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, such as cross-stitch.

Comparison of embroidery software^[1]

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)
Embrilliance StitchArtist, BriTon Leap, Inc.	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	pec, pes, phc, xxx, vp3, vip, hus, shv, jef, sew, exp, exp+, pcs, dst, tap, 10*	pes, hus, jef, xxx, sew, vp3, exp, exp+, vip, pcs, dst, svg, fcm, studio, plt	No	Yes	Yes	$179
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, 10*	pec, pes, hus, jef, xxx, sew, vp3, exp, vip, pcs, dst, 10*	Yes	Yes	Yes	$2399
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
Buzz-2-Stitches by Buzz Tools Inc	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	N/A	csd, dst, emd, exp, pes, hus, sew, jef, pcs, xxx, pec, vip, vp3	No	Yes	No	$299.95
BuzzEdit v3 by Buzz Tools Inc	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	art, art50, art60, asd, cnd, csd, dst, emd, exp, gnc, hus, jef, jef+, oef, 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[2]	$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, 10*	pec, pes, hus, jef, xxx, sew, vp3, exp, vip, pcs, dst, 10*	Yes	Yes	Yes	$2199
Creative DRAWings by DRAWSTITCH Ltd.	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	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	exp, ngs, dst, dsz, dsb, sst, ksm, pcs, pcm, hus, tap, vip, pec, shv, pes, jef, jef+, sew, m3, 10o, hd, fdr, draw	Yes	Yes	Yes	$799
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	No	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
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	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	$644[3]
Embroidermodder	Yes	Yes	Yes	GNU GPL[4] zLib[5]	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
EmbroideryStudio by Wilcom	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, fr, it, es, de, pt, jp, du, ru, ch, kr	Yes	No	emb, 10o, amt60, art60, amt50, art50, art, amt, art42, 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+[6]
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
KXStitch	Unknown	Yes[7]	Yes	GNU GPL	en	No	Yes	?	?	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
MasterWorks III by Designer’s Gallery	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	art, pes, sew, exp, hus, xxx, dst, jef, shv, vip, pcs	blf, pes, dst, sew, jef, exp, shv, hus, vip, xxx, pcs	No	Yes	Yes	$2499.99
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	No	Yes	No	$899.99
Millennium III by Proel TSI	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en, es, pt, fr, it, tr	Yes	No	10o, cnd, dat, dsb, dst, dsz, e**, exp, f**, fdr, fmc, lam, lmu, m3, plt, pmu, pum, t01, t02, t03, t04, t05, t09, tap, tbf, .u**	10o, dst, dsz, exp, plt, tap, tbf, u**	No	Yes	Yes	$630[8]
PE-Design by Brother	Yes	No	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	pes, pec, phc, exp, dst, pcs, hus, vip, shv, jef, sew, csd, xxx	pes	No	Yes	Yes	$1299.95
Punto Embroidery Digitiser	Yes	Yes	No	Proprietary	en	Yes	No	dst, pun, dsb	dst, zsk, dsb	No	Yes	Yes	Not Available
Thred	Yes	No	Yes	GNU GPL[9] Public Domain[10]	en	Yes	No	dst, thr	dst, thr	No	No	No

References

1. Digitizing Software, Designs in Machine Embroidery, Volume 51, July/August 2008
2. When BuzzWord and TrueType Font Add-on Pack are also installed.
3. Includes Plugins in Price, to reflect chart & provide more accurate comparison against other embroidery software.
4. Applies to Embroidermodder 1.
5. Applies to Embroidermodder 2.
6. http://www.barudanamerica.com/assets/files/client_area/Pricing_and_literature/3.0%20Product%20chart.pdf
7. KXStitch running on OS X?, KXStitch Mailing List, 2012-07-06
8. Entry level price.
9. Applies to the source code ported to Linux with winelib.
10. Applies to the source code released by Thredworks.