Short answer: Hatch Embroidery and Wilcom EmbroideryStudio are mature Windows programs with deep toolsets, and they're the right choice for many digitizers. EasyDigitizer is a newer, browser-based digitizer that runs on Mac, iPad, Chromebook, Linux and Windows without installing anything, and charges per exported design or by subscription. If you're a small shop that digitizes a handful of logos a month, or you don't work on Windows, it's worth a look.
Who this page is for
You run a small embroidery business, you're tired of paying a digitizing service for every logo, and the software you've been told to buy is Hatch or Wilcom. Both are well regarded, and Wilcom is the name many professional digitizers learned on. This page sets out where a browser-based tool is different, using the vendors' own published information, so you can decide what fits. Check the linked pages too, since requirements change between versions.
Side-by-side
| EasyDigitizer | Hatch Embroidery 4 | Wilcom EmbroideryStudio 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Any modern browser: Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, Chromebook, Linux | Windows 11 (64-bit) only (source) | Windows 11 (64-bit) (source) |
| On a Mac | Runs natively in Safari or Chrome | Through Parallels Desktop; not native, 32 GB RAM minimum (source) | Not covered on the requirements page |
| Installation | None; optional install from the browser | Desktop install | Desktop install |
| Recommended memory | Whatever runs a modern browser | 16 GB minimum, 32 GB recommended (source) | 16 GB minimum, 32 GB recommended (source) |
| Internet | Works offline once loaded; buying an export or plan needs a connection | Needed for activation and machine-file export; reconnect at least every 30 days (source) | Needed for activation and machine-file export (source) |
| Where designs are processed | On your own device; nothing uploaded | On your PC | On your PC |
| Pricing model | Free to design; $16.99 per exported design, $49/month or $384/year | See vendor | See vendor |
| Track record | New | Long-established | Long-established |
Where Hatch and Wilcom are the better choice
To be fair about the trade-off: Hatch and Wilcom have many years of development behind them, large user communities and plenty of training material. If you already run Windows, digitize all day, and want the broadest professional toolset with years of tutorials behind it, they're hard to beat. Wilcom is widely used by commercial digitizers, which matters if you swap working files with a digitizing service.
Where a browser-based digitizer fits
- You don't work on Windows. EasyDigitizer runs natively on a Mac, an iPad or a Chromebook, so there's no second operating system to buy and maintain.
- You digitize a few logos a month. Paying $16.99 for a design you actually export can cost less than a subscription or licence you rarely use. Busy months can switch to the $49 monthly plan, which starts with a 7-day free trial. The cost calculator shows where the break-even sits for your volume.
- You want to try before you pay. Designing, editing and previewing are free with no time limit, so you can digitize a real job and check the stitch-out first.
- You care where artwork goes. Customer logos are processed on your own computer and never uploaded. There's no account.
- You work in more than one place. The same app opens on the PC by the machines and the laptop at home.
What EasyDigitizer does
- Auto-digitizing with garment presets for caps, polos, tees, hoodies, jackets, beanies, bags, towels and patches, setting density, underlay and pull compensation for the fabric.
- Hand-digitizing tools: fills, satin columns (centreline and two-rail), running, manual and appliqué stitches, stitch angles, holes, node and Bézier editing, custom underlay layers, pull and push compensation, corner treatment, branching, sequencing and stitch fonts.
- Cap profiles for structured, unstructured, low-profile and 5/6/7-panel caps, with centre-out, bottom-up sequencing.
- Machine files: DST, TAP, PES, EXP, JEF and VP3 in every export, and the ability to open those formats (plus PEC).
- Send to machine: in Chrome or Edge on a computer, write the file straight to a USB stick or a network folder.
It was calibrated against real production files from a working embroidery shop, but like any digitizing, sew a test piece before a production run.
How to decide
- List the machines you run and the file formats they need. All three tools cover the common commercial formats.
- Check which computers you actually want to digitize on.
- Count how many designs you export in a typical month, and what you pay per logo today.
- Digitize the same real logo in each tool's trial or free mode and sew it out.
Frequently asked questions
Is EasyDigitizer a replacement for Wilcom?
For a busy professional digitizer who already relies on Wilcom's toolset and file exchange, probably not. For a small shop that needs good machine files for its own logos, on any computer, it can be.
Can EasyDigitizer open my Hatch or Wilcom working files?
No. It opens machine files (DST, TAP, PES/PEC, EXP, JEF, VP3) for viewing, stitch editing and conversion, but not other programs' working files.
Does Hatch run on a Mac?
Hatch's help centre says it doesn't run natively on macOS, but it can run in Windows through Parallels Desktop, with a 32 GB RAM minimum on the Mac.
Do I need an account to try EasyDigitizer?
No. Open the app and start designing. You only pay when you export or send a design to your machine.