AV diagram software, compared honestly by someone who sells one of them.

What actually differs between these tools

Every AV diagram tool draws boxes and lines. The differences that matter are underneath: how the vendor prices it, who the sales process assumes you are, whether the software checks a connection or just draws it, and whether it lives in a browser or on one machine.

Those four things predict how a tool will feel to use far better than a feature list does, so that is what this comparison actually weighs.

• Pricing model: per-user monthly SaaS, annual seat contracts, a perpetual license, or free
• Buyer assumption: enterprise integration firm, small AV shop, solo tech, or generic office user
• Validation: does it know an SDI port from an HDMI port, or is a port just a shape
• Deployment: browser-based and cross-platform, or a Windows-only desktop install

The six tools, in plain terms

In order from the largest integration platform down to the tools built for one person working alone.

• XTEN-AV X-DRAW: cloud AV design software built for integration firms, with construction-documentation deliverables rather than a quick show file. $104-169/user/month depending on plan and billing term, no free tier, and a 15-day trial.
• D-Tools SI: the estimating and procurement platform behind a lot of integration firms, sold sales-led rather than self-serve. $1,800/user/year, a 5-user minimum, and a 1.9M-SKU product library behind the drawing layer.
• Stardraw: a long-running Windows desktop AV drawing tool with a deep manufacturer symbol library. Roughly $550 for the first year, sold as a perpetual license rather than a subscription.
• Visio, Lucidchart, and draw.io: generic diagramming pressed into AV use. draw.io is free with a community rack shape library, Visio Plan 2 runs $15/month, and Lucidchart is another per-seat SaaS option in the category. None of them know what a port is, so an HDMI output lands on an SDI input without complaint.
• H2R Gear: browser-based AV signal flow software built by the Here to Record livestream-education brand. Free to start, with paid plans from $5/month to $80/month, plus patches, zones, and a community device library. The closest tool on this list to WireFlow. See the full comparison below.
• WireFlow: browser-based AV diagramming with port-aware validation, an LED wall builder, rack elevations, cable schedules, and power reports, plus a public API and an MCP server. Free tier covers three diagrams. Pro is $5/month at founder pricing, $14.99/month at list.

Which one should you pick

The honest answer depends on who is buying, not which tool has the longer feature list.

• Running an integration firm with a sales team and a procurement pipeline: D-Tools SI or XTEN-AV X-DRAW, depending on whether estimating or design documentation matters more to you
• Already own a Stardraw license and mostly do one-off AV drawings: Stardraw remains a reasonable perpetual-license option
• Occasionally need an AV-flavored diagram inside a company that already pays for Visio or Lucidchart: keep using it, and know it will not validate a connection
• Solo tech, small crew, or house of worship that wants signal flow, racks, and a cable schedule without a sales call: WireFlow or H2R Gear, both browser-based and both cheap to start

Where WireFlow fits, honestly

WireFlow's lane is working crews and small shops: touring techs, house of worship volunteers, corporate AV freelancers, and small integrators who need a validated signal flow, a rack elevation, and a cable schedule today, not after an onboarding call.

It is not an estimating platform like D-Tools, not a design-documentation tool like XTEN-AV, and not a drafting seat like Stardraw. If one of those is what your business actually runs on, this page should point you there instead.

If your problem is closer to needing the diagram to be right and needing your crew to open it on a phone, that is the gap WireFlow and H2R Gear both fill. The detailed comparison between those two is one click away.

Frequently asked questions

Is this comparison biased since WireFlow is one of the tools?

Yes, we build WireFlow, and it is one of the tools compared here. We kept every price and fact on this page checkable, and we say plainly where WireFlow is not the right pick: a firm that needs estimating and procurement, or a drafter who needs a plot, should look at D-Tools, XTEN-AV, or Stardraw instead.

What is the cheapest way to get AV diagram software?

draw.io is free and has a community rack shape library, though it will not validate a single connection. WireFlow's free tier covers three editable diagrams with the full device library and port validation, no credit card required.

Which tool is built for large integration firms?

D-Tools SI and XTEN-AV X-DRAW both assume that buyer. D-Tools centers on estimating and procurement at $1,800/user/year with a 5-user minimum. XTEN-AV centers on cloud design and documentation at $104-169/user/month.

Does any of these tools validate connections automatically?

WireFlow checks the port types on both ends of a wire and blocks an incompatible patch while you draw it. The AV-specific tools model signal flow to varying depths; Visio, Lucidchart, and draw.io treat every port as a generic anchor point, so an impossible patch draws just fine and fails at load-in instead.

How is WireFlow different from H2R Gear specifically?

They are the closest peers on this list. Both are browser-based and both are priced for individuals and small teams. The differences show up in LED wall design, rack elevations, and API access on WireFlow's side, and in patches and zones on H2R Gear's side. See the full comparison for the breakdown.

What does WireFlow cost to start?

Free. Three editable diagrams, five custom devices, the full preset library, and PNG export, with no credit card. Pro is $5/month at founder pricing, $14.99/month at list price, and adds unlimited diagrams, racks, LED walls, and clean exports.