Spiderplotlib

Simple spider/radar plots for Python with matplotlib.

Installation (using PyPI)

pip install spiderplotlib

Development (using uv)

git clone https://github.com/gabriel-jung/spiderplotlib
cd spiderplotlib
uv sync

Quick Start

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from spiderplotlib import spider_plot

# Algorithm performance
groups = [
    [0.89, 0.92, 0.78, 0.95, 0.88],
    [0.85, 0.88, 0.90, 0.82, 0.91],
]

labels = ['Precision', 'Recall', 'Speed', 'Memory', 'F1']

fig = spider_plot(
    groups=groups,
    labels=labels,
    title='Algorithm Comparison',
    group_names=['RF', 'XGBoost']
)

plt.show()

API Reference

spider_plot()

spider_plot(
    groups: List[Union[List[float], np.ndarray]],
    labels: List[str],
    group_names: Optional[List[str]] = None,
    group_colors: Optional[List[str]] = None,
    title: Optional[str] = None,
    show_legend: bool = True,
    show_values: bool = False,
    show_scale: bool = True,
    figsize: tuple = (8, 8),
    alpha: float = 0.3,
    grid_levels: Optional[List[float]] = None,
    value_format: str = "{:.2f}",
    label_distance: float = 1.2,
) -> mpl.figure.Figure

Parameters:

• groups: List of groups to compare (each contains values for all axes)
• labels: List of strings representing axis/parameter labels.
• group_names: Optional list of labels for each group (displayed in legend).
• group_colors: Optional list of colors for each group.
• title: Optional plot title string.
• show_legend: Whether to display legend (default: True).
• show_values: Whether to display maximum values on each axis (default: False).
• show_scale: Whether to display percentage scale indicators (default: True).
• figsize: Figure size as (width, height) tuple (default: (8, 8)).
• alpha: Transparency for filled areas, range 0-1 (default: 0.3).
• grid_levels: Custom grid levels as fractions (default: [0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0]).
• value_format: Format string for displayed values (default: "{:.2f}").
• label_distance: Distance of labels from center (default: 1.2).

Returns:

• matplotlib.figure.Figure: The created figure object.

Advanced Usage

Custom Colors

fig = spider_plot(
    groups=groups,
    labels=labels,
    group_colors=['#1f77b4', '#ff7f0e'],
    alpha=0.4
)

Adjust label distance

fig = spider_plot(
    groups=groups,
    labels=long_labels,
    label_distance=1.4  # Move labels further out
)

Examples

See example.py for complete working examples and example.ipynb for comprehensive exploration of features.