Comparison of embroidery software

Embroidery software is software that helps users create embroidery designs. While a large majority of embroidery software is specific to machine embroidery, there is also software available for use with hand embroidery techniques, such as cross-stitch.

Comparison of embroidery software

Software Title	Runs on Windows?	Runs natively on Mac OS X?	Runs natively on Linux	License	User interface languages	Machine Embroidery	Hand Embroidery	Embroidery formats can open	Embroidery formats can save	Batch convert	Photorealistic/3D	Can use TrueType fonts?	MSRP (USD)
6D Embroidery Software Suite by KSIN Luxembourg,VSM Software Ltd.	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	pec, pes, xxx, vp3, vip, hus, shv, dhv, jef, sew, exp, pcs, dst, 100	pec, pes, hus, jef, xxx, sew, vp3, exp, vip, pcs, dst, 100	Yes	Yes	Yes	$2399
Applique It! by Amazing Designs	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	blf, pes, pec, art, sew, emd, gnc, jef, exp, pcs, vip, vp3, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	blf, pes, emd, sew, jef, exp, pcm,pcs, vip, vp3, emd, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	No	Yes	Yes	$99.99
Artistic Digitizer by DRAWstitch Ltd.	Yes	Yes	No	Proprietary	en, fr, de, cz, it, es, no, se, pl, jp, ch, tr|	Yes	No	DRAW, jef, jef+, jpx, sew, exp, ngs, dst, dsz, dsb, sst, ksm, pcs, pcm, tap, pec, pes, hus, vip, shv, m3, 10O, hqf, sef, tbf, xxx, vp3, zsk, 100, zhs, U??, qli, cqp, cmd	DRAW, jef, jef+, jpx, sew, exp, ngs, dst, dsz, dsb, sst, ksm, pcs, pcm, tap, pec, pes, hus, vip, shv, m3, 10O, hqf, sef, tbf, xxx, vp3, zsk, 100, zhs, U??, qli, cqp, cmd	Yes	Yes	Yes	$1199.00
AutoPunch by Singer	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	fhe, psw, che, xxx, pec, pes, hus, vip, shv, sew, jef, exp, pcs, vip, dst	fhe, xxx, pec, pes, hus, vip, jef, sew, exp, pcs, vip, dst	No	Yes	Yes	$299
Bernina Embroidery Software Version 7 by Wilcom	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	art, arx, pes, pec, emd, gnc, hus, shv, vip, sew, exp, pcs, pcd, pcq, pcm, csd, xxx, dst, amt	art, pes, pec, emd, hus, shv, vip, sew, exp, pcs, pcd, pcq, pcm, csd, xxx, dst, amt	Yes	Yes	Yes	$1999
Brother BES4 Dream Edition Embroidery Lettering Software	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, fr, es	Yes	No	brf, pes, pec, sew, jef, hus, pcs, dst, xxx, exp, shv, vip, art, vp3, zip, fcm	pes, sew, jef, hus, pcs, dst, xxx, exp, shv, vip, vp3, dxf, pat, cqp, hqf, iqp, plt, ssd, qli, wmf, fcm, svg	Yes	Yes	Yes
Buzz-2-Stitches by Buzz Tools Inc	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	—	csd, dst, emd, exp, pes, hus, sew, jef, pcs, xxx, pec, vip, vp3	No	Yes	No	$299.95
BuzzEdit by Buzz Tools Inc	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	art, art50, art60, cnd, csd, dst, emd, exp, gnc, hus, jef, jef+, oef, pcd, pcq, pcs, pec, pes, phc, sew, shv, vip, vp3, xxx	buz, csd, dst, emd, exp, hus, jef, pcs, pec, pes, sew, vip, vp3, xxx	No	Yes	Yes^[1]	$189.95
