Radar Chart

    The radar chart that plays fair

    Compare teams, products, vendors or KPIs across any number of dimensions — on a scale that stays put when slicers change, with the analytical depth the built-in options never had.

    Certified by Microsoft30-day free trial: choose Buy now on the listingHow licensing works

    Datasheet
    Status
    Available on Microsoft Marketplace
    Certification
    Microsoft Power BI certified. Exports to PowerPoint and PDF, works in email subscriptions and certified-only tenants.
    Price
    $1.99 /user/mo · $19 /user/yr
    Licensing
    Per user, assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin center, with a 30-day free trial. Unlicensed viewers see the free tier, never a blocked visual.
    Data
    Computed inside Power BI. No external calls, no API keys, no telemetry.
    Visuals API
    5.11
    Accessibility
    Single-tab-stop keyboard navigation, cross-highlight, high-contrast mode
    Languages
    English, Czech
    Works in
    Power BI Desktop, Service, Embedded
    Pl. II  ·  Radar Chart  ·  the product spotrecorded from the shipped visual
    Power BI radar chart comparing teams on a pinned scale
    Pl. II  ·  Radar Chart  ·  Compare teams across any dimensions on an honest, pinned scale — free tier with 3 series and every cosmetic option.rendered from the shipped visual
    What it does

    Most radar charts rescale with every slicer click, quietly reshaping your story. SmartVisuals Radar Chart is built around honest scale controls: pin the minimum and maximum, start axes at zero, and order axes alphabetically, by value, or exactly as in your data.

    When raw units don't compare — dollars, days and percentages on one chart — per-axis normalization (min-max, percentile rank or z-score) and inverted axes turn an unreadable raw radar into a fair comparison. And when overlapping polygons stop being readable, switch to pizza slices, radial columns or lollipops with one dropdown.

    Search all visuals

    Free and premium

    Where the line is, exactly.

    Report authors see the full premium set in edit mode, so you can evaluate every feature on your own data before assigning a single licence. Unlicensed viewers always get a working chart.

    Free tierevery viewer
    • Up to 3 series, up to 100 axesPlus every cosmetic option: 4 themes, line / area / spline styles, marker shapes, polygon or circle grid, rotation, legend, data labels. Every color, font and shape is yours to override.
    • Honest scale controlsPin the minimum and maximum so the chart stops rescaling with every slicer click — the classic radar trap. Start axes at zero, order axes your way.
    • No lock-out, everUnlicensed viewers always see the full free tier — no watermark, no broken visual, no blocked report.
    • Interactive and accessibleCross-filtering, multi-select, drill-down on axis hierarchies, tooltips on points and whole axes, one keyboard tab stop with arrow navigation, high-contrast and reduced-motion support.
    Premium$1.99 /user/mo · first month free
    • 4 or more seriesCompare as many teams or products as your story needs, or split one measure by a Legend field.
    • Normalization for mixed unitsMin-max, percentile rank or z-score per axis, so speed, price and NPS compare fairly on one chart.
    • Inverted axesMark axes where lower is better (price, error rate) so "further out" always means "better".
    • Target polygon, zones and benchmarkJudge every series against a dashed goal shape, red/amber/green value rings, a reference line and the min-max envelope or average of the visible series.
    • Chart modesWhen polygons overlap, switch to pizza slices with value chips, radial columns, or lollipops — one dropdown, same fields.
    • Small multiplesOne mini radar per series on a shared scale, each carrying the dashed average silhouette of the field.

    Why radar charts in Power BI keep changing shape

    Most radar visuals fit the scale to whatever data is on screen. Click a slicer, the maximum changes, and the same team now looks twice as strong or twice as weak. The shape you presented last week is not the shape on the dashboard today, and nobody can tell why.

    SmartVisuals Radar Chart treats the scale as a decision, not a side effect. Pin the minimum and maximum so every filter state is drawn on the same grid, start axes at zero when the story needs it, and keep axes in the order of your data instead of whatever order the filter returns them in. All of this is in the free tier, because it is what makes a radar chart trustworthy at all.

    Comparing metrics with different units on one radar

    A vendor scorecard with price in dollars, delivery in days and satisfaction as a percentage cannot share one axis scale. Per-axis normalization rescales each dimension before drawing: min-max for a plain 0 to 100 view, percentile rank when you want to know where each entity sits among its peers, or z-score when the spread matters. Percentile mode clamps at the fifth and ninety-fifth percentile so a single outlier does not flatten everyone else.

    Axes where lower is better, such as price or error rate, are marked as inverted, so further out always means better. The real values stay in the tooltips and labels, so nobody has to guess what a normalized 72 was in dollars.

