Looker Studio > Charts Guide > Bullet Chart vs Gauge Chart

Bullet Chart vs Gauge Chart in Looker Studio

Google just released the native Gauge Chart in Looker Studio (Formerly known as Data Studio) and comparing against the native Bullet Chart.

What is Guage Chart?

Gauge charts display a single metric performance and progress towards a certain goal or against a benchmark. With target and compared to the previous period configuration to measure metric performance and compare to the previous range and progress towards a certain goal or against a benchmark

Gauge Chart With Target and Compared to the Previous Period

Gauge Chart With Target and Compared to the Previous Period
Gauge Chart With Target and Compared to the Previous Period
  • Bullet chart alternative in Looker Studio. The gauge chart doesn't need to be this big and only used to explain in detail.

  • A center blue bar is showing the actual value of the metric, in this example, 2021 YTD revenue.

  • In this example, target revenue is set as 2 million, and the blue line represents how far the target has reached so far—the left black line shows the revenue of the last year during the same period.

Chart Configurations:

  1. [Metrics] — a center blue bar, color can be configured in the DESIGN tab and Scorecard in the middle

  2. [Title/Header] — Add a chart header so audiences can see the metrics used in the chart

  3. [Axis] — always show Axis since it's not possible to display the data label for the ranges

  4. [Target] — set manually in the DESING tab

  5. [Range Limits] — set manually in the DATA tab and best practice to set following range greater than last one. Maximum 5 ranges are allowed.

  6. [Data Label - $827,872] — natively displayed as a scorecard in the middle

  7. [Target Line Color] — It's default and not possible to change

  8. [Range Color] — configurable in the DESING tab, and max value will have the lightest color

Recommended: Yes, see the chart version that suits your need

  1. Bullet Chart With Target: to measure metric performance and progress towards a certain goal or against a benchmark

  2. Bullet Chart Without Target: It can be configured to display poor, average, and good ranges.

  3. Bullet Chart With Target and Compared to the previous period: to measure metric performance and compare to the previous range and progress towards a specific goal or against a benchmark

What is Bullet Chart?

Bullet charts display a single metric performance and progress towards a certain goal or against a benchmark. With target and compared to the previous period configuration to measure metric performance and compare to the previous range and progress towards a certain goal or against a benchmark

Bullet Chart: With Target and Compared to the previous period

Bullet Chart in Google Data Studio
Bullet Chart: With Target and Compared to the previous period
  • Gauge chart alternative in Looker Studio. Bullet chart doesn't need to be this big and only used to explain in details

  • A center blue bar shows the actual value of the metric, in this example 2021 YTD revenue.

  • In this example, target revenue is set as 1 million, and the blue line represents how far the target has reached so far. Light blue displays the revenue of the last year during the same period.

Chart Configurations:

  1. [Metrics] — a center bar, color can be configured in the DESIGN tab

  2. [Title/Header] — Add a chart header so audiences can see the metrics used in the chart

  3. [Axis] — always show Axis since it's not possible to display the data label

  4. [Target] — set manually in the DATA tab

  5. [Range Limits] — set manually in the DATA tab, and the following range should be greater than the last one. Maximum 3 ranges are allowed.

  6. [Data Label - $827,872] — Unfortunately, not possible to display the Data Label in the Bullet chart. In the above example, a scorecard has been placed on the top to show the exact revenue.

  7. [Target Line Color] — configurable in the DESING tab

  8. [Range Color] — configurable in the DESING tab, and max value will have the lightest color

Recommended: Yes, see the chart version that suits your need

  1. Bullet Chart With Target: to measure metric performance and progress towards a certain goal or against a benchmark

  2. Bullet Chart Without Target: It can be configured to display poor, average, and good ranges.

  3. Bullet Chart With Target and Compared to the previous period: to measure metric performance and compare to the previous range and progress towards a specific goal or against a benchmark


All Looker Studio charts are explained here