Capture the race for the top with animated line charts
Line chart races (also called horserace charts) animate how rankings change over time, with each line representing an entity that rises or falls based on performance. They’re perfect for showing competition, growth, market shifts, or even actual races – making changes easy to see and stories more engaging.
With Flourish, you can create line chart races in minutes. Add smooth animation, customize the look, and share interactive stories that work beautifully on any screen.
USE CASES
Bring rankings to life
From market trends to election dynamics, line chart races turn evolving ranks into engaging visual stories
Track stock performance
Show portfolio changes over time using animated lines that reveal winners and underperformers at a glance.
Track leaders over time
Visualize how teams or athletes perform over time, highlighting top-ranked contenders, mid-season surges, and unexpected underdogs rising through the ranks.
Visualize election polls
Animate polling data to highlight shifting voter sentiment, rising candidates, and changing race dynamics over time.
FEATURES
Everything you need to create horserace charts
Powerful features that make data visualization easy and beautiful
No coding required
Create beautiful visualizations without writing a single line of code. Our intuitive interface makes it easy.
Interactive elements
Add tooltips, filters, and legends to make your visualizations interactive and engaging.
Responsive design
Create immersive data visualizations and stories that adapt to any screen size, from big displays to mobile.
Smooth animation
Watch rankings shift with built-in animations that make data changes dynamic and easy to follow.
Three play modes
Choose how your line chart race unfolds, with three different play modes: All, Zoom or Reveal.
Timed captions
Add context at key moments, like calling out an overtake, to make your chart more engaging and memorable.
Standard line chart race
Show the full time range from start to finish. Great for giving a complete overview of how rankings change over time.
Reveal mode
Unfold the story step by step. The X axis grows with the race, keeping the focus on the moment while showing overall trends.
Zoom mode
Keep competitors centered while the X axis moves in the background. Ideal for long time series or narrower screens.
RESOURCES
Data visualization resources
Tips, guides, and resources to make your interactive line chart races even more engaging
Frequently asked questions
Line chart races are perfect for showing how rankings or scores change over time – ideal for tracking performance, popularity, or growth where the changing competitive landscape tells a compelling story through animation.
Use columns for each time period and rows for each category you're tracking. Include consistent time intervals and ensure data covers the full timespan you want to animate. Read more in our help doc.
Yes, when embedded via the auto-generated script code. Line chart races in Flourish are fully responsive, so they adapt to any screen size — from desktop to mobile. The smooth animations are designed to run seamlessly on all devices.
Flourish offers a free plan that’s perfect for exploring interactive data storytelling. You’ll get access to the full range of visualization types available in Flourish (including Line Chart Race), unlimited projects, full privacy for your unpublished work, plus helpful support resources.
If you’re an individual creating presentations and reports, our Presenter plan might be the right fit. It includes access to the Flourish app within Canva, along with image and SVG export options for your visualizations.
And if you’re ready to create fully branded visuals without attribution, collaborate across teams, connect your systems via API, and unlock advanced storytelling features like scrollytelling, our premium plans are designed for you. Reach out to our team to find the best option for your business.
Yes! On a Presenter, Publisher, or Enterprise plan, you can download your finished projects as PNG, JPEG, or (in most cases) SVG files. These formats are perfect for adding charts to reports, presentations, social posts, or anywhere you need a static version of your visualization.
We also have a help doc on how to create looping, autoplaying Flourish stories – a great alternative to GIFs if you need an animated visual for your website.
