Is it possible to compare chart values between two different time periods (current vs past) in a Superset dashboard?

[FrancescoCastaldi]

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a BI dashboard using Apache Superset and I'd like to implement a time comparison feature that allows users to compare metric values between two different time periods directly within the charts — for example:

• Current period vs previous period (e.g., this month vs last month)
• Current period vs same period last year (YoY comparison)
• Any two arbitrary time ranges selected by the user

Some specific questions:

1. Does Superset natively support time comparison in charts (e.g., showing both the current value and the past value side by side or as a delta/percentage change)?
2. Are there specific chart types that support this better than others (e.g., Time-series, Big Number with Trend, Table)?
3. Is it possible to configure a "comparison offset" (like -1 year, -1 month) at the chart or dataset level?
4. Can this be achieved through custom SQL in the dataset or via Superset's built-in time comparison controls?
5. Are there any known limitations or caveats when using time comparison with filters or cross-filtering?

Any examples, pointers to documentation, or sample configurations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[dosubot[bot]]

Hey @FrancescoCastaldi — yes, Superset natively supports time comparison across several chart types. Here's a breakdown addressing your questions:

1. Native time comparison support

Superset has built-in time comparison at the query level. It generates separate queries for each time offset and merges results with original data through time-grain-based joins [1]. You can display results as raw values, absolute difference, percentage change, or ratio [2].

2. Chart types with time comparison support

• Time-series charts (line, bar, area) — support multiple time shifts with visual styling [3]
• Mixed Timeseries — includes dashed lines for comparison series [4]
• Big Number with Time Period Comparison — shows main metric, comparison metric, Δ, and % change (requires CHART_PLUGINS_EXPERIMENTAL feature flag, introduced in 4.1) [5]
• Table with Time Comparison — shows comparison columns with absolute and percentage differences (also requires the experimental flag)

3. Configuring a comparison offset

You configure offsets via the time_compare control in the chart's Explore view. Supported formats include [6]:

• "1 year ago", "1 month ago", "1 week ago", "6 months ago"
• Explicit date ranges: "2015-01-03 : 2015-01-04" [7]
• "inherit" — bases comparison on the selected time range span [8]

The comparison_type parameter lets you choose between: values (side by side), difference, percentage, or ratio.

4. Built-in controls vs custom SQL

The recommended approach is through the built-in time comparison controls in the chart configuration panel — no custom SQL needed. The time_compare field accepts an array of offsets, so you can compare against multiple past periods simultaneously [9].

5. Known limitations

• Annotations don't respect time shift — the "Time Shift" option on annotations is present in the UI but non-functional in the backend [10]
• Visual distinction — multiple time-shifted series can appear with similar colors/dash patterns. Uncheck "Match time shift color with original series" to get distinct colors [11]
• Table header alignment — with multiple metrics + time comparison in table charts, headers can become misaligned [12]
• Configuration pitfall — some users see identical values for both periods, typically due to misconfigured time ranges or grains [13]. Make sure your time grain and time range are set correctly for the offset to produce meaningful differences.

Hope that helps — let me know if you need more detail on any specific chart type or configuration!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

---

Share context across your team and agents. Try Dosu.

[jha-vineet69]

@dosu, can you explain more about inherit time compare feature? How to set it up and how it works? Preferably with UI Screenshots.