Creative 4D Design Creator by Pfaff	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	pec, pes, xxx, vp3, vip, hus, shv, dhv, jef, sew, exp, pcs, dst, 100	pec, pes, hus, jef, xxx, sew, vp3, exp, vip, pcs, dst, 100	Yes	Yes	Yes	$2199
Creative DRAWings by DRAWSTITCH Ltd.	Yes	Yes	No	Proprietary	en, fr, de, cz, it, es, no, dk, fi, se, pl, ro, sl, jp, nl, ru, ch, tr	Yes	No	exp, ngs, dst, dsz, dsb, sst, ksm, pcs, pcm, tap, pec, pes, hus, vip, shv, jef, jef+, sew, m3, 10o, hd, fdr, draw, sef, tbf, xxx, vp3, zsk, 100, zhs, sas	exp, ngs, dst, dsz, dsb, sst, ksm, pcs, pcm, hus, tap, vip, pec, shv, pes, jef, jef+, sew, m3, 10o, hd, fdr, draw, sef, tbf, xxx, vp3, zsk, 100, zhs	Yes	Yes	Yes	$899 (X), $1299 (Pro)
Digitize ‘N Stitch by Amazing Designs	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	art, blf, csd, dst, emd, exp, hus, shv, jef, pcs, pcm, vip, pes, sew, xxx	blf, csd, dst, emd, pcs, exp, pcm, hus, vip, shv, pes jef, sew, xxx	Yes	Yes	No	$399
Digitizer MB by Janome	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	jef, jef+, sew, emd, pes, pec, hus, vip, vp3, exp, pcs, pcm, csd, xxx, dst	jef, jef+, sew, emd, vp3, pes, exp, pec, pcs, hus, pcm, vip, csd, xxx, dst	Yes	Yes	Yes	$1999
DG by Pulse Microsystems Ltd.	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, ch, cs, fa, fr, de, el, iw, it, jp, pt, ru, es, tr,	Yes	No	pxf, pof, psf, dst, tbf, pes, dsb, dat, u??, emd, sew, jef, exp, pcm, pcs, csd, xxx, 100, jus, shv, vip, vp3, dsz, z??, dxf, sst	pxf, pof, psf, dst, tbf, pes, dsb, dat, u??, emd, sew, jef, exp, pcm, pcs, csd, xxx, 100, jus, shv, vip, vp3, dsz, z??, dxf, sst	Yes	Yes	Yes
DRAWings PRO by DRAWstitch Ltd.	Yes	Yes	No	Proprietary	en, fr, de, cz, it, es, no, se, pl, jp, ch, tr	Yes	No	DRAW, jef, jef+, sew, exp, ngs, dst, dsz, dsb, sst, ksm, pcs, pcm, tap, pec, pes, hus, vip, shv, m3, 10O, hqf, sef, tbf, xxx, vp3, zsk, 100, zhs, U??, qli, cqp, cmd	DRAW, jef, jef+, sew, exp, ngs, dst, dsz, dsb, sst, ksm, pcs, pcm, tap, pec, pes, hus, vip, shv, m3, 10O, hqf, sef, tbf, xxx, vp3, zsk, 100, zhs, U??, qli, cqp, cmd	Yes	Yes	Yes	$1299 (Pro)
Elna CustomizerEX by Elna, Inc.	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	jef, jef+, sew	jef	No	Yes	No	$349
Elna DigitizerEX by Elna, Inc.	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, fr, it, es	Yes	No	jef, jef+, sew, emd, pes, pec, hus, vip, vp3, exp, pcs, pcm, csd, xxx, dst, u??, DSB, 100	jef, emd, pes, pec, pcs, hus, pcm, vip, vp3, csd, exp, xxx, dst	Yes	Yes	Yes	$1699
