QElectroTech — The Complete Guide: Free Electrical Schematics and Control Panel Drawings
QElectroTech is open-source software for drawing electrical, control panel, control and automation schematics. Unlike electronic circuit design tools, it is built for the world of building and industrial electrics: breakers, contactors, relays, motors and controllers.
QElectroTech
QElectroTech Project
Draws electrical panel and control diagrams from standard symbol libraries.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Symbol library — thousands of IEC symbols, plus an editor for your own symbols.
- Multi-page projects — title page, table of contents and cross-references between pages.
- Automatic numbering — of wires, terminals and components.
- Lists — bills of materials and terminal lists, exportable to CSV.
- Export — PDF, DXF and images.
Who it suits
Electrical engineers, electricians and panel builders who need tidy drawings without an AutoCAD Electrical or EPLAN licence. For electronic circuits and PCBs, KiCad is the right tool, and for general drafting — LibreCAD.
KiCad
KiCad Development Team
Open-source PCB design suite, from schematic to fabrication files, with no limit on layers or board area.
Get it from the vendor
LibreCAD
LibreCAD Project
Lightweight 2D drafting with layers, blocks and dimensions, built around the DXF format.
Get it from the vendor
QCAD Community Edition
RibbonSoft
Mature 2D drafting. The Community Edition is free; DWG and the parts library browser are reserved for the paid version.
Get it from the vendor
diagrams.net (draw.io)
JGraph
A full diagram editor in the browser, with no account required.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
QElectroTech is a serious free alternative for electrical and control schematics, with the tools you actually need day to day.