How to Create Dynamic Subplots with Bar, Pie, and Polar Charts in Plotly (Python)

Preface

In a recent Python discussion group, a user reported an error when trying to reposition a pie chart within a subplot layout using Plotly. The goal is to create an n × n grid of subplots that can contain bar and pie charts in any order.

Implementation

The following code demonstrates how to build the required layout with make_subplots, add bar, pie, and polar charts, and adjust their positions.

from plotly.subplots import make_subplots
import plotly.graph_objects as go

fig = make_subplots(
    rows=2,
    cols=2,
    specs=[[{'type': 'bar'}, {'type': 'pie'}],
           [{'colspan': 2, 'type': 'Barpolar'}, None]],
)

fig.add_trace(go.Bar(y=[2, 3, 1]), row=1, col=1)
fig.add_trace(go.Pie(values=[2, 3, 1]), row=1, col=2)
fig.add_trace(go.Barpolar(theta=[0, 45, 90], r=[2, 3, 1]), row=2, col=1)

fig.update_layout(height=700, showlegend=True)
fig.show()

The script produces the expected arrangement of charts, as shown below.

Conclusion

This article walks through a common Plotly plotting issue, explains the error, and provides a complete, runnable example that lets users generate flexible subplot grids containing bar, pie, and polar charts.

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