You’ll agree that comparison is one of the critical steps in any data analysis project.
By comparing key data points, you discover in-depth insights into patterns and trends. In other words, you won’t be scratching the surface of your data. Instead, you’ll be digging deeper to uncover hidden insights.
To compare critical metrics in your data, you need access to a wider variety of comparison-based charts. Yes, you need a tool that has a fully-stocked library of Comparison Charts to succeed in your mission.
How about the Excel spreadsheet you use for all your data visualization needs?
Well, Excel is a very handy tool, primarily due to its simplicity and intuitive user interface (UI).
However, this tool comes with very basic charts, which need significant amounts of time to edit. Besides, Excel’s library has limited types of Comparison Charts.
But, you don’t have to do away with Excel. It turns out you can transform it into a reliable data visualization tool by downloading and installing add-ins.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
Before we dive right into the types of Comparison Charts, let’s go through the definition.
You can use Comparison Charts to compare the performance of two or more critical metrics in your data.
For instance, you can use a comparison chart type to check how key data points stack up against each other. If you want to compare, let’s say, sales revenue versus profits across a specified period, your go-to chart should be Comparison Graphs.
You can also leverage Comparison chart types to compare different products and services in the market before buying. In digital marketing, you can compare the performance of various attribution sources to establish the primary source of traffic.
You can also use comparison charts to compare your product or team’s performance on a week-to-week, month-to-month, or year-to-year basis.
In others, the practical application of types of Comparison Charts is incredibly massive.
In the coming section, you’ll learn how you can leverage Comparison Charts to extract hidden insights into your data.
Data visualization experts recommend the following list of charts if your goal is to cherry-pick hidden comparison insights into key data points.
Let’s check them out.
Note: All the charts (above) fall into the category of best graphs for comparing data.
The Excel spreadsheet lacks a massive chunk of the charts in the list (above). Besides, its charts are pretty basic, which means you have to put in more work to make them insightful, ready-to-use, and visually appealing.
But, there’s a third-party app you can install in your Excel to access the 10 types of Comparison Charts (above).
Keep reading to discover more.
As we said, Excel lacks a significant chunk of Comparison Charts. Besides, it has pretty basic Comparison Chart templates, which require more work in edits.
But, we’re not recommending you to stop using Excel.
Yes, you read that right.
There’s an add-in you can install in your Excel to access the best graphs for comparing data, which is called ChartExpo.
ChartExpo is a trusted data visualization tool that thousands of professionals across the world use to create insightful and easy-to-understand Comparison Charts in Excel.
You can easily install ChartExpo in your Excel (as you shall see later).
Besides, it has many advanced types of charts and graphs to ensure you never struggle to select the best graphs for comparing data.
We almost forgot to mention this: ChartExpo is loaded with all the 10 types of Comparison Charts, namely:
To enjoy unlimited access to all major types of Comparison Charts, follow the steps below:
Let’s go through 10 easy-to-follow comparison chart examples to get started with types of Comparison Charts. You’ll also learn about the best graphs for comparative analysis in the coming section.
Let’s visualize the tabular data below using one of the best graphs for comparing data (the Comparison Bar Chart). We’ll be comparing the sales of various laptop brands across 4 financial years.
Let’s get started.
Years | Laptop brands | Sales |
2018 | Lenovo | 11 |
2018 | HP. | 29 |
2018 | Dell | 20 |
2018 | Acer | 2 |
2018 | Apple | 55 |
2018 | MSI | 12 |
2019 | Lenovo | 15 |
2019 | HP. | 8 |
2019 | Dell | 4 |
2019 | Acer | 3 |
2019 | MSI | 12 |
2019 | Apple | 16 |
2020 | Apple | 51 |
2020 | HP. | 28 |
2020 | Dell | 4 |
2020 | Acer | 45 |
2020 | Lenovo | 12 |
2020 | MSI | 16 |
2021 | Lenovo | 19 |
2021 | HP. | 28 |
2021 | Dell | 17 |
2021 | Acer | 6 |
2021 | Apple | 38 |
2021 | MSI | 3 |
Let’s visualize the data below using one of the best graphs for comparing data (Slope Chart). We’ll be comparing the performance of the current versus previous periods of a hypothetical brand in various states.