Embird	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, de, fr, it, es, cz	Yes	Yes	10o, 9mm, art, bro, csd, dat, dsb, dst, dsz, ecf, emb, eof, exp, exy, fxy, gt, hus, inb, jef, jef+, jpx, ksm, m1, m2, m3, max, mit, new, pcd, pcm, pcq, pcs, pec, pes, phb, phc, plt, psf, ptm, pum, sew, shv, spx, ssp, sss, sst, stx, tap, tbf, t01, t03, t04, t05, t09, uxy, u??, vip, vp3, xxx, zxy, z??	10o, 9mm, bro, csd, dat, dsb, dst, dsz, exp, exy, fxy, gt, hus, inb, jef, jef+, ksm, m1, m2, m3, max, mit, new, pcd, pcm, pcq, pcs, pec, pes, phb, phc, plt, ptm, sew, shv, spx, ssp, sss, sst, stx, tap, tbf, t01, t03, t04, t05, t09, uxy, u??, vip, vp3, xxx, zxy, z??	Yes	Yes	Yes	$150-$1,000^[2]
Embrilliance StitchArtist, BriTon Leap, Inc.	Yes	Yes	No^[3]	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	pec, pes, phc, xxx, vp3, vip, hus, shv, jef, sew, exp, exp+, pcs, dst, tap, 100, svg, studio, fcm, scut4	pes, hus, jef, xxx, sew, vp3, exp, exp+, vip, pcs, dst, svg, fcm, studio, plt, svg, studio, fcm, scut4	Yes^[4]	Yes	Yes	$179-$699 per module(>$1150 total)
Embroidery Office By Sierra Software	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, fr, it, es, de, pt, ru, nl, cs, tr, ar, no, pl	Yes	No	dst, 10O, exp, tap, u01, ksm, xxx, pes, sew, cem, inb, pcm, pcs, phb, phc, pec, pcd, hus, vip, jef, tbf, plt, emf, svg	dst, 10O, exp, tap, u01, ksm, xxx, pes, sew, cem, inb, pcm, pcs, phb, phc, pec, pcd, hus, vip, jef, tbf, plt, emf, svg	—	Yes	Yes	$35/month and more
Embroidermodder	Yes	Yes	Yes	GNU GPL^[5] zLib^[6]	en	Yes	No	10o, 100, bro, col, csd, dat, dsb, dst, dsz, edr, emd, exp, exy, fxy, gt, hus, inb, jef, ksm, max, pcd, pcm, pcs, pec, pes, phb, rgb, sew, shv, stx, t09, tap, thr, u??, vip, vp3, xxx, zsk	col, dst, edr, exp, hus, jef, ksm, max, pcd, pcs, pec, pes, rgb, thr, xxx	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free
EmbroideryStudio by Wilcom	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, fr, it, es, de, pt, jp, nl, ru, ch, kr	Yes	Yes	emb, 10o, art, amt, arx, bro, cnd, csd, dsb, dsn, dst, dsz, emt, emx, esd, exp, jan, jef, jmt, gnc, hus, inb, inp, ksm, pcd, pch, pcq, pcs, pec, pes, pmu, pum, sew, shv, stc, stx, tap, tbf, u??, vip, vp3, xxx, z??	emb, 10o, bro, csd, dsb, dst, dsz, emt, exp, jef, hus, inb, ksm, pcd, pcq, pcs, pec, pes, pmu, pum, sew, shv, stx, tap, tbf, u??, vip, vp3, xxx, z??	Yes	Yes	Yes	$899-$3999+
EmbroideryWare by JimmySoft LLC	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	pes	dst, pes, pec, exp, exp+, jef	No	Yes	Yes	$119-$169
EQStitch by The Electric Quilt Company	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	p7e	dst, exp, hus, jef, p7e, pcs, pes, sew, shv, vip, vp3, xxx	No	Yes	Yes	$249.95
FontWorks by Designer's Gallery	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	blf, pes, pec, art, sew, emd, gnc, jef, exp, pcs, vip, vp3, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	blf, pes, emd, sew, jef, exp, pcm,pcs, vip, vp3, emd, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	Yes	Yes	Yes	$299.99
Floriani Total Control U by RNK LLC	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	waf, pes, sew, emd, jef, hus, pcs, dst, csd, xxx, exp, shv, vip, vp3	waf, pes, sew, emd, jef, hus, pcs, dst, csd, xxx, exp, shv, vip, vp3	Yes	Yes	Yes	$4299
