Best Electrical Design Software in 2026
Updated
Electrical design workflows may center on schematics, simulation, panel layouts, or a combination of these tasks. Compared on schematic capture, electrical simulation, panel design, standards libraries, and MCAD integration, the entries let you focus on the capabilities relevant to your work. Deployment details can help you assess fit with your setup, while free-plan availability and paid-from pricing offer cost considerations. Trimble Viewpoint Vista, ETAP, and Siemens Building X are among the options shown. Identify the design stages you need to support, then weigh the listed functions and integrations against your workflow.
Electrical Design Software, one module each.A lit port is something its maker publishes; 5 of 5 with a known API signal have a public API.
- 01 DIgSILENT PowerFactory API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2
- 02 PSCAD API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2Free
- 03 Trimble Viewpoint Vista API yesDOCS 7.0
- 04 ETAP API yesDOCS 6.7
- 05 Siemens Building X API yesDOCS 6.6
- 06 LabVIEW FREE yesDOCS 5.9Free
- 07 KDE Keysmith FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 08 KiCad FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 09 MATLAB Grader FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 10 PowerWorld Simulator FREE yesDOCS 5.8
- 11 ProfiCAD FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 12 gEDA Project FREE yesDOCS 5.7Free
- 13 LibrePCB FREE yesDOCS 5.7Free
- 14 LTspice FREE yesDOCS 5.7Free
- 15 ngspice FREE yesDOCS 5.7Free
- 16 QElectroTech FREE yesDOCS 5.7Free
- 17 QSPICE FREE yesDOCS 5.7Free
- 18 CircuitLab DOCS 5.5$2/mo
- 19 SOLIDWORKS DOCS 5.5$4/mo
- 20 Brightlayer DCIM DOCS 5.4
- 21 EPLAN Electric P8 DOCS 5.4
- 22 SKM Power*Tools FREE noDOCS 5.4$24.92/mo
- 23 Zuken E3.series DOCS 5.4
- 24 AutoCAD FREE noDOCS 5.3
- 25 cofaso DOCS 5.3
Compare all 25 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | Schematic capture | Panel design |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DIgSILENT PowerFactory | 7.2 | No | |||||
| 2 | PSCAD | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 3 | Trimble Viewpoint Vista | 7.0 | Yes | |||||
| 4 | ETAP | 6.7 | No | Yes | Yes | |||
| 5 | Siemens Building X | 6.6 | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 6 | LabVIEW | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 7 | KDE Keysmith | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 8 | KiCad | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 9 | MATLAB Grader | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | No | Yes | ||
| 10 | PowerWorld Simulator | 5.8 | No | No | No | |||
| 11 | ProfiCAD | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 12 | gEDA Project | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 13 | LibrePCB | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 14 | LTspice | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 15 | ngspice | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | No | ||
| 16 | QElectroTech | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 17 | QSPICE | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 18 | CircuitLab | 5.5 | $2/mo | Yes | ||||
| 19 | SOLIDWORKS | 5.5 | $4/mo | Yes | ||||
| 20 | Brightlayer DCIM | 5.4 | Yes | |||||
| 21 | EPLAN Electric P8 | 5.4 | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 22 | SKM Power*Tools | 5.4 | No | $24.92/mo | No | No | Yes | |
| 23 | Zuken E3.series | 5.4 | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 24 | AutoCAD | 5.3 | No | No | ||||
| 25 | cofaso | 5.3 | No | Yes | Yes |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored, and a sponsored row is labelled as paid.