Period | State | Sales |
Previous | Chicago, Illinois, USA | 14 |
Previous | Dallas, Texas, USA | 7 |
Previous | Houston, Texas, USA | 12 |
Previous | Austin, Texas, USA | 14 |
Previous | Albany, New York, USA | 31 |
Previous | Trenton, New Jersey, USA | 24 |
Previous | Newark, New Jersey, USA | 22 |
Previous | Helena, Montana, USA | 8 |
Previous | San Antonio, Texas, USA | 7 |
Current | Chicago, Illinois, USA | 21 |
Current | Dallas, Texas, USA | 27 |
Current | Houston, Texas, USA | 30 |
Current | Austin, Texas, USA | 69 |
Current | Albany, New York, USA | 21 |
Current | Trenton, New Jersey, USA | 34 |
Current | Newark, New Jersey, USA | 21 |
Current | Helena, Montana, USA | 21 |
Current | San Antonio, Texas, USA | 28 |
In this example, we’ll use a Progress Chart in Excel to compare a hypothetical brand’s current versus previous product sales.
Products | Previous sales | Current sales |
Robot Vacuum Cleaner | 20 | 7 |
Indoor Security Camera | 90 | 10 |
Portable Chargers | 20 | 80 |
Power Bank | 50 | 50 |
Dishwasher | 70 | 30 |
Smart Alarm Clocks | 30 | 70 |
Electric Deep Fryer | 67 | 33 |
Coffee Maker Machine | 54 | 46 |
Laptop Cooling Pad | 40 | 60 |
In this example, we’ll use a Tornado Chart (one of the types of Comparison Charts) to compare the number of men’s apparel orders versus the number of women’s apparel orders in a given financial year.
Months | No. of Men’s Apparel Orders | No. of Women’s Apparel Orders |
Jan | 85 | 82 |
Feb | 95 | 75 |
Mar | 81 | 79 |
Apr | 65 | 55 |
May | 60 | 43 |
Jun | 55 | 49 |
Jul | 59 | 20 |
Aug | 40 | 60 |
Sep | 69 | 35 |
Oct | 89 | 23 |
Nov | 92 | 23 |
Dec | 39 | 19 |
In this example #5, we’ll use a Pie Chart (one of the types of Comparison Charts) to compare units sold versus product categories.
Product Category | Units Sold |
Smart Phones | 1200 |
Smart Watches | 700 |
Headsets | 1000 |
LCD | 1400 |
Laptops | 600 |
Accessories | 3000 |
We’ll use the Double Bar Graph (one of the types of Comparison Charts) to compare the performance of class A versus B in various courses, as shown in the table
Courses | Class A | Class B |
Computer Programming | 85 | 82 |
Information Science | 95 | 75 |
Networking | 81 | 79 |
Operating Systems | 65 | 55 |
Artificial Intelligence | 60 | 43 |
Theory, Logic and Design | 55 | 49 |
Multimedia | 59 | 20 |
Automata Theory | 40 | 60 |
Data Logic | 69 | 35 |
We’ll use the Donut Chart (one of the types of Comparison Charts) to compare the popularity of various sports.
Sports | Popularity |
Football | 60 |
Baseball | 33 |
Basketball | 30 |
Ice Hockey | 15 |
We’ll use the Matrix Chart (one of the types of Comparison Charts) to compare various performance metrics in various locations, as shown below.
