SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Alternatives

SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic is Dassault Systemes' 2D schematic tool for control and wiring diagrams, with shared libraries that let electrical and mechanical engineers work on the same project. It comes in Schematic Standard and Schematic Professional, which adds custom reports, PLC management and floating network licences. Electrical 3D is a separate add-on that needs a SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD seat. SOLIDWORKS sells it by quote through resellers.

Engineers look elsewhere for a lower licence cost, a tool their customers or panel shops already use, or a lighter install than SOLIDWORKS Electrical's SQL Server back end. The eight picks below start with the established electrical CAD suites, then cover a cloud tool with public prices, a low-cost Windows program and two free open source projects.

Prices below are as of November 8, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.

Quick comparison

EPLAN Electric P8

EPLAN is the default in much of European machine and panel building, and many OEM customers ask for EPLAN projects at handover. Like SOLIDWORKS Electrical it is database-driven, so a change to a device updates every page, report and terminal plan. The Eplan Platform 2027 shipped on September 8, 2026 with more than 500 enhancements and Eplan Copilot built in, per Eplan's 2027 release note.

The trade-off is cost and lock-in. New licences have been subscription-only since September 2020, and Eplan sells through demos and quotes. Our EPLAN Electric P8 alternatives page covers the tool in more depth.

Best for: Panel shops and OEMs whose customers specify EPLAN deliverables.

Pricing:

• Subscription only for new licences; price on request
• Demo through Eplan or a partner

Watch out for:

• A PLCtalk forum poster put a basic EPLAN plan at about $6,000 to $7,000 and called it limited, so budget for higher tiers.
• There is no native link into SOLIDWORKS 3D, so mechanical teams lose the shared-library workflow.

Official site: EPLAN Electric P8.

AutoCAD Electrical

AutoCAD Electrical is no longer sold on its own; it is one of seven toolsets included with AutoCAD, alongside Mechanical, MEP and Plant 3D. The toolset brings 65,000+ intelligent symbols, a Symbol Builder, PLC I/O drawings generated from a spreadsheet and automatic reports. AutoCAD 2027 is the current release, and subscribers can install the three previous versions.

The AutoCAD overview page gives a suggested retail price of $260 a month or $2,095 a year, with a 15-day free trial. That is about half the up-front reseller price of SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic Standard.

Best for: Drafting teams that already know AutoCAD and exchange DWG files with customers.

Pricing:

• AutoCAD including specialized toolsets: $260 per month or $2,095 per year (suggested retail)
• 1-year and 3-year terms save 33% over monthly
• 15-day free trial

Watch out for:

• It runs on Windows 11 64-bit only, with no Mac version of the Electrical toolset.
• There is no shared 3D harness workflow like SOLIDWORKS Electrical 3D, so routing in the 3D model stays a separate job.

Official site: AutoCAD Electrical. Our listing: AutoCAD Electrical.

Zuken E3.series

Zuken E3.series is object-oriented like SOLIDWORKS Electrical: each device lives once in a database and appears in schematics, cable plans, panel layouts and formboards. Modules for schematic, cable, panel, formboard and fluid let a team buy only what it uses, and a Python package and open API handle automation.

E3.series 2027 was announced on September 8, 2026 with E3.CloudView and single-command 2D manufacturing views. The E3.series FAQ confirms quote-only pricing by module, a cloud evaluation and a free E3.viewer.

Best for: Machine and vehicle builders where cables and harnesses are most of the electrical work.

Pricing:

• No public price; quoted by module
• Cloud evaluation; free E3.viewer

Watch out for:

• A July 2024 Capterra reviewer found it very complex, with too many configurable parts.

Official site: Zuken E3.series.

SEE Electrical

SEE Electrical comes from IGE+XAO, which joined ETAP in April 2023, and it is now sold as three yearly subscription tiers: Launch, Grow and Scale. Scale adds IEC 81346 aspect management and an API for custom plugins.

A 30-day working version has most features, capped at 3 schematic pages and 3 installation diagrams per project, per the SEE Electrical page. It needs Windows 10 or 11 and 8 GB of RAM.

Best for: Small electrical contractors who want to start on a low tier and move up.