Floriani Embroidery Suite by G7 Solutions & RNK LLC	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	art, dat, uxx, c2s, gnc, cnd, sew, jef, jef+, mgl, stl, exp, ksm, vp3, pcm, xxx, dst, dsb, dsz, 10o, pcs, csd, pes, vip, vp3, shv, hus	dat, uxx, c2s, sew, jef, mgl, stl, exp, ksm, dsb, dsz, pcm, 10o, xxx, pcs, dst, vp3, csd, pes, vip, vp3, shv, hus	Yes	Yes	Yes	$4299
Generations Automatic Digitizing Software by Notcina Corporation	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	u??, pes, emd, vst, jef, sew, exp, pcm, pcs, xxx, dst, 10o, hus, shv, m3, pec, pcq, jef+, csd, vip, vp3, cnd	u??, pes, emd, vst, jef, sew, exp, pcm, hus, pcs, shv, xxx, m3, dst, 10o, pec, pcq, csd, vip, vp3	Yes	Yes	Yes	$1799
Hatch Embroidery Digitizer by Wilcom	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, fr, it, es, de, pt, jp, nl, ru, ch, kr	Yes	Yes	emb, art, amt, jan, emx, gnc, u??, exp, dst, dsb, 10o, arx, pes, pec, emd, sew, jef, jef+, jpx, hus, shv, vip, vp3, pcd, pcm, pcq, pcs, csd, xxx, jmt, amt, emt	emb, exp, dst, exp, pes, pec, emd, sew, jef, hus, shv, vip, vp3, pcd, pcm, pcq, pcs, csd, xxx, emt, svg	Yes	Yes	Yes	$99 per month / $149-$1,099 & Free 30-day trial
Ink/Stitch Inkscape extension	Yes	Yes	Yes	GNU GPL	en, de, fr, pt, it	Yes	No	100, 10o, bro, dat, dsb, dst, dsz, emd, exp, exy, fxy, gt, inb, jef, jpx, ksm, max, mit, new, pcd, pcm, pcq, pcs, pec, pes, phb, phc, sew, shv, stc, stx, svg, tap, tbf, txt (g-code), u01, vp3, xxx, zxy	csv, dst, exp, jef, pec, pes, svg, txt (g-code), u01, vp3	Yes	Yes	Yes	Free
KXStitch	Un­known	Yes^[7]	Yes	GNU GPL	en	No	Yes	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known	Un­known
Letter It! By Amazing Designs	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	blf, pes, pec, art, sew, emd, gnc, jef, exp, pcs, vip, vp3, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	blf, pes, emd, sew, jef, exp, pcm,pcs, vip, vp3, emd, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	No	Yes	Yes	$99.99
Monogram It! By Amazing Designs	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	blf, pes, pec, art, sew, emd, gnc, jef, exp, pcs, vip, vp3, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	blf, pes, emd, sew, jef, exp, pcm,pcs, vip, vp3, emd, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	No	Yes	Yes	$99.99
MasterWorks Lite by Designer's Gallery	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	pes, sew, exp, hus, xxx, dst, jef, shv, vip, pcs	blf, pes, sew, exp, hus, xxx, dst, jef, shv, vip, pcs	Yes	Yes	No	$899.99
Millennium X by Proel TSI	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, es, pt, fr, it, cs, tr	Yes	No	10o, cnd, dat, dsb, dst, dsz, e??, exp, f??, fdr, fmc, hus, jef, ksm, lam, lmu, m3, pcs, pec, pes, plt, pmu, pum, sew, shv, t01, t02, t03, t04, t05, t09, tap, tbf, u??, vip, vp3, z?^[8]^[9]	10o, dsb, dst, dsz, exp, plt, tap, tbf, u??, z??	No	Yes	Yes	$630^[10]
