diff --git a/assets/css/admin/components.css b/assets/css/admin/components.css
index ef7fde2..8d4fabe 100644
--- a/assets/css/admin/components.css
+++ b/assets/css/admin/components.css
@@ -662,6 +662,15 @@
   }
 }
 
+/* ── Analytics chart labels ── */
+
+.analytics-y-labels,
+.analytics-x-labels {
+  font-size: 0.6875rem;
+  color: color-mix(in oklch, var(--color-base-content) 55%, transparent);
+  font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums;
+}
+
 /* ── Setup page ── */
 
 .setup-page {
diff --git a/lib/berrypod/analytics.ex b/lib/berrypod/analytics.ex
index 2fda196..84dffde 100644
--- a/lib/berrypod/analytics.ex
+++ b/lib/berrypod/analytics.ex
@@ -148,6 +148,29 @@ defmodule Berrypod.Analytics do
     |> Repo.all()
   end
 
+  @doc """
+  Hourly visitor counts for the trend chart (used for "today" period).
+
+  Returns a list of `%{hour: integer, visitors: integer}` maps for all 24 hours.
+  """
+  def visitors_by_hour(date_range) do
+    counts =
+      base_query(date_range)
+      |> where([e], e.name == "pageview")
+      |> group_by([e], fragment("CAST(strftime('%H', ?) AS INTEGER)", e.inserted_at))
+      |> select([e], %{
+        hour: fragment("CAST(strftime('%H', ?) AS INTEGER)", e.inserted_at),
+        visitors: count(e.visitor_hash, :distinct)
+      })
+      |> Repo.all()
+      |> Map.new(&{&1.hour, &1.visitors})
+
+    # Fill in all 24 hours so the chart has no gaps
+    Enum.map(0..23, fn h ->
+      %{hour: h, visitors: Map.get(counts, h, 0)}
+    end)
+  end
+
   @doc """
   Top pages by unique visitors.
   """
diff --git a/lib/berrypod_web/live/admin/analytics.ex b/lib/berrypod_web/live/admin/analytics.ex
index 09fc5cf..4677c8b 100644
--- a/lib/berrypod_web/live/admin/analytics.ex
+++ b/lib/berrypod_web/live/admin/analytics.ex
@@ -40,12 +40,18 @@ defmodule BerrypodWeb.Admin.Analytics do
   defp load_analytics(socket, period) do
     range = date_range(period)
 
+    trend_data =
+      if period == "today",
+        do: Analytics.visitors_by_hour(range),
+        else: Analytics.visitors_by_date(range)
+
     socket
     |> assign(:visitors, Analytics.count_visitors(range))
     |> assign(:pageviews, Analytics.count_pageviews(range))
     |> assign(:bounce_rate, Analytics.bounce_rate(range))
     |> assign(:avg_duration, Analytics.avg_duration(range))
-    |> assign(:visitors_by_date, Analytics.visitors_by_date(range))
+    |> assign(:trend_data, trend_data)
+    |> assign(:trend_mode, if(period == "today", do: :hourly, else: :daily))
     |> assign(:top_pages, Analytics.top_pages(range))
     |> assign(:top_sources, Analytics.top_sources(range))
     |> assign(:top_referrers, Analytics.top_referrers(range))
@@ -99,7 +105,7 @@ defmodule BerrypodWeb.Admin.Analytics do
       <h3 style="font-size: 0.875rem; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 0.75rem;">
         Visitors over time
       </h3>
-      <.bar_chart data={@visitors_by_date} />
+      <.bar_chart data={@trend_data} mode={@trend_mode} />
     </div>
 
     <%!-- Detail tabs --%>
@@ -153,35 +159,59 @@ defmodule BerrypodWeb.Admin.Analytics do
     """
   end
 
-  # ── Bar chart (server-rendered SVG) ──
+  # ── Bar chart (HTML/CSS bars with readable labels) ──
 
   attr :data, :list, required: true
+  attr :mode, :atom, required: true
 
   defp bar_chart(assigns) do
     data = assigns.data
     max_val = data |> Enum.map(& &1.visitors) |> Enum.max(fn -> 1 end)
-    chart_height = 120
+
+    scale_max = nice_max(max_val)
+    scale_mid = div(scale_max, 2)
     bar_count = max(length(data), 1)
+    # No gap for dense charts (12m), small gap for sparse (today/7d)
+    bar_gap = if bar_count > 60, do: 0, else: 1
 
     bars =
       data
       |> Enum.with_index()
-      |> Enum.map(fn {%{date: date, visitors: visitors}, i} ->
-        bar_height = if max_val > 0, do: visitors / max_val * chart_height, else: 0
-        bar_width = max(800 / bar_count - 2, 1)
-        x = i * (800 / bar_count) + 1
+      |> Enum.map(fn {entry, i} ->
+        visitors = entry.visitors
+        height_pct = if scale_max > 0, do: visitors / scale_max * 100, else: 0
 
