Mekko Chart Tool for Marimekko and Market Map Charts

What is a mekko chart tool?

A mekko chart tool creates a variable-width stacked chart, usually called a Mekko or Marimekko chart. The width of each column shows a column total, the height of each segment shows a share inside that column, and the area of each segment represents its absolute value.

The chart is useful when a normal 100% stacked bar hides market size. For example, if Enterprise is 60% software and SMB is also 60% software, a 100% stacked bar makes them look equal. A Mekko chart also shows that Enterprise may be a $100M column while SMB is a $40M column, so the Enterprise software block has 2.5 times the area.

Tool vendors describe the same structure in slightly different words. think-cell calls a Mekko chart a two-dimensional stacked column chart with varying column widths. Mekko Graphics defines a Marimekko chart as a variable-width 100% stacked bar chart used as a market map for sales by customer, product, region, or competitor. Flourish says Marimekko charts need at least three data columns: a series, a primary metric for bar width, and a secondary metric for bar height or segments.

When should I use a mekko chart instead of a stacked bar?

Use a Mekko chart when the question is not just “what is the mix?” but “what is the mix, weighted by total size?” That usually means market maps, revenue breakdowns, portfolio allocation, channel mix, regional sales, product-category share, or competitor segmentation.

A stacked bar chart gives every group the same width, so a $10M segment and a $100M segment can look equally important if they have the same percentage. A Mekko chart prevents that by scaling each column width to its total. The bigger the total, the wider the column.

A real consulting-style use case is market sizing by region and product. Suppose total revenue is $200M: North America is $100M, Europe is $60M, and Asia-Pacific is $40M. A Mekko chart makes North America half of the chart width, Europe 30%, and Asia-Pacific 20%. Inside each column, Software, Services, and Hardware are stacked to 100%.

What data does a mekko chart tool need?

A mekko chart tool needs one grouping field, one segment field, and one numeric value. The grouping field controls column width; the segment field controls stacked blocks; the value is summed so every block has an area proportional to its absolute size.

For a clean Marimekko chart, every column should represent a mutually exclusive group and every segment inside it should be part of that group’s total. In the example below, the total market is $200M. North America is $100M, Europe is $60M, and Asia-Pacific is $40M. Segment values sum exactly to each region total.

Core formulas

• Column total: region_total = sum(values in one region).
• Grand total: grand_total = sum(all region totals).
• Column width: column_width = region_total / grand_total.
• Segment height: segment_height = segment_value / region_total.
• Segment area: segment_area = column_width × segment_height = segment_value / grand_total.

Those formulas are why a Marimekko chart is not just decoration. In the example, North America Software is 60% tall and 50% wide, so its area is 30% of the full chart. That matches $60M divided by the $200M total.

Which mekko chart tool should I choose?

The best mekko chart tool depends on where the chart must live. For PowerPoint-heavy consulting work, think-cell and Mekko Graphics are strong. For interactive web publishing, Flourish is stronger. For Google Slides or browser-based presentation graphics, Vizzlo is practical. For chart plus written narrative, AnyGen is useful.

As of July 2026, official and public pages show different levels of pricing transparency. Mekko Graphics lists $399 per user per year for a single user, $249 per user per year starting at 4 users, and $149 per user per year for 101 or more users. Vizzlo lists a free tier with branding, Professional at $19 per month, and Teams from $69 per month for 5 seats. Flourish lists a Free plan and a Presenter plan available with Canva Business or Enterprise, while Publisher and Enterprise require sales contact. think-cell describes annual per-user licensing on its order page, while public third-party listings often cite per-user monthly or annual equivalents, so verify final pricing on the official order flow.

How do I make a Mekko chart step by step?

The fastest reliable workflow is: clean the data, calculate totals, confirm the chart is a valid whole, choose Marimekko or Bar Mekko, label both percentages and values, then write the takeaway before polishing colors. The chart should prove one sentence, not display every fact.

Copy-and-do workflow

• Step 1: Put data in long format with columns such as Region, Product, and Revenue.
• Step 2: Sum Revenue by Region to get the column totals.
• Step 3: Sum all Region totals to get the grand total.
• Step 4: Calculate each column width as Region total divided by grand total.
• Step 5: Calculate each segment height as Product revenue divided by Region total.
• Step 6: Choose Marimekko when every column should be 100% tall; choose Bar Mekko when column heights also use absolute units.
• Step 7: Label each major block with value and share, such as “Software, $60M, 60% of North America.”
• Step 8: Move tiny blocks into Other if labels become unreadable; think-cell and Mekko Graphics both support approaches for grouping small segments.

In Tableau, the same chart is possible but more technical. Tableau’s official Marimekko walkthrough uses the UCB Admissions sample dataset and requires a Level of Detail expression such as {EXCLUDE [Admission Status]: SUM([Applicants])} to calculate applicants per column. The x-axis uses a continuous positioning calculation, the Size shelf sets fixed column width, and a separate header worksheet is floated over the chart because a continuous x-axis does not create normal category headers.

In think-cell, the datasheet controls the chart more directly. The manual describes two variants: Mekko with a percent axis, where column heights are relative to 100%, and Mekko with units, where the value axis uses absolute values and the X extent row controls column widths independently.

How can I use AnyGen as a mekko chart tool?

Use AnyGen as a mekko chart tool when you need more than the graphic: the chart, the calculations, the labels, the explanation, and slide-ready takeaways. It is especially useful for turning raw revenue, market-share, or portfolio data into an editable Marimekko story.

A practical AnyGen prompt is specific about the whole, the groups, the segments, and the output. For example: “Create a Marimekko chart from this table. Column width = region revenue / total revenue. Segment height = product revenue / region revenue. Show values in $M and percentages. Takeaway: North America is 50% of the market and Software is the largest product block.”

• Paste the data table, not just percentages; values allow the tool to compute both width and area.
• Ask for a Marimekko chart if every column should be 100% tall.
• Ask for a Bar Mekko if both width and height should use absolute units.
• Ask for a one-sentence takeaway and 3 label rules if the output will be used in a deck.
• Ask for an editable document or slide-ready outline if the Mekko is part of a market-sizing explanation.

What mistakes should a mekko chart tool help me avoid?

The biggest Mekko chart mistakes are fake wholes, unreadable tiny blocks, unlabeled width meaning, and comparing too many categories. A good mekko chart tool should force clean totals, preserve area accuracy, and make it obvious what column width and segment height mean.

A Mekko chart is area-based, so small errors become visual errors. If the region totals are $100M, $60M, and $40M, their widths must be 50%, 30%, and 20%. If a tool spaces the columns equally or leaves gaps between columns, the audience may misread area. think-cell’s manual explicitly notes that Mekko columns have no gaps so the visual relationship between different column widths is preserved.

• Do not use unrelated metrics as slices. Revenue, cost, units, or customers can work; growth rate and margin do not become slices.
• Do not let labels cover the chart. Label the largest blocks and put small values in an Other segment or tooltip.
• Do not compare 20 columns. A Mekko works best with roughly 3 to 8 columns and 2 to 6 segments per column.
• Do not hide the unit. A title such as “Revenue mix by region, $M” is clearer than “Market overview.”
• Do not use it for precise lookup. If the reader needs exact numbers, include a table beside or below the chart.

Frequently asked questions