What "electrical CAD software" actually covers
The phrase is an umbrella over five different jobs. Buyers frequently compare products from different categories and conclude, wrongly, that one is "weaker".
| Category | What it does | Typical user | Example products |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schematic and documentation CAD | Control schematics, terminal strips, cross-references, wire numbering | Panel builders, automation engineers | EPLAN Electric P8, AutoCAD Electrical, SkyCAD |
| Panel layout and wiring | Physical arrangement, wire lengths, cabinet drilling | Switchgear manufacturers | Elecdes, EPLAN Pro Panel |
| Building electrical design | Floor plans, devices, circuits, panel schedules, single-line diagrams | Electrical designers, contractors | GorkyCAD, Design Master, Kopperfield |
| Calculation and verification | Load flow, short circuit, voltage drop, discrimination, arc flash | Consulting engineers | ETAP, ElectricalOM |
| BIM and MEP coordination | Model-based coordination with architecture and HVAC | MEP teams in Revit | Design Master, EPLAN in BIM workflows |
A building-electrical tool looks shallow next to EPLAN if you judge it on terminal cross-references. EPLAN looks bloated for a 90 m² flat. Both judgements are correct within their category and useless across categories. Decide which row you live in first.
The four shelves of the market
Enterprise platforms. EPLAN and ETAP sit here. They are databases with a CAD face: project data, reports, revision control, manufacturing integration. Excellent at departmental standardisation, and priced accordingly.
CAD add-ins. AutoCAD Electrical, Design Master and Elecdes assume you already own a CAD engine. You pay for the host plus the electrical layer and inherit its OS requirements, formats and upgrade cycle. If your library is built around AutoCAD, this is the least disruptive path.
Web and niche tools. Browser products target one slice: single-line diagrams, load calculations, panel schedules, permit paperwork. They skip installation and usually skip deep library work. Quality varies enormously, and so does the export story.
Free and open source. QElectroTech is the reference: desktop, a large symbol set, no licence fee. The trade-off is support, collaboration and automation.
Desktop versus browser: what actually changes
The honest comparison is not "old versus new" but a set of trade-offs that matter differently depending on your work.
| Dimension | Desktop CAD | Browser CAD |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | Per machine, admin rights, version pinning | None; open a URL |
| Operating system | Usually Windows only | Any modern OS, including Mac and Linux |
| Offline work | Full capability | None in most web tools, including GorkyCAD |
| Large drawings | Handles very large DWG/DXF comfortably | Practical up to typical building projects, not plant-scale |
| Libraries | Deep, extensible, often custom-built over years | Smaller, curated, growing |
| Collaboration | File copies, email, PDM if you have one | Shared project state, links |
| Compute | Local GPU/CPU | Server-side, so hardware is not your problem |
| Cost model | Perpetual plus maintenance, or subscription | Subscription, often with a free tier |
Two rows deserve emphasis. Offline: if your work happens on sites or in basements, a browser tool is a poor primary instrument. Libraries: a mature office has fifteen years of blocks and standard circuits. No new tool reproduces that on day one.
The deliverables checklist
Before comparing interfaces, list what the project must hand over:
- Floor plans with device symbols, circuit numbers and cable types
- A single-line diagram consistent with those circuits
- A panel schedule with breaker ratings, phases and connected loads
- Load calculation, demand factors, voltage drop and cable sizing, with assumptions written down
- A bill of materials that matches the drawings
- A PDF set the client can open, plus editable files if required
Score each candidate against this list, not a demo video. Ask: does the panel schedule update when I move a circuit? If not, you are buying a drawing program, not a design tool.
Pricing models without the sticker shock
There are four common structures, and they are not comparable at face value. Per-seat subscription is the default: the headline number is usually annual, so divide by twelve. Autodesk and EPLAN publish or quote current terms themselves; check the vendor page, because regional pricing and promotions change.
Perpetual plus maintenance still exists, mostly from regional vendors. The licence is a capital cost; the maintenance is the real subscription.
Module pricing charges for capabilities rather than seats, and looks cheap until you need three modules. Free tier plus paid plan is useful for evaluation, but read the limits: project count, export restrictions, token allowances.
For GorkyCAD: Free covers 3 projects and 100 objects — enough for a small apartment. Pro removes the project limit, unlocks every export and includes the AI assistant. Current prices are on the pricing page; we do not quote them here, because they vary by region.
