Gains grow right, losses grow left of a centre zero line. Export as PNG, SVG, GIF or MP4.
Free to try · No design skills · Ready in about two minutes
Overview
A diverging bar chart plots positive and negative values as bars growing in opposite directions from a shared zero line, instead of every bar rising from the same baseline the way a regular bar chart does. The moment a dataset has both gains and losses, that's the tell a diverging bar chart is the right call, a regular bar chart would make a -8% look like a small positive bar unless you read the axis carefully.
It is built for change, not for level. Year-over-year movement by category, survey sentiment split between agree and disagree, net effects like hiring minus attrition, anywhere the sign of the number carries as much meaning as its size. Green gains to the right and red losses to the left make the winners and losers unmistakable at a glance, and every bar is labelled with its own sign so nobody has to infer direction from position alone.
The one thing it isn't built for is a trend over continuous time. Diverging bars compare categories at a single point, this quarter's movement by product line, this survey's sentiment by segment. When the story is how a signed value evolved across many time periods, a line chart with a zero reference line reads that trajectory far better.
How it works
A shared zero line runs down the centre of the chart. Each category's bar grows from that line toward the right when its value is positive, and toward the left when it's negative, so the axis itself carries the meaning: right is up, left is down.
Bar length is still proportional to magnitude on either side, so a +40 bar and a -40 bar are the same length in opposite directions, keeping the comparison honest. Reochart colours gains and losses semantically (green right, red left) and signs every value explicitly, so the direction reads even before the colour registers.
Examples
Real charts made in Reochart, each with its own data and theme. Hover to play the animation.
Good fit
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Compare
Diverging bars vs the alternatives, at a glance.
| Chart type | Best for | Avoid when |
|---|---|---|
| Diverging bars | Categories with both positive and negative values | All-positive data, or a trend over time |
| Bar / column | Comparing all-positive values across categories | Some values are negative and sign matters |
| Line / area | A signed metric changing over continuous time | Comparing separate categories at one point in time |
| Waterfall | A running total bridging start to end through signed steps | Categories are independent, not sequential |
Your data
One row per category: a label and a signed number. Positive values grow right in green, negative values grow left in red. Paste straight from Excel or Sheets, or import a CSV. Up to about 15 rows reads cleanly.
| Label | Value |
|---|---|
| Platform | 412 |
| Add-ons | 168 |
| Hardware | -87 |
| Legacy plans | -203 |
Step by step
Drop your numbers in, or import a CSV.
Choose the chart, theme and animation speed.
Tune colours, labels and add your brand.
Download MP4, GIF, PNG or SVG.
Best practices
Watch out
A diverging bar chart's whole value is the zero line separating gains from losses. If nothing is negative, a regular bar chart is simpler.
Colour-blind readers and black-and-white printouts lose the gain/loss distinction if the sign isn't also printed on the label.
Diverging bars compare categories at one moment. If the story is a signed value evolving over many periods, use a line chart with a zero reference instead.
Past about 15 rows, bars on both sides of the centre line crowd together. Rank by magnitude and trim, or split into two charts.
Why Reochart
FAQ
A horizontal bar chart where bars grow left or right from a centre zero line, so positive and negative values read as opposite directions.
A label and a signed value per row — positive numbers grow right in green, negatives grow left in red.
Use diverging bars the moment your data has both positive and negative values and the sign matters. If everything is positive, a regular bar chart is simpler.
A waterfall bridges a single running total through signed steps to an ending value. Diverging bars compare independent categories that each have their own signed value, with no running total connecting them.
Up to about 15 reads cleanly. Beyond that, bars on both sides of the centre line get cramped — rank by magnitude and trim, or split into two charts.
Yes. Bars grow from the centre line by default, and you can export the animation as an MP4 or GIF, or grab a static PNG or SVG.
Yes. Pro exports a crisp, scalable SVG vector, alongside MP4, GIF and PNG. Every export renders at 1080p.
On Pro, yes. Set a brand palette and add a logo that replaces the watermark on every export.
Yes. The free plan lets you make every chart type except the animated bar chart race, and export an animated MP4 with a small watermark, no card needed. Pro adds the bar chart race, removes the watermark, and adds GIF and SVG, your brand colours and logo, longer videos and CSV import.