24+ Free Comparison Chart Templates (Excel / Word / PDF / PowerPoint)

By definition, a comparison chart template is a graphical tool used to draw a comparison between two entities, products, items, or parameters. There are different ways of comparing things. Such as comparing the features or specifications of products to choose the best out of them. There are different types of comparison chart templates. The most common ones are tabular comparison charts, comparison diagrams, line graphs, pie charts, and bar charts.

Moreover, an interactive comparison chart is really important for any comparative study, article, or blog. It can boost website traffic if created using stunning graphics.

For the website, usually different pro packages are compared using interactive comparison charts to show the features being provided under different packages such as free, student, basic, business, and enterprise.

A comparison chart isn’t required any numerical data for plotting. One can simply convert the long paragraphs into a graphically appealing infographic for comparison.

Therefore, the comparison chart template is simple to use and customize as per the availability of data and the nature of the comparison. It’s easiest to make from all the comparison diagrams. Also, being created using MS Office Suite makes it easy to use, edit, and customize without requiring any professional skill.

What is a comparison chart?

A comparison chart is a chart that gives a visual representation of the comparison of two or more items on different parameters. You can also include comparison diagrams such as line graphs, pie charts, and bar charts in it.

However, you can easily make comparison charts and these charts are very helpful for educational purposes. Furthermore, comparison charts are used for guiding customers a side-by-side comparison between products when they are confused about them.

Why use Comparison Chart Template?

There are tons of reasons to make an interactive comparison chart. We see a lot of comparisons in our daily life between the products and offers.

Moreover, it makes the process of decision-making easy and can change one’s perspective towards something if presented effectively.

So, most commonly we deal with the comparison chart while purchasing something. It compares the pros and cons in terms of price, features, and applications. Therefore, it supports decision-making in choosing a favorite and feasible option.

To summarize, the comparison chart presents the data in a way that is easy to analyze and helps to decide between the confusing options.

When to use a comparison chart template?

You can use a comparison chart template under various circumstances. Let us discuss below some different circumstances where this chart can be used;

• To compare two or more variables
• For determining how different products are performing
• To gauge the effects of particular product parameters
• To make important decisions
• When you are looking for alternatives to particular issues
• To validate models or assess different possibilities

Types of Comparison Chart Template

There are different types of comparison charts. Here, the most commonly used ones will be briefly discussed.

• Features Comparison Chart
• Pricing Plan Comparison Chart
• Pros and Cons Chart Template
• Conceptual Comparison Chart
• Performance Comparison Chart
• Competitors Comparison Chart Template

All the above charts are used for comparison between two or more entities. The creation of any of the above chart requires to have the proper information in hand or extensive research.

The feature comparison chart template is used mostly for comparison between the products including the price of the products. It collectively enlists the features in the main column and gives comments above the presence in the product.

On the other hand, the pricing plan comparison chart also gives a comparison of features. However, it usually gives a comparison for the features of the same product being offered against different pricing plans such as free, student, basic, business, and enterprise plans.

How to decide which type of comparison chart is best for you?

Here are some tips for you;

• First, determine the total number of variables you want to include in a chart. It’s up to you whether to include one, five, ten, or many variables in the same chart.
• Next, identify the total items you want to display per variable. You may want to display five items, fifty, or several thousand for each variable.
• Decide in the next step how the values you want to display whether over a longer period, can be grouped, or displayed within the several items. After answering these questions, you will become able to select the best comparison chart. Consider the following examples while selecting;
  1- Select bar charts when creating comparisons
  2- Choose line charts if you are creating trends
  3- Choose the scatter charts if you are analyzing relationships or distributions
  4- Select pie charts if you are making percentages or compositions

Where are the comparison charts used?

Comparison charts are used to compare two phenomena, tools, items, processes, or groups of data. They compare both quantitative and qualitative data. Comparison charts are used to determine the progress of various data groups in an organization. You can also be used various different fields to find out the better one among a group.

However, these charts are very helpful in both business and scientific fields. Moreover, if you are looking for something specific such as if you want to buy something and you are a little bit confused about two items, then this chart assists you by defining their benefits, disadvantages, features, prices, reviews, etc. Hence, comparison charts make it easy to select between them.

How do I create a comparison chart in MS Excel?

Here are 5 steps that will help you in making a comparison chart in MS Excel;

1. At first, open MS Excel and select a blank workbook.
2. Next, type your data into the workbook. You can either enter data by copy-paste or by typing manually. After entering the data, choose it.
3. There is no built-in comparison chart or any comparison chart template in Excel. So for creating a comparison chart in Excel, go to the Home tab click on the Border icon. Choose all borders by clicking on the drop-down arrow. Borders highlight each cell when you click on All Borders. You can also do this by going to the Insert Tab and click on the Table.
4. Hence, your comparison chart in Excel is prepared. Then, edit and customize it as you want. There are various formatting tools that can help you in changing the fonts and colors, adding images and watermarks, and much more. Use the Insert tab and home tab to find all the different options.
5. When you have all done with the above steps save your final document. For this, go to the file and click on save.

How to make your comparison chart easy to read and comprehend?

Keep the following rules in your mind to make your chart easy to read and comprehend;

Use of colors

You can make your comparison chart easy to read by separating different variables with different colors. Don’t use over six colors in a single chart. This makes your chart too complex and interprets the brain of the readers. You shouldn’t use two different colors if you want to compare the variable over different times. Instead, you should use the same color. However, at some points, you can make it darker, lighter, medium, etc.

Set time axis

On the horizontal side, set the time axis. Make sure that the time progression run from the left side to the right side. Don’t skip any periods that have values under them because they are important in data presentation.

Deal with complex data

If you add too much data to your chart, it will look confusing. After creating the chart, you can see the data will look too complicated. Splitting the data and creating two or more separate charts would be better. Make your chart simple by highlighting variables and changing colors.

Sort out variables

Sort out different variables so that everyone will easily understand them. You should sort out them in ascending or descending order.

The values should be proportional to the numerical quantities

Number values and text representations are used in the charts. You should align each numerical value with the quantities it presents to avoid confusion.

What are the benefits of using comparison charts?

Using Comparison charts provides you with various benefits, let us discuss below;

• Comparison charts can be made easily and are simple to read.
• With the help of this chart, estimations are fast and you can easily understand them.
• These charts are easily reachable to a huge variety of audiences.
• It assists you to summarize a huge amount of data.
• It allows the audience to get the data comparison at one view.
• Most importantly, a comparison chart makes your presentation visually interesting for the audience.
• It directly explains the key features of the data for the audience.

The pros and cons chart also talks about the advantages and disadvantages of one thing. While the conceptual comparison is usually created for the process or terms that are difficult to understand using sentences.