Home / Part to Whole / Donut Chart

Donut Chart in HTML, CSS and JavaScript

A donut chart is a pie chart with a hole in the middle. This free template draws one with plain SVG and vanilla JavaScript, no chart library. The example shows workouts logged by members of a fitness app.

Open live demoDownload HTML fileView code on GitHub
Donut Chart made with HTML and JavaScript showing workouts logged by members of a fitness app

What is a donut chart?

A donut chart is a pie chart with a hole in the middle. The ring shows the parts of a whole, and the empty center is a handy place for the total or for details about the part you point at.

Because people read the length of the ring rather than the size of a wedge, many find donut charts a little easier to compare than pies. They also look lighter on dashboards.

At a glance

Best for
A few shares with the total shown in the middle
Data you need
A name and a count for each part
Skip it when
More than 6 parts. The ring gets too busy.
Made with
HTML, CSS and vanilla JavaScript. No library.

When to use a donut chart

  • Dashboard summaries with a total
  • Workout, task or ticket types
  • Budget or time split into a few parts
  • App screens with little space

When to pick another chart

What you get in this template

How the code works

Here is a short version of the idea behind this donut chart. The full file adds the axis, labels, tooltips, sorting and resizing on top of it.

const parts = [['Running', 471, '#4ade80'], ['Cycling', 298, '#38bdf8'], ['Strength', 223, '#f472b6']];
const total = parts.reduce((a, p) => a + p[1], 0);
const cx = 200, cy = 150, r = 120, inner = 75;
let start = 0;
const pt = (rad, a) => (cx + rad * Math.sin(a)) + ',' + (cy - rad * Math.cos(a));

parts.forEach(([name, n, color]) => {
  const end = start + n / total * Math.PI * 2, big = end - start > Math.PI ? 1 : 0;
  make('path', { fill: color, d: 'M' + pt(r, start) + 'A' + r + ',' + r + ' 0 ' + big + ' 1 ' + pt(r, end) +
    'L' + pt(inner, end) + 'A' + inner + ',' + inner + ' 0 ' + big + ' 0 ' + pt(inner, start) + 'Z' });
  start = end;
});
drawText(cx, cy + 6, total, 'middle');

The example uses four tiny helpers that create SVG shapes. Put them above the code and it runs as is.

const svg = document.querySelector('svg');
function make(tag, attrs) {
  const n = document.createElementNS('http://www.w3.org/2000/svg', tag);
  for (const k in attrs) n.setAttribute(k, attrs[k]);
  svg.appendChild(n);
  return n;
}
function drawRect(x, y, width, height, fill) { return make('rect', { x, y, width, height, fill }); }
function drawCircle(cx, cy, r, fill) { return make('circle', { cx, cy, r, fill }); }
function drawLine(x1, y1, x2, y2, stroke, width, dash) {
  return make('line', { x1, y1, x2, y2, stroke, 'stroke-width': width || 1, 'stroke-dasharray': dash || 'none' });
}
function drawText(x, y, str, anchor) {
  const t = make('text', { x, y, 'text-anchor': anchor || 'start' });
  t.textContent = str;
  return t;
}

How to add it to your website

  1. Download the file. Click Download HTML file above. You get one file called donut-chart.html with everything inside.
  2. Change the data. Open the file in any code editor and find the DATA list near the bottom. Replace the names and numbers with your own.
  3. Change the colors and text. Colors are at the top of the style tag. The title, subtitle and main point are plain HTML near the top of the body.
  4. Put it online. Upload the file to any host, such as GitHub Pages, Netlify or your own server, or paste it into your site. There is no build step.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between a pie chart and a donut chart?

A donut chart is a pie with the middle cut out. The data is the same, but the empty center can hold a total or a label, and many people find the ring easier to read.

Is it donut chart or doughnut chart?

Both spellings are used and mean the same thing. Donut is more common in American English and in search.

How thick should the ring be?

About a third to a half of the radius. Too thin and the colors are hard to see, too thick and it looks like a pie again.

What should go in the middle of a donut chart?

The total is the most useful choice. You can also show the share of the part the reader is pointing at, like this template does.

More part to whole