    Targets, zones and benchmarks

    Map a Target field and every series is judged against a dashed goal polygon. Red, amber and green zone bands turn the chart into a maturity or risk scorecard, drawn only where the scale makes them honest. A benchmark band shows the envelope or average of the visible series as instant context, and conditional formatting colours whole series by a rule on their average, minimum, maximum or total.

    When polygons overlap: pizza slices, columns, lollipops and small multiples

    Six overlapping polygons are a spaghetti plot, whatever the colours. Hovering a legend entry isolates one series and dims the rest, which is often enough. When it is not, one dropdown switches the same fields into pizza slices with value chips, the football-scouting look, into radial columns, or into lollipops.

    Small multiples draw one mini radar per series on a shared scale, each carrying the dashed average silhouette of the field, so a page of eight profiles reads at a glance and still lets you spot who is above average where.

    What three free series cover, and where premium starts

    The free tier renders up to three series on up to 100 axes, every cosmetic option and the shared-scale controls. That covers a single-entity profile and simple comparisons. Comparing many entities, which is the core purpose of a radar chart, needs the premium licence, as do per-axis scaling, normalization, inverted axes, targets, zones, benchmarks, the reference line, conditional formatting, chart modes and small multiples.

    An unlicensed viewer still sees the first three series plus the standard Power BI licence banner, never a broken visual, and every premium feature previews free while you edit the report.

    Where it gets used

    Skill matrices and 360 feedback in HR, vendor and product scorecards in procurement, player profiles in sports analytics, maturity assessments in consulting, and any competitive comparison where several dimensions have to be read together rather than as six separate bar charts.

    Use cases

    Where Radar Chart earns its place.

    Skill matrix for a maintenance crew

    A maintenance manager at a Helios Manufacturing plant maps Skill to Axis, Technician to Legend and a Skill level measure (1 to 5) to Values. In Axes & Scale, Minimum 0 and Maximum 5 pin the scale, and Grid Levels 5 in the Chart card gives one ring per level, so filtering to another shift never redraws a technician as stronger or weaker than they are. Three technicians on one chart fit the free tier.

    Supplier scorecard with mixed units (premium)

    A procurement team maps Criterion (Price per unit, Lead time, On-time delivery, Defect rate, Audit score) to Axis, Supplier to Legend and a Score measure to Values. Normalize Axes set to Percentile rank puts dollars, days and percentages on one fair scale, and Inverted Axes set to "Price per unit, Lead time, Defect rate" makes further out mean better on every axis. The tooltip still shows each supplier's real value.

    Plant maturity assessment against a target (premium)

    An operations excellence lead maps Dimension (Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, People) to Axis, a Current score measure to Values and a Target score measure to Target. The target is drawn as a dashed polygon with its own legend entry, and Zone Bands with Alert Below 2 and Good Above 4 on a pinned 0 to 5 scale shade the rings red, amber and green, so the gap to the target reads at a glance.

    Product lines side by side (premium)

    A product manager comparing eight product lines on price, quality, delivery, service and range maps Attribute to Axis, Product line to Legend and Rating to Values. Eight overlapping polygons are unreadable, so Small Multiples > Show Small Multiples draws one mini radar per product line on a shared scale, each with the dashed average shape of all lines (Show Average Shape), in an automatic or fixed number of Columns.

    Colouring sites by their overall score (premium)

    A regional quality lead maps Audit area to Axis, Site to Legend and Audit score to Values, then turns on Conditional Formatting > Color Series by Rule with Evaluate set to Average across axes, Good When ≥ 80 and Alert When < 60. Each site's polygon is drawn in the Good, Watch or Alert colour, so the sites that need a visit stand out before anyone reads an axis.

    Getting started

    From empty canvas to first chart.

    1. 01

      Map a category to Axis and one or more measures to Values — that alone renders a working radar.

    2. 02

      Pin the scale minimum and maximum so slicer clicks stop reshaping the chart.

    3. 03

      Mixing units? Turn on normalization and mark lower-is-better axes as inverted.

    4. 04

      Crowded chart? Switch the chart mode or turn on small multiples.

    Get Radar Chart

    Two ways in.

    Installation instructions for both paths are on the download page.

    Microsoft Marketplace (recommended)

    Reviewed by Microsoft, updates automatically, licences assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

    Open Microsoft Marketplace

    Direct download (1.0.1.0)

    .pbiviz package, import into Power BI Desktop or Service, does not auto-update. Includes the full free tier; premium features preview in edit mode and are licensed through Microsoft Marketplace.