mySewnet Embroidery Software Platinum	Yes	Yes	No	Proprietary	en, fr, de, it, es, no, dk, fi, se, nl, ru, ch, tr, pr	Yes	No	Bernina (.art version 1, 2, 3), Brother/Babylock/Bernina PEC (.pec), Brother/Babylock/Bernina PES (.pes ver 2 - 10), Compucon/Singer PSW (.xxx), Husqvarna Viking / Pfaff (.vp4, .vp3 and .vip), Husqvarna (.hus, .shv and .dhv), Janome (.jef and .sew), Melco (.exp), Pfaff (.pcs), Tajima (.dst), Toyota (.10*)	Husqvarna Viking / Pfaff (.vp4 and .vp3), Brother/Babylock/Bernina PEC (.pec), Brother/Babylock/Bernina PES (.pes ver 2 - 10), Compucon/Singer PSW (.xxx), Husqvarna Viking / Pfaff (.vip), Husqvarna (.hus ,.shv), Janome (.jef, .sew), Melco (.exp), Pfaff (.pcs), Tajima (.dst), Toyota (.10*)	Yes	Yes	Yes	$39.99 per month & Free 30-day trial Boxed version available for purchase through embroidery machine dealers
PE-Design by Brother	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	csd, dst, exp, hus, jef, pcs, pec, pes, phc, sew, shv, vip, xxx	csd, dst, exp, hus, jef, pcs, pes, sew, shv, vip, xxx	No	Yes	Yes	$1299.95
PEmbroider library for Processing, by CMU Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry	Yes	Yes	Yes	GNU GPL	en	Yes	No	txt, svg^[11]	dst, exp, gcode, jef, pdf, pec, pes, svg, tsv, vp3, xxx	Yes^[12]	Yes	Yes	Free
Perfect Embroidery Professional by Inspired by DIME	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	10o, art, c2s, cnd, cop, csd, dat, dsb, dst, dsz, dxf, emp, exp, gnc, hqf, hus, iqp, jef, jef+, ksm, ldf, mtp, pcm, pcs, pes, plt, qcc, sew, shp, shv, ssd, sst, svg, txt, uxy, vip, vp3, xxx	10o, art, c2s, cnd, cop, csd, dat, dsb, dst, dsz, dxf, emp, exp, gnc, hqf, hus, iqp, jef, jef+, ksm, ldf, mtp, pcm, pcs, pes, plt, qcc, sew, shp, shv, ssd, sst, svg, txt, uxy, vip, vp3, xxx	Yes	Yes	Yes	$4299.00
Punto Embroidery Digitiser	Yes	Yes	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	dst, dsz, dsb, u??, exp, .10O, tap, ksm, pdc	dst, dsz, dsb, u??, exp, .10O, tap, ksm, pdc	No	Yes	Yes	Quote By email: Lite 3.5K; Designer 9K
Size It! By Amazing Designs	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	blf, pes, pec, art, sew, emd, gnc, jef, exp, pcs, vip, vp3, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	blf, pes, emd, sew, jef, exp, pcm,pcs, vip, vp3, emd, xxx, csd, dst, shv, hus	No	Yes	Yes	$99.99
StitchMax By Stitchmax Solutions LLP	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	stx, evx, dst, dsb, dsz, exp, pes, pcs, ksm, tbf, tcf, mst, sas, t15, dat, mjd, pat, u01, z??, sst, jef, dxf, evt	stx, evx, dst, dsb, dsz, exp, pes, pcs, ksm, tbf, tcf, mst, sas, t15, dat, mjd, pat, u01, z??, sst, jef, dxf, evt	Yes	Yes	Yes	$140-$210/year
Thred	Yes	No	Yes	GNU GPL^[13] Public Domain^[14]	en	Yes	No	dst, thr	dst, thr	No	No	No	Free
