What the Free plan actually gives you
GorkyCAD is an online CAD tool for electrical work, and you can start on it free of charge and without a card. On the Free plan you keep up to three basic projects at a time, which is enough to take a small design from an empty page to a finished document set.
The limit is on the number of projects, not on the toolset. Inside those three projects you use the same single model that drives single-line diagrams, floor plans, switchboards and cable schedules, the same calculations and standards checks, and the same exports.
That is why three is a useful number rather than a teaser. It is enough to try the workflow on genuine work instead of a sample file, and to see exactly which documents come out at the end.
Idea 1 — a small apartment
A one-bedroom apartment is the classic first project. Draw the plan, place the lighting points and socket outlets, then group them into circuits — lighting, sockets, kitchen, bathroom, and a dedicated line for a high-load appliance such as a water heater or a hob.
Because the plan, the single-line diagram and the distribution board all come from one model, laying out the circuits once produces the drawing and the board schedule together. You are not re-entering the same circuit list three times.
The apartment also gives you a realistic first look at the cable schedule: circuit references, cable types and lengths are collected from the same model, so the counts match the drawing by construction.
A flat also forces the small decisions that matter later: whether the cooker has its own circuit, where the consumer unit sits, how the bathroom is protected. Making those choices in the model rather than on site is the habit the first project is meant to build.
Idea 2 — a house with its own board
A small house adds a distribution board of your own and a wider spread of loads: lighting on every floor, kitchen and utility circuits, an outdoor supply, maybe a sub-board for a garage or workshop.
This is where the checks start to matter. Heating, voltage drop and short-circuit checks run against the circuits you have drawn, so you can see a cable that is too small or a run that is too long while it is still cheap to change.
The house project is also the one that shows how a single model pays off at the panel: protective devices, ratings and circuits stay aligned because the board is generated from the same source as the drawings.
If the house is large enough to justify a sub-board, that second board is a test in itself: everything in it is still read from the one model, so a garage or workshop supply stays consistent with the rest of the installation without a separate list.
Idea 3 — a small shop or office fit-out
A small retail unit or office is a good third project because the priorities shift. Lighting layout, socket rings and a tidy panel matter more than a large load count, and the deliverable is often a clean set of drawings plus a material list.
Fit-outs are also frequently revised, so this project is the best test of the single-model workflow: change a room, change a circuit, and the drawings, the board and the schedule follow together.
When the design is close to finished, export the cable and material list to XLSX so an estimator or a supplier can price it from the same numbers you designed with.
What each project teaches you
Three projects is not just three drawings. Each one exercises a different part of the workflow, and together they cover most of what a small job needs.
- The apartment teaches grouping a plan into circuits and reading a single-line diagram.
- The house teaches board design, load spread and the heating, voltage drop and short-circuit checks.
- The shop teaches revisions, lighting layout and exporting a procurement-ready list.
- All three teach you how the plan, the panel and the schedules stay in step from one model.
By the end you have judged the output on your own installations rather than on a marketing demo.
None of the three needs to be large. The value comes from finishing each one far enough to export it, because the moment the document set appears is the moment you stop guessing about what the tool actually produces.
One model feeds every document
The reason a handful of projects is enough to evaluate the tool is that you build a single model and read several documents out of it. The PDF document set is assembled from the same project rather than from separate files.
| Part of the set | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Specification | The installation described in words, drawn from the model. |
| Cable schedule | Cables, circuit references and lengths generated from the design. |
| Estimate | The priced view of the same quantities. |
| Switchboard passport | The documentation that goes with each board. |
Alongside the PDF set you can export to XLSX, DXF, IFC, BCF and GLTF, and you can check the design against standards including IEC, IS, ANSI and BS. The 70-plus calculations and the IEC 60364 checks run on the model you already drew and stay available offline as a PWA, while the AI assistant works in the browser and needs a connection.
When three projects are no longer enough
Free is a real starting point, not a countdown, but it does have a ceiling: three basic projects at a time. The moment you want to keep a finished job open while you begin the next one, you feel it.
Pro removes the project limit for €40 per month, and you can cancel at any time. There is no separate trial, because the free start already lets you evaluate the tool on real work before paying anything.
The right moment to move up is simple to spot: it is when the project limit, not the learning curve, is what is holding your work back.
Next steps
Pick one of the three ideas, open a project and design it end to end — plan, board, calculations and the document set. One finished project tells you more about the tool than any list of features.
Open a project in the browser free of charge, with no card required, and build the first of your three projects on a real installation.
FAQ
How many projects do I get for free?
Up to three basic projects at the same time. Pro removes the limit and gives you unlimited projects for €40 per month.
Do the free projects have fewer features?
The limit is on the number of projects, not the toolset. Inside your projects you use the same model, calculations, standards checks and exports as on Pro.
Do I need a card to start?
No. You start free without a card, and a card only enters the picture if you choose to move to Pro.
What can I export from a project?
PDF, DXF, XLSX, IFC, BCF and GLTF. The PDF document set covers the specification, the cable schedule, the estimate and the switchboard passport.