-        %{
-          x: x,
-          y: chart_height - bar_height,
-          width: bar_width,
-          height: max(bar_height, 1),
-          date: date,
-          visitors: visitors
-        }
+        label =
+          case assigns.mode do
+            :hourly -> "#{entry.hour}:00"
+            :daily -> format_date_label(entry.date)
+          end
+
+        %{height_pct: height_pct, label: label, visitors: visitors, index: i}
       end)
 
-    assigns = assign(assigns, bars: bars, chart_height: chart_height)
+    # X-axis labels: pick evenly spaced bars
+    x_label_count = if assigns.mode == :hourly, do: 6, else: min(bar_count, 5)
+
+    x_labels =
+      if bar_count <= x_label_count do
+        bars
+      else
+        step = bar_count / x_label_count
+
+        Enum.filter(bars, fn bar ->
+          rem(bar.index, max(round(step), 1)) == 0
+        end)
+      end
+
+    assigns =
+      assign(assigns,
+        bars: bars,
+        scale_max: scale_max,
+        scale_mid: scale_mid,
+        x_labels: x_labels,
+        bar_gap: bar_gap
+      )
 
     ~H"""
     <div
@@ -190,28 +220,61 @@ defmodule BerrypodWeb.Admin.Analytics do
     >
       No data for this period
     </div>
-    <svg
-      :if={@data != []}
-      viewBox={"0 0 800 #{@chart_height}"}
-      style="width: 100%; height: auto; max-height: 160px;"
-      aria-label="Visitor trend chart"
-    >
-      <rect
-        :for={bar <- @bars}
-        x={bar.x}
-        y={bar.y}
-        width={bar.width}
-        height={bar.height}
-        rx="2"
-        fill="var(--color-primary, #4f46e5)"
-        opacity="0.8"
+    <div :if={@data != []} style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: auto 1fr; gap: 0 0.5rem;">
+      <%!-- Row 1: Y-axis labels + chart --%>
+      <div
+        class="analytics-y-labels"
+        style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: space-between; align-items: flex-end; height: 8rem;"
       >
-        <title>{bar.date}: {bar.visitors} visitors</title>
-      </rect>
-    </svg>
+        <span>{format_number(@scale_max)}</span>
+        <span>{format_number(@scale_mid)}</span>
+        <span>0</span>
+      </div>
+      <div style="position: relative; height: 8rem;">
+        <%!-- Gridlines --%>
+        <div style="position: absolute; top: 50%; left: 0; right: 0; border-top: 1px dashed color-mix(in oklch, var(--color-base-content) 12%, transparent);">
+        </div>
+        <div style="position: absolute; bottom: 0; left: 0; right: 0; border-top: 1px solid color-mix(in oklch, var(--color-base-content) 15%, transparent);">
+        </div>
+        <%!-- Bars container --%>
+        <div style={"display: flex; align-items: flex-end; height: 100%; gap: #{@bar_gap}px;"}>
+          <div
+            :for={bar <- @bars}
+            style={"flex: 1; height: #{max(bar.height_pct, 0.5)}%; background: var(--color-primary, #4f46e5); opacity: 0.8; border-radius: 1px 1px 0 0; min-width: 0;"}
+            title={"#{bar.label}: #{bar.visitors} visitors"}
+          >
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+      <%!-- Row 2: empty cell + X-axis labels --%>
+      <div></div>
+      <div
+        class="analytics-x-labels"
+        style="display: flex; justify-content: space-between; padding-top: 0.25rem;"
+      >
+        <span :for={bar <- @x_labels}>{bar.label}</span>
+      </div>
+    </div>
     """
   end
 
+  defp format_date_label(date) when is_binary(date) do
+    case Date.from_iso8601(date) do
+      {:ok, d} -> Calendar.strftime(d, "%b %d")
+      _ -> date
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp format_date_label(date), do: to_string(date)
+
+  defp nice_max(0), do: 10
+
+  defp nice_max(val) do
+    magnitude = :math.pow(10, floor(:math.log10(val)))
+    step = magnitude / 2
+    ceil(val / step) * trunc(step)
+  end
+
   # ── Tab content ──
 
   defp tab_content(%{tab: "pages"} = assigns) do