diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c582e60..c76c7ec 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [unreleased]
+
+### Added
+
+- new key word argument `show_colorbar` (default=true) to toggle the color bar next to grid plots
+
 ## [1.8.2] - 2024-11-08
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/src/dispatch.jl b/src/dispatch.jl
index e0b6093..4b9db2f 100644
--- a/src/dispatch.jl
+++ b/src/dispatch.jl
@@ -351,7 +351,8 @@ function default_plot_kwargs()
                                            :dim => Pair(1, "Data dimension for PlutoVista plot"),
                                            :regions => Pair(:all, "List of regions to plot"),
                                            :species => Pair(1, "Number of species to plot or number of species in regions"),
-                                           :spacing => Pair(nothing, "Removed from API"))
+                                           :spacing => Pair(nothing, "Removed from API"),
+                                           :show_colorbar => Pair(true, "Show color bar next to grid plots"))
 end
 
 #
diff --git a/src/makie.jl b/src/makie.jl
index afa0e5e..e52c90c 100644
--- a/src/makie.jl
+++ b/src/makie.jl
@@ -496,28 +496,30 @@ function makescene_grid(ctx)
     ncol = length(ctx[:cmap])
     nbcol = length(ctx[:bcmap])
     # fontsize=0.5*ctx[:fontsize],ticklabelsize=0.5*ctx[:fontsize]
-    if ctx[:colorbar] == :vertical
-        GL[1, 2] = XMakie.Colorbar(ctx[:figure];
-                                   colormap = XMakie.cgrad(ctx[:cmap]; categorical = true),
-                                   limits = (0.5, ncol+0.5),
-                                   ticks = 1:ncol,
-                                   width = 15,)
-        GL[1, 3] = XMakie.Colorbar(ctx[:figure];
-                                   colormap = XMakie.cgrad(ctx[:bcmap]; categorical = true),
-                                   limits = (0.5, nbcol+0.5),
-                                   ticks = 1:nbcol,
-                                   width = 15,)
-    elseif ctx[:colorbar] == :horizontal
-        GL[2, 1] = XMakie.Colorbar(ctx[:figure];
-                                   colormap = XMakie.cgrad(ctx[:cmap]; categorical = true),
-                                   limits = (1, ncol),
-                                   height = 15,
-                                   vertical = false,)
-        GL[3, 1] = XMakie.Colorbar(ctx[:figure];
-                                   colormap = XMakie.cgrad(ctx[:bcmap]; categorical = true),
-                                   limits = (1, nbcol),
-                                   height = 15,
-                                   vertical = false,)
+    if ctx[:show_colorbar]
+        if ctx[:colorbar] == :vertical
+            GL[1, 2] = XMakie.Colorbar(ctx[:figure];
+                                    colormap = XMakie.cgrad(ctx[:cmap]; categorical = true),
+                                    limits = (0.5, ncol+0.5),
+                                    ticks = 1:ncol,
+                                    width = 15,)
+            GL[1, 3] = XMakie.Colorbar(ctx[:figure];
+                                    colormap = XMakie.cgrad(ctx[:bcmap]; categorical = true),
+                                    limits = (0.5, nbcol+0.5),
+                                    ticks = 1:nbcol,
+                                    width = 15,)
+        elseif ctx[:colorbar] == :horizontal
+            GL[2, 1] = XMakie.Colorbar(ctx[:figure];
+                                    colormap = XMakie.cgrad(ctx[:cmap]; categorical = true),
+                                    limits = (1, ncol),
+                                    height = 15,
+                                    vertical = false,)
+            GL[3, 1] = XMakie.Colorbar(ctx[:figure];
+                                    colormap = XMakie.cgrad(ctx[:bcmap]; categorical = true),
+                                    limits = (1, nbcol),
+                                    height = 15,
+                                    vertical = false,)
+        end
     end
     GL
 end
diff --git a/src/plutovista.jl b/src/plutovista.jl
index 258e9fd..1b319a3 100644
--- a/src/plutovista.jl
+++ b/src/plutovista.jl
@@ -253,6 +253,7 @@ function gridplot!(ctx, TP::Type{PlutoVistaType}, ::Type{Val{2}}, grid)
                         edges = edges,
                         edgemarkers = edgemarkers,
                         edgecolormap = bcmap,
+                        show_colorbar = ctx[:show_colorbar],
                         aspect = ctx[:aspect],
                         xlabel = ctx[:xlabel],
                         ylabel = ctx[:ylabel],
@@ -358,6 +359,7 @@ function gridplot!(ctx, TP::Type{PlutoVistaType}, ::Type{Val{3}}, grid)
                         facemarkers = facemarkers,
                         gridscale = ctx[:gridscale],
                         facecolormap = bcmap,
+                        show_colorbar = ctx[:show_colorbar],
                         outlinealpha = ctx[:outlinealpha],
                         xlabel = ctx[:xlabel],
                         ylabel = ctx[:ylabel],
diff --git a/src/pyplot.jl b/src/pyplot.jl
index c160424..df82050 100644
--- a/src/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/pyplot.jl
@@ -231,18 +231,20 @@ function gridplot!(ctx, TP::Type{PyPlotType}, ::Type{Val{2}}, grid)
                          cmap = PyPlot.ColorMap(cmap, length(cmap)),
                          vmin = 1.0,
                          vmax = length(cmap),)
-    if ctx[:colorbar] == :horizontal
-        cbar = fig.colorbar(cdata;
-                            ax = ax,
-                            ticks = collect(1:length(cmap)),
-                            orientation = "horizontal",)
-    end
+    if ctx[:show_colorbar]
+        if ctx[:colorbar] == :horizontal
+            cbar = fig.colorbar(cdata;
+                                ax = ax,
+                                ticks = collect(1:length(cmap)),
+                                orientation = "horizontal",)
+        end
 
-    if ctx[:colorbar] == :vertical
-        cbar = fig.colorbar(cdata;
-                            ax = ax,
-                            ticks = collect(1:length(cmap)),
-                            orientation = "vertical",)
+        if ctx[:colorbar] == :vertical
+            cbar = fig.colorbar(cdata;
+                                ax = ax,
+                                ticks = collect(1:length(cmap)),
+                                orientation = "vertical",)
+        end
     end
 
     ax.triplot(tridat...; color = "k", linewidth = ctx[:linewidth])