Locations | Analysis | Period | sales |
Florida | Expenses | Current | 2,470 |
Florida | Profit | Current | 109 |
Florida | Loss | Current | 3 |
Georgia | Revenue | Current | 2,030.9 |
Georgia | Expenses | Current | 2459 |
Georgia | Profit | Current | 35 |
Georgia | Loss | Current | 16 |
Hawaii | Revenue | Current | 803.1 |
Hawaii | Expenses | Current | 2,256 |
Hawaii | Profit | Current | 112 |
Hawaii | Loss | Current | 14 |
New York | Revenue | Current | 2,160 |
New York | Expenses | Current | 1,802 |
New York | Profit | Current | 87 |
New York | Loss | Current | 11 |
Ohio | Revenue | Current | 1,469.9 |
Ohio | Expenses | Current | 750 |
Ohio | Profit | Current | 56 |
Ohio | Loss | Current | 30 |
Alabama | Revenue | Current | 531.1 |
Alabama | Expenses | Current | 637 |
Alabama | Profit | Current | 58 |
Alabama | Loss | Current | 0 |
California | Revenue | Current | 1,559.6 |
California | Expenses | Current | 627 |
California | Profit | Current | 38 |
California | Loss | Current | 10 |
Colorado | Revenue | Current | 377.6 |
Colorado | Expenses | Current | 626 |
Colorado | Profit | Current | 21 |
Colorado | Loss | Current | 2 |
Connecticut | Revenue | Current | 488.4 |
Connecticut | Expenses | Current | 619 |
Connecticut | Profit | Current | 47 |
Connecticut | Loss | Current | 20 |
Delaware | Revenue | Current | 4,024.3 |
Delaware | Expenses | Current | 587 |
Delaware | Profit | Current | 21 |
Delaware | Loss | Current | 9 |
We’ll use the Stacked Bar Chart in Excel (one of the types of Comparison Charts) to compare the proportion of various age groups in the population of various countries.
Country | 0 – 14 years | 15 – 64 years | 64 years and older |
United Kingdom | 5 | 20 | 3 |
Germany | 6 | 29 | 5 |
Mexico | 17 | 31 | 2 |
Japan | 9 | 44 | 10 |
Russia | 13 | 49 | 5 |
Brazil | 26 | 55 | 3 |
United States | 29 | 91 | 15 |
In this example #9, we’ll use the Dual Axis Grouped Bar Chart (one of the types of Comparison Charts) to compare reviews in a given time, as shown below.
Months | Positive Reviews | Negative Reviews |
Jan | 88 | 23 |
Feb | 32 | 62 |
Mar | 66 | 19 |
Apr | 96 | 23 |
May | 117 | 42 |
Jun | 68 | 27 |
Jul | 85 | 26 |
Aug | 17 | 56 |
In the following video, you will learn how to create a comparison chart using Comparison Bar Chart in Excel without any coding in a few clicks.
By comparing key metrics in your data, you can map performance with a significant degree of accuracy. Besides, you can easily identify lapses or growth in performance, especially if you use the recommended types of Comparison Charts.
One of the recommended Comparison Chart types is the Stacked Bar Chart.
Use these Comparison Charts to compare the performance of key metrics in your raw data.
For instance, you can use a Comparison Chart to check how key data points stack up against each other. More so, you can compare sales revenue versus profits in a given financial period.
Extracting comparison insights from raw data is one of the key steps toward mapping growth in your business (or workplace).
You need the best graphs for comparing data metrics. And this is where the top 10 types of Comparison Charts come in.
Check out below the comprehensive list of comparison-oriented visualization designs:
Use Comparison Charts (above) if your goal is to display in-depth insights into how key metrics stack up against others.
Excel is not recommended if your goal is to generate ready-to-use Comparison Visualization types. The spreadsheet application lacks a huge chunk of the charts we’ve just highlighted above.
Besides, it has pretty basic Comparison Chart templates, which require more work in edits.
We recommend you install third-party apps, such as ChartExpo, into your Excel to access all the Comparison Charts (we’ve highlighted above). ChartExpo is an add-in you can easily download and install in your Excel app. Besides, it has all the 10 types of Comparison Charts, plus over 50 more advanced visualization designs.
Sign up for a 7-day trial to access all the 10 variants of Comparison Charts.