Grafana Panel Types

A panel is the individual building block of every dashboard. Grafana provides more than 20 panel types, each designed for a specific kind of data or viewing goal. Choosing the right panel type makes data instantly understandable. The wrong type forces readers to work hard to extract meaning.

The Map Analogy

Different map styles serve different purposes. A road map helps you navigate. A weather map shows rainfall. A population density map uses colour intensity. All three use the same geographic data but display it in the format best suited for the question being answered. Panel types work the same way — same data, different display for different questions.

Time Series

Time series is the default and most-used panel type. It draws one or more lines on a chart where the horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is the value. Use it whenever you want to see how a number changes over time.

CPU Usage (%) — Last 1 Hour
100 |
 80 |      ___
 60 |   __/   \___
 40 |  /           \___
 20 | /                 \
  0 |________________________
    12:00   12:20   12:40  13:00

Best for: CPU usage, memory usage, request rate, error rate, temperature readings.

Stat

The Stat panel shows a single large number — the latest value of a metric. It optionally shows a tiny sparkline (mini trend line) behind the number. Use it for at-a-glance status checks at the top of a dashboard.

┌─────────────────┐
│                 │
│     92.4 %      │  ← big number
│   CPU Usage     │
│  ▁▂▃▅▇▅▃▂▁▂▃    │  ← sparkline
└─────────────────┘

Best for: Current value, uptime percentage, total request count, active users.

Gauge

The Gauge panel looks like a speedometer. It shows a value on a circular arc between a minimum and maximum. Colour thresholds change the arc colour from green to yellow to red as values rise. This makes it extremely easy to spot danger zones.

        Disk Usage
         ___
       /     \
      | 73%   |
      |  ███  |
       \_____/
     0%      100%
     green  yellow  red

Best for: Disk usage, memory pressure, SLA score, any metric with a defined danger level.

Bar Chart

The Bar chart displays values as vertical or horizontal bars. It is ideal for comparing discrete categories against each other. Unlike the time series panel, the horizontal axis shows categories, not time.

Response Time by Region (ms)
500 |          ██
400 |    ██    ██
300 |    ██    ██    ██
200 |    ██    ██    ██
100 |    ██    ██    ██
  0 +────────────────────
      US-East  EU  AP-South

Best for: Comparing values across servers, regions, or categories.

Bar Gauge

Bar Gauge combines the bar chart and gauge concepts. It draws horizontal progress bars, one per series, with colour thresholds. It is faster to scan than individual gauges when you have many items to compare.

Server A  [██████████░░░░░]  67%
Server B  [████████████░░░]  80%
Server C  [███████████████]  99%  ← red

Best for: Comparing the same metric across multiple instances side by side.

Table

The Table panel shows raw data in rows and columns, like a spreadsheet. You can sort, filter, and apply colour rules to cells. Tables work when the exact numbers matter more than the trend shape.

┌──────────────┬──────────┬──────────┬────────┐
│ Instance     │ CPU (%)  │ MEM (%)  │ Status │
├──────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼────────┤
│ server-01    │   42     │   68     │  OK    │
│ server-02    │   91     │   85     │  WARN  │
│ server-03    │   12     │   34     │  OK    │
└──────────────┴──────────┴──────────┴────────┘

Best for: Showing multiple metrics for multiple items, inventory lists, error logs.

Pie Chart

The Pie chart shows how parts contribute to a whole. Each slice represents one series as a percentage of the total. Use it sparingly — pie charts become hard to read when you have more than five slices.

   Traffic by Country
   ┌─────────────────┐
   │   ██ US  45%    │
   │   ░░ EU  30%    │
   │   ▒▒ AP  15%    │
   │   ▓▓ Other 10%  │
   └─────────────────┘

Best for: Traffic share by region, error breakdown by type, resource distribution.

Heatmap

The Heatmap panel shows data density over time using colour intensity. A dark cell means many events occurred at that time slot; a light cell means few. It reveals patterns invisible in line charts.

Request Latency Heatmap (darker = more requests)
Time  →  12:00  12:10  12:20  12:30
0-10ms    ████   ███    ████   ███
10-50ms   ██     █      ██     █
50-100ms  ░      ░      ░      ░
>100ms    ·      ·      ·      ·

Best for: Latency distribution, request frequency patterns, log volume over time.

Logs

The Logs panel displays raw log lines from a log data source like Loki. It supports live tailing, log level colour coding, and text search. This is the only panel that shows textual log messages rather than numbers.

Best for: Application logs, system events, error messages, audit trails.

Canvas

Canvas is an advanced panel where you drag and drop geometric shapes, icons, and metric values onto a custom background. Teams use it to build network topology diagrams or infrastructure maps where shapes represent physical equipment.

Best for: Network diagrams, server rack visualisations, custom status boards.

Choosing the Right Panel Type — Quick Reference

Question you want to answer          Best Panel Type
─────────────────────────────────    ──────────────────
How did this change over time?       Time Series
What is the current value?           Stat
How close is it to the limit?        Gauge
Which category is highest?           Bar Chart
How does one compare to many?        Bar Gauge
What do the exact numbers say?       Table
What share of the total?             Pie Chart
Where do events cluster?             Heatmap
What do the logs say?                Logs