    Download .pbiviz

    Sample report

    A Power BI project (.pbip, zipped) on Helios Manufacturing data, with Radar Chart 1.0.1.0 inside. Unzip it and open the .pbip file in Power BI Desktop.

    Download sample
    Accessibility

    Readable and usable for everyone.

    Tab
    Moves focus to one data point. The whole chart is one tab stop; focus returns to the last point you used.
    Left / Right arrow
    Moves to the previous or next axis within the same series.
    Up / Down arrow
    Moves to the same axis on the previous or next series (in small multiples, to the previous or next panel).
    Home / End
    Jumps to the first or last axis.
    Enter or Space
    Selects the focused point and cross-filters the report.
    Ctrl+Enter or Shift+Enter
    Adds the focused point to the current selection.
    Escape
    Clears the selection and hides the tooltip.
    • Screen readers

      The chart announces itself as "Radar chart" with a short hint on the arrow keys, Enter and Escape. Each point is announced as a button with its axis, series and formatted value, for example "Delivery, Team North: 82". In small multiples each panel is announced by its series name.

    • High contrast

      In Windows high contrast mode series, grid, axes, labels, target, zones and rule colours switch to the system foreground and background colours. Custom and report-theme colours are set aside while the mode is on.

    • Reduced motion

      When the operating system asks for reduced motion, the chart draws without the entrance animation.

    • Not colour alone

      In the default SmartVisuals theme each series gets its own marker shape (circle, diamond, square, triangle), and Marker Shape in the format pane sets one for any theme. The target polygon is dashed and has a dashed legend entry of its own.

    • Languages

      Format pane, field names, messages and screen-reader text are available in English and Czech, following the Power BI language setting.

    • Context menu

      Right-clicking a point, a legend entry, a small-multiple panel or empty space opens the standard Power BI context menu.

    Release notes

    What changed, and when.

    Updates install automatically from Microsoft Marketplace. Full history.

    1. 1.0.1.0

      First release on Microsoft Marketplace.

      • Up to three series and unlimited axes free, with honest scale controls.
      • Normalization for mixed units, inverted axes, targets and small multiples (premium).
      • Single tab stop keyboard access and cross-highlighting.
    Questions

    Asked before you did.

    More questions? Write to us or search all the documentation.

    Up to 3 series on up to 100 axes, every cosmetic option (themes, line and area styles, markers, grid, rotation, legend, labels) and the shared-scale controls: a pinned minimum and maximum, start axes at zero and axis order. Tooltips, cross-filtering and drill-down are free too. Unlicensed viewers always see the full free tier — the visual never blocks a report.

    In reading view: a fourth series and more, independent per-axis scaling and per-axis minimums and maximums, normalization, inverted axes, the target polygon, zone bands, the benchmark band, the reference line, conditional formatting, the pizza, radial column and lollipop modes, and small multiples. Without a license the chart draws the first three series without those options, and Power BI shows its own short license notice once.

    Yes. Every premium feature is unlocked while you author or edit the report, in Power BI Desktop or in edit mode in the service, so you can build and test the whole report first.

    A category in Axis with at least 3 values (skills, KPIs, criteria) and one or more measures in Values; each measure becomes a series. To split one measure into series, add a field to Legend. Target is optional: one goal value per axis, drawn as a dashed polygon (premium). With fewer than 3 axes the visual tells you to add more categories. Before Axis and Values are mapped, the visual shows a landing page instead of an empty frame: a miniature themed radar with the field guidance "Add Axis (3+ categories) and Values to draw the chart" and "Optional: Legend for series · Target for a goal shape" (the guidance appears on a visual taller than 220 px).

    Power BI sends up to 100 axis categories and up to 20 Legend values to the visual. The free tier draws 3 series; with a license, all of them.

    Yes — premium normalization rescales each axis by min-max, percentile rank or z-score, and inverted axes make sure further out always means better.

    Yes. Put a hierarchy in Axis (for example Category, then Subcategory) and use the standard Power BI drill buttons on the visual.

    No. It runs fully offline — no external services, no telemetry, nothing leaves your report.

    Through Microsoft Marketplace as a per-user subscription. Licenses are assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and the visual unlocks for those users automatically. There is no license key and no account on this website. Where Power BI cannot check licenses at all, premium features stay on rather than locking people out.

    Yes. The chart is one tab stop: Left and Right move between axes, Up and Down between series, Enter or Space selects the focused point, and Escape clears the selection. Screen readers hear the axis, series and value of each point. The chart also follows Windows high contrast mode and reduced-motion settings; see Accessibility on this page.

    English and Czech. The format pane, field names, messages and screen-reader text follow the language set in Power BI.