Where GorkyCAD fits — and where it does not
GorkyCAD is a browser tool for the third row of the first table: building electrical design. The path is short. Import a floor plan or a PDF survey, trace walls and rooms, place sockets and luminaires, build the panel, generate the single-line diagram, run calculations, produce the specification and export PDF, DXF, XLSX or IFC. There are 41 built-in checks for common design errors, plus an AI assistant that can propose a layout for you to correct.
That scope is deliberate, and so are the limits:
- No PLC or control schematics. Relay logic, terminal strips and PLC addressing are out of scope. If you build control panels, this is not your tool.
- No offline mode. Unstable connectivity is a real blocker.
- DWG editing is limited. DXF import and export work, but this is not a DWG editor: block attributes, dynamic blocks and external references do not survive a round trip.
- Smaller library than EPLAN or AutoCAD Electrical. Common building devices are covered; a fifteen-year corporate standard is not.
- Not a certification. The checks catch mistakes; they do not replace a licensed engineer's review. The product is not certified by IEC, NFPA or any local authority.
If those constraints describe your work, the browser model is an advantage: no installs, no Windows requirement, and a project a colleague can open from a link. Test the path in the interactive demo.
A 30-minute evaluation script
Run the same script on every candidate. It is deliberately boring.
- Take one real project, not a sample: a small office or a flat with a panel you already know.
- Import the source plan. If you only have a survey PDF, use it. Note how much manual tracing is needed.
- Place ten devices and two circuits. Time it. This number repeats a hundred times per project.
- Build the panel and generate the single-line diagram. Check whether the two stay linked or drift.
- Change one load and follow the consequences. Does the schedule update? Does the cable size recalculate? Does the BOM change?
- Export the full set and open it on a machine without the software.
- Read the documentation for the limits the sales demo skipped. Ours is at /en/docs/.
If step 5 fails, stop. Everything else is cosmetic.
Choosing between the shelves
A short decision rule that holds up in practice:
- Control panels and machine wiring → EPLAN, AutoCAD Electrical, SkyCAD, Elecdes.
- Plant-level studies (short circuit, arc flash, discrimination) → ETAP or a specialist package.
- Building electrical design with plans, panels and documentation → a building-focused tool, desktop or browser.
- Occasional work, students, first projects → a free tier or open source, then upgrade when the limits bite.
- Mac, Linux, or a team with no IT support → browser, unless offline work is mandatory.
Two mistakes dominate real purchases: buying for the 10% edge case, and ignoring the second seat. Price the tool against the work you do most, and keep a secondary path for the exceptions.
Whichever shelf you choose, verify the chain — plan, diagram, panel, calculation, export — on your own project. Start with the demo, compare plans on pricing, read the workflow notes in the documentation. Narrower comparisons: AutoCAD Electrical alternatives, EPLAN alternatives, single-line diagram software, and the rest of the blog.
Sources
- Autodesk — AutoCAD Electrical toolset overview: autodesk.com
- EPLAN — Electric P8 product page: eplan.com
- NFPA 70, National Electrical Code: nfpa.org
- IEC — standards catalogue (IEC 60364 series): iec.ch
- QElectroTech — open-source electrical diagram editor: qelectrotech.org
This article is informational and is not legal or engineering advice. Verify licence terms and prices with each vendor, and confirm normative requirements against the edition in force for your project.
CAD is the drawing environment; design software adds calculation and consistency. The practical test is whether changing a load updates everything downstream.
Yes, for building electrical work: plans, circuits, panels, single-line diagrams, calculations and exports. It is a poor fit for very large drawings, offline sites, or DWGs that depend on block attributes.
For learning and small jobs, often yes: QElectroTech is a capable free schematic editor. For paid work, check export quality, calculation support and commercial-use terms.
A focused web tool takes hours to a first result and one to two weeks to fluency. A platform like EPLAN takes weeks to a first result and months to confidence. That gap is the largest hidden cost in any switch.
Methods and conventions differ — demand factors, conductor sizing, colour codes, symbols. Use a tool where you can state the code and edition per project. GorkyCAD's rule set grew out of PUE/GOST practice and includes IEC-style calculations; confirm against the edition that governs your project.
DXF and DWG arrive as geometry and layers. Blocks, attributes and cross-references usually degrade. Plan for re-drawing, and keep the old PDF as reference.
Design it in the browser
Turn the plan into circuits, a panel schedule, a single-line diagram and a calculated bill of materials. Start free or open the demo.
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