Pricing:

• Launch, Grow and Scale: annual subscriptions, price on request
• 30-day trial, 3 schematic pages per project

Watch out for:

• Capterra users score its value for money 2.2 out of 5 from five reviews, and a February 2023 reviewer complained of no after-sales phone line.
• No tier publishes a price, so you cannot compare it with SOLIDWORKS without a quote.

Official site: SEE Electrical. Our listing: SEE Electrical.

Capital X Panel Designer

Siemens' Capital X Panel Designer, formerly Radica's Electra Cloud, runs in the browser. Autowiring, autonumbering, automatic pin sets, panel layout, BOM and version control are built in, so there is no SQL Server to install as with SOLIDWORKS Electrical.

The Capital X pricing page lists yearly prices in US dollars: Essentials $1,236.36, Standard $1,930.92 and Advanced $3,651.48 per user. Standard also includes an on-premises copy for offline work, and a 30-day trial falls back to a free plan without automation.

Best for: Small panel shops that want a public price and nothing to install.

Pricing:

• Essentials: $1,236.36 per user per year (also sold monthly)
• Standard: $1,930.92 per user per year
• Advanced: $3,651.48 per user per year
• 30-day trial, then free plan without automation

Watch out for:

• Essentials, the cheapest plan, is cloud-only; offline work needs Standard.
• Siemens has flagged that Essentials monthly rates are going up.

Official site: Capital X Panel Designer.

ProfiCAD

ProfiCAD is a small Windows program for electrical, pneumatic and control diagrams with 2,000+ symbols, a bill of materials, wire, terminal and cable lists and cross-references. Version 14.1.4 is current, and it runs on Windows 10 and 11, or on a Mac through Parallels.

A single-user licence costs $277 one time, with no subscription and free minor upgrades, per the ProfiCAD purchase page. A site licence is $827. Our ProfiCAD alternatives page compares it with similar low-cost tools.

Best for: One-person design offices that need tidy schematics, not a database-driven project.

Pricing:

• Single User: $277 one-time; Site: $827 one-time; prices exclude tax
• Major upgrades 50% off
• 30-day trial; free Home licence for hobby use, 3 pages

Watch out for:

• It does not do 3D, PCB layout or full DWG and DXF editing.
• Projects are page-based, without the shared component database SOLIDWORKS Electrical uses across a team.

Official site: ProfiCAD.

QElectroTech

For control schematics at no cost, QElectroTech is the open source choice. It is GPL v2 software for Windows, Mac and Linux, with more than 8,000 symbols, folio-based projects, cross-references and terminal strips.

Version 0.100 from January 25, 2024 is still the stable release, while the next version, ported to Qt6, is in nightly builds. Our QElectroTech alternatives page lists other free options.

Best for: Hobbyists, schools and small shops that need IEC-style control diagrams for free.

Pricing:

• Free and open source (GNU GPL v2)

Watch out for:

• A February 2025 thread on the QElectroTech forum notes thin documentation for panel layouts.
• There has been no new stable release since January 2024, and nightly builds can be broken.

Official site: QElectroTech. Our listing: QElectroTech.

KiCad

KiCad shows up in many searches for free electrical schematic software, but it solves a different problem. It draws circuit schematics and lays out printed circuit boards, with 3D board views and manufacturing outputs. It does not produce terminal plans, cabinet layouts or wire lists for control panels.

KiCad 10.0.8 came out on October 30, 2026, per kicad.org, for Windows, macOS and Linux. The source is GPL v3 or later and the libraries are CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Best for: Engineers whose electrical work is the circuit board inside the panel.

Pricing:

• Free and open source

Watch out for:

• Even KiCad forum regulars point people wanting EPLAN-style panel work toward QElectroTech instead.

Official site: KiCad.

How to choose

When to stay with SOLIDWORKS Electrical Schematic

Stay if your mechanical team designs in SOLIDWORKS 3D. Shared libraries and Electrical 3D let wires and harnesses route inside the same model, which none of the 2D tools here can match. A January 2026 reviewer on Capterra called the Professional licence expensive but worth it, and the product rates 4.4 out of 5 from 26 reviews.

Frequently asked questions