Octostitch vs StitchConsole

Octostitch is desktop embroidery digitising software for craft businesses and hobbyists, with tools to create designs and prepare them for embroidery machines. Stitches appear as you draw, and a sew-out playback lets you review the design. Stitch options include satin with automatic underlay, tatami and guided fills, appliqué, bean stitch, and cut lines. Guided auto-digitising lets you crop artwork, choose threads, remove the background with a brush, and assign stitches. The thread library covers Madeira, Isacord, Robison-Anton, Sulky, Gunold, and Brother. You can also make and share reusable fonts, decorative patterns, and tatami fills. Octostitch imports and exports PES, DST, JEF, VP3, EXP, XXX, HUS, and TAP formats, and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. The free trial lets you explore the digitising workflow, but saving projects and exporting machine formats require a licence. The one-time price is £40. The purchase includes commercial use with no extra licence or per-design fees.

StitchConsole is a browser-based studio for creating and editing embroidery designs. Its free plan includes run, satin, and fill stitch tools, editable pen and Bezier paths, underlay, pull compensation, density controls, and object auto-splitting. The image converter turns artwork into editable stitch objects; the first ten conversions are free, and images are read in the browser. It opens around thirty embroidery machine formats and exports DST, PES, JEF, EXP, VP3, PEC, XXX, U01, TBF, and PMV. Users can inspect stitch simulation, measurements, colour lists, and stitch counts before export. The free plan allows unlimited designs, with ten designs synced at a time and ten image conversions. Pro costs $19 a month and adds lettering, appliqué, motif fill and run, program split, unlimited auto-digitize, AI Assist, optimisers, bulk export, and an unlimited cloud library. The app runs in a browser on Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS without an installer or plugin. Auto-digitizing works best with flat artwork; gradients and photographs do not convert well.