    Use the Report a bug block on smartvisuals.io/support, or write to hello@smartvisuals.io. A screenshot, your Power BI version (Desktop or the service) and the fields you have mapped help us reproduce it quickly.
    Troubleshooting

    When it does not look right.

    Found a bug or missing something? Post it on the requests board or vote for what others asked; the developer answers within two business days.

    The visual shows a small radar and a title instead of my chart.
    That is the landing page, shown until both Axis and Values are mapped. It draws a miniature themed radar with the title "Radar Chart by SmartVisuals" and, on a visual taller than 220 px, the field guidance "Add Axis (3+ categories) and Values to draw the chart" and "Optional: Legend for series · Target for a goal shape". Map a category column to Axis and at least one measure to Values and the chart replaces it.
    The visual says "Radar needs at least 3 axes".
    A radar needs at least three categories in Axis after filters are applied. Add more categories to the Axis field, or widen the slicer or filter that leaves fewer than three. With two categories a bar chart tells the story better anyway.
    The chart rescales when I click a slicer.
    That is the default auto-scale: with Minimum and Maximum empty, the scale follows the data on screen. Pin the scale by entering a Minimum and a Maximum in the Axes & Scale card of the format pane (a decimal comma such as 2,5 works too). Start Axes at Zero is on by default; an explicit Minimum wins over it. Minimum and Maximum apply to Scaling set to Shared (one scale). With Independent (per axis) each axis uses its own data range instead; pin those with Per-Axis Minimums and Per-Axis Maximums, for example Speed=0, Price=10 (premium).
    Only 3 of my series render.
    The free tier renders up to 3 series in reading view, and Power BI shows its licence notice once. A per-user licence, assigned in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Billing > Licenses, unlocks 4 or more; in edit mode all series always render, so you can build the report before buying. Power BI sends up to 20 Legend values to the visual.
    Axes with different units look wrong.
    Raw dollars, days and percentages don't share a scale: one large axis flattens everything else. Turn on Normalize Axes (Min–Max, Percentile rank or Z-score) in the Axes & Scale card, or set Scaling to Independent (per axis), and list the axes where lower is better in Inverted Axes. All three are premium. The tooltip keeps showing the real values.
    Inverted Axes or Per-Axis Minimums do nothing.
    Both match axes by name. Type the category names exactly as they appear on the chart, separated by commas (case does not matter): Price, Error rate for Inverted Axes, and Name=value pairs such as Speed=200, Price=99 for Per-Axis Minimums and Per-Axis Maximums. Names that match no axis are ignored. Per-axis minimums and maximums are used when Scaling is set to Independent (per axis) or Normalize Axes to Min–Max; on the shared scale the Minimum and Maximum above them apply. Both settings are premium, so in reading view without a licence the chart draws without them.
    The shape dips to the centre on one axis.
    A blank value is drawn as zero. If the measure returns blank for a category, the series drops toward the centre on that axis. If blank means no data rather than zero, filter that category out of the visual, or make the measure return the value it should have.
    Zone bands or the reference line don't appear.
    Both are premium, and both draw only where a single value ring is honest: Scaling set to Shared (one scale), Normalize Axes set to Off (raw values) and no inverted axes. Turn on Show Zone Bands in the Zone Bands card or Show Reference Line in the Reference Line card, then check those three settings.
    Small multiples show a single radar.
    Small multiples draw one panel per series and need at least two visible series, from two or more measures in Values or a field in Legend. Alt+click on a legend entry hides or shows a series; a hidden series is left out of the panels too. Small multiples are premium.
    My colours changed, or a colour picker has no effect.
    Data Colors has one picker per series, labelled with the real series name. Two things override it: Conditional Formatting > Color Series by Rule recolours whole series in the Good, Watch and Alert colours (premium), and Windows high contrast mode draws series, grid, axes, labels, target, zones and rule colours in the system colours, setting custom and report-theme colours aside while it is on. Use Report Theme Colors in the Theme card takes series colours from the report theme wherever no custom colour is set.
    Fields, settings & AI agents

    What goes in, and every setting.

    The fields Radar Chart takes, with the GUID and internal names to add it to a report via PBIR or a report-authoring agent. Full catalog (JSON)

    Visual GUID
    radarChartDE4CDC2967844EE98437EAF488DEB8C3
    RoleDisplay nameKind
    categoryAxisGrouping
    legendLegendGrouping
    measureValuesMeasure
    targetTargetMeasure
    Missing something?

    Tell us what is missing.

    A feature you need, a bug you hit, a visual that does not exist yet. Every message reaches the person who builds these visuals, and feature requests shape what ships next. We also build visuals to order.

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