SewWhat-Pro (SWP}	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, fr, nl, dk	Yes	No	10o, art, cnd, csd, dsb, dst, dsz, emb, exp, gnc, dem, hus, jef, ksm, pcd, pcm, pcs, pcq, pec, pes, phb, phc, sew, shv, stx, tap, u01, vip, vp3, xxx, zsk	10o, csd, dsb, dst, dsz, exp, hus, jef, ksm, pcs, pec, pes, phb, sew, shv, tap, u01, vip, vp3, xxx	No	No	No	$65.00
SophieSew by Carlos Mandell	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en,	Yes	No	10o, dat, dst, exp, hus, jef, ksm, pec, pes, SsD, vip, xxx	10o, dat, dst, exp, hus, jef, ksm, pec, SsD, xxx	No	Yes	No	Free
Stilista 3 by GMI	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	it, en, de, fr, es, pt, ro, sl, nl, tr, pl, jp, ch	Yes	No	emg, emg2, emg3, ela, dst, dsz, dsb, 10O, exp, xxx, ksm, m3, pes, pec, tap, t01, t03, t04, t05, pat, fdr, tbf, sew (any DOS machine format)	emg, emg2, emg3, ela, dst, dsz, dsb, 10O, exp, xxx, ksm, m3, pes, pec, tap, t01, t03, t04, t05, pat, fdr, tbf, sew	No	Yes	Yes	Paid, based on modules
Stitch Era By Sierra Software	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, fr, it, es, de, pt, ru, nl, cs, tr, ar, no, pl	Yes	No	dst, 10O, exp, tap, u01, ksm, xxx, pes, sew, cem, inb, pcm, pcs, phb, phc, pec, pcd, hus, vip, jef, tbf, plt, emf, svg	dst, 10O, exp, tap, u01, ksm, xxx, pes, sew, cem, inb, pcm, pcs, phb, phc, pec, pcd, hus, vip, jef, tbf, plt, emf, svg	—	Yes	Yes	$2/month and more
Stilista 3 by GMI	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	it, en, de, fr, es, pt, ro, sl, nl, tr, pl, jp, ch	Yes	No	emg, emg2, emg3, ela, dst, dsz, dsb, 10O, exp, xxx, ksm, m3, pes, pec, tap, t01, t03, t04, t05, pat, fdr, tbf, sew (any DOS machine format)	emg, emg2, emg3, ela, dst, dsz, dsb, 10O, exp, xxx, ksm, m3, pes, pec, tap, t01, t03, t04, t05, pat, fdr, tbf, sew	No	Yes	Yes	Paid, based on modules
StitchBuddy by Matthias Arndt	No	Yes	No	Proprietary	en, de	Yes	No	dst, exp, jef, jef+, jpx, ksm, pcd, pcq, pcs, pec, pes, sew, vp3	dst, exp, jef, pcs, pec, pes^[15]	Yes	Yes	No	$49.99

^[16]

References

1. When BuzzWord and TrueType Font Add-on Pack are also installed.
2. Includes Plugins in Price, to reflect chart & provide more accurate comparison against other embroidery software.
3. Runs on Wine https://www.winehq.org
4. With an optional package also installed.
5. Applies to Embroidermodder 1.
6. Applies to Embroidermodder 2.
7. KXStitch running on OS X?, KXStitch Mailing List, 2012-07-06
8. List of Embroidery File Formats Extensions
9. Embroidery Machine Design Formats List
10. Entry level price.
11. Via scripting in Processing.
12. Via scripting in Processing.
13. Applies to the source code ported to Linux with winelib 2013-11-05 at the Wayback Machine.
14. Applies to the source code released by Thredworks.
15. Limited to PES v1.0 (max. size 130 mm x 180 mm).
16. Digitizing Software 2013-11-05 at the Wayback Machine, Designs in Machine Embroidery, Volume 51, July/August 2008