Chart maker

Area Chart Maker

Show trends with volume emphasis

An area chart is a line chart with the region below the line filled in, so it shows both the direction of a trend and the volume beneath it. InstaCharts builds one from your time-series data in seconds, ready to style and embed.

Make a Area Chart Free
Open the Demo

A live area chart example

An interactive area chart built and embedded with InstaCharts.

Your data

What data you need for a area chart

Paste your spreadsheet, upload a CSV or Excel file, or connect a Google Sheet, and InstaCharts detects your column types and builds the area chart automatically.

X

X-Axis

Dates or ordered categories

Y

Y-Axis

Numerical values, starting at zero

Use cases

When to use a area chart

Best uses

  • Show a trend while emphasizing magnitude with the filled area
  • Communicate a cumulative or accumulated total over time
  • Track a single continuous metric like revenue or page views
  • Make the gap between two values tangible with a filled region

When another chart fits better

  • Overlapping series hide each other; use a grouped line chart
  • Unordered categories belong in a bar chart
  • Negative values are misleading in a fill starting at zero

How it works

How to make a area chart

  1. Step 1

    Add your data

    Paste a spreadsheet, or upload a CSV, Excel, TSV, or JSON file.

    InstaCharts new sheet dialog with options to upload a file, connect a data source, or start a blank sheet

  2. Step 2

    Pick the area chart

    InstaCharts auto-suggests a chart; switch to this type in one click.

    InstaCharts chart type menu listing line, grouped line, bar, stacked bar, scatter plot, area, and pie charts

  3. Step 3

    Map your columns

    Choose which columns drive each axis, or accept the smart defaults.

    InstaCharts chart tab with chart type, X-axis, and Y-axis selectors above an area chart of demo site earnings

  4. Step 4

    Customize styling

    Adjust colors, labels, and titles to match your brand or report.

    InstaCharts colors panel with a color scheme picker beside a grouped bar chart

  5. Step 5

    Export or embed

    Download as PNG, SVG, or PDF, share a link, or embed a live, auto-updating chart.

    InstaCharts export dialog with PNG, SVG, JPG, WebP, PDF, and PowerPoint image formats

FAQ

Area Chart maker FAQ

Answers to common questions about making a area chart with InstaCharts.

Is the area chart maker free?

Yes. Creating and exporting an area chart is free with no account. The free tier supports up to 500 rows and adds a watermark; paid plans from $10 user/mo remove it.

When should I use an area chart instead of a line graph?

Use an area chart when the volume beneath the trend matters, such as cumulative revenue or total downloads. Use a line graph when you only care about the direction and rate of change.

What data do I need for an area chart?

A date or ordered column for the X-axis and a numeric column for the values. To break it down by category, add a breakdown column for a grouped area chart.

Can I stack multiple categories?

Yes. Add a breakdown column and InstaCharts produces a grouped area chart that stacks each category's contribution into a cumulative total.

Want the full reference?

Read the area chart documentation.

Explore

Related chart makers

Compare related chart types, or browse every InstaCharts chart maker below.

Grouped Area Chart Maker

Stack category trends over time

Line Graph Maker

Plot trends over time online

Bar Chart Maker

Compare values across categories online

All InstaCharts chart makers

See every option on the chart maker page.

Make your area chart in seconds

InstaCharts makes data visualization easy, so you can build clear reports without design experience.

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