ChartBeauty / Donut chart maker
Donut chart maker
A pie with a hole in the middle, and the middle is where your headline number goes. Tune the hole, pick colours, export for any feed.
Quick answer: Type your categories and values, choose what goes in the centre (the biggest share or the total), set the hole size and download. Doughnut charts are free here, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Alt text for accessibility
Donut chart titled “Where my followers found me”. Reels 46% (46%), Explore 22% (22%), Shares 18% (18%), Search 9% (9%), Other 5% (5%).
Start from a template
How to make it
- Enter each category and its value. Put the share you want to highlight in the first row.
- Choose what goes in the centre: the first row’s percentage, the total, or nothing.
- Drag the hole-size slider: around 55–65% leaves room for a readable number and keeps the ring thick enough to compare.
- Export at 4:5 for the feed or 9:16 for stories, then copy the auto-written alt text.
When it works, and when it doesn’t
Use it for
- One share you want people to remember (“46% came from Reels”) plus its context.
- Up to five or six parts of a whole.
- Dashboards and carousels where a pie feels too heavy.
Pick something else for
- Comparing many similar-sized parts: use a bar graph.
- Change over time: use a line or area chart.
- Very thin rings with tiny labels: they vanish on a phone screen.
How big should the hole be?
Once the middle is gone, you read each slice by the length of its outer arc, not the angle. Kosara and Skau’s 2016 study found that is mostly how people read pies anyway. The catch is ring thickness.
Ring 36px of 90
A good balance: room for a big centre number and a ring thick enough to compare arcs.
Design tips
Put the story in the hole
The centre is the first thing the eye lands on. Use it for the single number the post is about, and let the ring give it context.
Highlight, don’t rainbow
With five bright colours every slice shouts. Try the Ink mono palette with one custom accent colour on the slice that matters.
Keep the ring thick on mobile
Donut charts are read by arc length. A ring that is too thin makes arcs hard to judge and leaves no room for the percentage labels.
Questions
What is the difference between a donut chart and a pie chart?
They show the same thing: parts of a whole. A donut removes the centre, so you read each slice by the length of its arc instead of its angle, and the empty middle can hold a label or total.
Are donut charts harder to read than pie charts?
Only slightly, and mainly when the ring is very thin. Research by Robert Kosara and Drew Skau (2016) found people judge pie slices mostly by arc length and area rather than the angle at the centre, which is why a reasonably thick donut reads about as well as a pie.
How do I put a number in the middle of a donut chart?
Use the “Centre label” setting. “Biggest share” shows the first row’s percentage with its label, “Total” shows the sum of all rows with your prefix and suffix.
Can I use my brand colours?
Yes. Choose “My colours”, set up to five hex colours with the colour pickers, and click “Save as my brand kit” so they load automatically next time on this browser.
How do I turn a pie chart into a donut chart?
Use the same data in the donut chart maker, or switch the chart type with the tabs on the home page; your rows carry over. The hole-size slider controls how much of the middle is removed.
What file format is best for posting?
PNG for Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and X. SVG if you want to keep editing the chart in Figma, Illustrator or Keynote, because it stays sharp at any size.