Is Electrisim a good ETAP alternative?

Electrisim is an affordable alternative for many ETAP use cases: load flow, short circuit, arc flash (IEEE 1584), OPF, harmonics, motor starting, and dynamics using pandapower, OpenDSS, and ANDES. It does not replace every specialized ETAP module, but covers core network studies at a fraction of the cost.

How much does Electrisim cost compared to ETAP?

Electrisim Personal cloud starts at $10 per month and Company at $40 per user per month, with a free open-source Community Edition. ETAP is typically sold as an enterprise license with multi-year contracts.

Can I run Electrisim offline like a desktop ETAP install?

Yes. Deploy the free Community Edition from GitHub under Apache 2.0 for local or air-gapped use, or use the hosted cloud app with no local setup.

Does Electrisim support arc flash like ETAP?

Yes. Electrisim runs arc flash assessment to IEEE 1584-2018 (incident energy, arc-flash boundary, PPE category) on top of IEC 60909 short-circuit results via pandapower.

What studies can Electrisim replace from an ETAP workflow?

Typical day-to-day studies: load flow / power flow, short circuit (IEC 60909), arc flash (IEEE 1584), motor starting / voltage dip, optimal power flow, harmonics, contingency analysis, protection coordination (beta), transient stability and eigenvalue analysis (ANDES), and reactive power capability (PQ diagram).

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Looking for an ETAP alternative?

Electrisim gives electrical engineers professional load flow, short circuit, arc flash (IEEE 1584), OPF, harmonics, motor starting, and dynamics — without expensive perpetual licenses. Built on pandapower, OpenDSS, and ANDES. Cloud from $10 per month, or free open source.

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Electrisim vs ETAP-class commercial tools

Enterprise power system suites often cost hundreds of dollars per month per seat. Electrisim targets the same core studies at a fraction of the price.

Feature	Electrisim	Typical commercial suites (e.g. ETAP)
Monthly cost	$10 per month Personal $40 per user per month Company	Often $500+ per month or large perpetual licenses
Load flow / power flow	pandapower + OpenDSS
Short circuit (IEC 60909)
Arc flash (IEEE 1584-2018)
Motor starting / voltage dip
Optimal power flow
Harmonic analysis
Transient stability & eigenvalues	ANDES
Cloud access (no install)		Often desktop / VPN locked
Open source	Apache 2.0
Cancel anytime		Multi-year contracts common

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Core studies you can run instead of ETAP

Choose the engine per study — pandapower, OpenDSS, or ANDES. Full documentation →

Load flow — Newton-Raphson and more (pandapower), snapshot/daily/yearly (OpenDSS)
Short circuit — IEC 60909 (pandapower) and fault study on all buses (OpenDSS)
Arc flash — IEEE 1584-2018 incident energy, AFB, PPE
Motor starting — voltage dip for DOL / soft-start (steady-state & dynamic)
Transient stability — time-domain after faults / line trips (ANDES)
Eigenvalue analysis — small-signal stability and oscillatory modes (ANDES)
Optimal power flow — AC/DC constrained OPF with branch and bus limits
Protection coordination — fuses, relays, grading (beta)
Harmonics & time series — THD, filters, controllers in the loop
Reactive power capability (PQ) — envelope at the PCC vs grid-code curves

Validated against commercial software

Results are driven by mature open engines and checked against commercial tools and independent academic work.

Commercial-tool validation

pandapower power flow and short-circuit results are validated against DIgSILENT PowerFactory and PSS Sincal with strict tolerances — continuous CI on every change.

pandapower validation →

Independent thesis study

Master’s thesis work at the University of Palermo compared Electrisim with Neplan across load flow and short circuit.

Read the study →

Dual-solver checks

Offshore wind load flow is cross-checked through pandapower and OpenDSS on the same model — consistent results across two major solvers.

Read dual-solver article →

Why engineers choose Electrisim instead

Validated engines

Results driven by pandapower, OpenDSS, and ANDES — continuously validated against commercial tools, including independent university studies.

Read validation →

Zero setup cloud

Draw networks in the browser, run simulations, export engineering report PDFs. No IT tickets for license servers or USB dongles.

Open source option

Need air-gapped or offline? Deploy the free Community Edition from GitHub under Apache 2.0.

Get the code →

When Electrisim is the right ETAP alternative

Best fit for

Consultants and plant engineers who need core network studies daily
Teams priced out of enterprise seats or waiting on license renewals
Students and researchers who want inspectable, open engines
Air-gapped sites that can self-host the Community Edition

Still use ETAP when you need

Specialized modules Electrisim does not yet cover 1:1
Client or utility mandates that require a named commercial suite
Legacy models and workflows already locked into ETAP

Many engineers run Electrisim for day-to-day studies and keep a commercial seat only where contracts require it.

ETAP alternative FAQ

For many day-to-day studies — load flow, short circuit, arc flash, OPF, harmonics, motor starting, and dynamics — yes. Electrisim uses pandapower, OpenDSS, and ANDES. It is not a 1:1 replacement for every specialized ETAP module, but it covers core network analysis at a much lower price.
Cloud Personal is $10 per month, Company $40 per user per month, cancel anytime. A free open-source Community Edition is also available. ETAP is usually sold as an enterprise license. See pricing.
Yes. Deploy the Community Edition from GitHub locally, or use the browser cloud app with zero install.
Yes. Electrisim runs arc flash to IEEE 1584-2018 (incident energy, AFB, PPE) on top of IEC 60909 short-circuit results. See the arc flash documentation.
Typical replacements: load flow, short circuit, arc flash, motor starting, OPF, harmonics, contingency analysis, protection coordination (beta), transient stability / eigenvalues (ANDES), and PQ capability studies. Check the roadmap for what is coming next.

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