. Rule of thumb: reach for radar to compare shapes, and for bars to compare precise values.
Step 1: Lay out your data
Put your categories in the first column and each item’s values in the columns beside them. For example, categories like Speed, Power, Range, Control, and Durability down column A, with one item per following column:
| Category | Model A | Model B |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | 8 | 6 |
| Power | 5 | 9 |
| Range | 7 | 4 |
| Control | 6 | 8 |
| Durability | 9 | 5 |
Keep the values on a consistent scale (say 0–10). Mixing a 0–10 metric with a 0–1000 metric will flatten the smaller one into the center and make the chart unreadable.
Step 2: Select your data
Highlight the full range, including the category labels in column A and the header row with the item names. Excel uses the labels for the spokes and the header for the legend.
Step 3: Insert the radar chart
Go to Insert → Charts → Other Charts → Radar. Excel offers three variants:
Radar vs. radar with markers vs. filled radar
- Plain radar draws just the outline — the cleanest choice for three or more items.
- Radar with markers adds a dot at each value, which helps when the lines overlap.
- Filled radar shades the area inside each polygon — best for one or two items, where the shape itself is the story.
With four or more items, filled radar usually turns into overlapping mush; switch to plain radar so each outline stays readable.
Step 4: Clean it up
Adjust the axis scale so the shape uses the full area, tidy the labels, and give the chart a title. Right-click the axis and set a fixed maximum if Excel’s auto-scaling looks cramped or off-balance. A fixed maximum also keeps the chart comparable if you update the numbers later.
Radar, spider, web — are they different charts?
No. “Radar chart,” “spider chart,” “web chart,” and “star chart” are all names for the same thing (some people even type “rader chart”). The spider and web names come from the shape — the grid rings and spokes look like a spider’s web. So whether you searched for a radar chart or a spider chart, every step above is identical.
A faster way: make an animated radar chart online
Excel’s radar charts are static images. If you want something you can drop into a slide deck, a social post, or a web page — and have it animate — you can skip Excel entirely.
Use our free Radar Chart Maker: type or paste your data, pick a style, and export a PNG or an animated GIF or WebM video. It builds radar and spider charts the same way, there’s no sign-up, and it works on your phone.