FusePlan vs. Panelworks: two DIN rail planners compared

I build FusePlan, so read this with that in mind. Everything about Panelworks below comes from its own website: the homepage with the pricing section, the page on distribution board design and the privacy notice, as I read them in October 2026. Panelworks is in Early Access and FusePlan is in beta, so both change often. If something here is out of date, the About page has a way to reach me and I’ll correct it.

The short version

Panelworks is made for electricians and panel builders who document boards for customers. It wires a board down to terminals and distribution blocks, shows it in four views, exports XLSX and CSV, keeps a version history and lets colleagues work on the same project. One project is free, Pro costs €19 a month plus VAT.

FusePlan is made for planning the electrics of a house before an electrician builds them: rooms with the DIN 18015-3 installation zones, a board with real module widths, label strips, a parts list and a PDF for the electrician. It is free, needs no account and keeps every project in your browser. It is in English and German and its hints refer to German standards (DIN 18015, DIN VDE 0100).

Side by side

	FusePlan	Panelworks
Price	Free	Free for one project, PDFs with watermark. Pro €19/month plus VAT
Account	None	Needed to keep boards in the cloud. A local demo mode works without one
Where projects live	Browser storage, JSON file, share link	Supabase in Ireland with an account, the browser in demo mode
Languages	English, German	English, German, French, Italian, Polish, Estonian
Manufacturers	Hager, ABB, Schneider, Siemens, plus custom devices	Schneider, ABB, Hager, Siemens, Eaton, Legrand, CHINT, NOARK, ETI, WAGO, Hyundai, Doepke
Wiring	Busbars and single conductors between terminals	Terminals, busbars, distribution blocks, N and PE systems
Diagrams	One-line overview diagram from parts and wiring	Panel, wiring, single line and schematic views
Floor plan	Room planner with DIN 18015-3 installation zones, wall view, 3D, PNG/JPEG underlay	Rooms with sockets, lights and switches, PDF floor plan import
Labels	Label strips sized to the real module widths	Not mentioned on the site
Hints on the plan	RCD type, load per RCD, surge protection, installation and bathroom zones	Not described; Pro lists country compliance packs
Export	PDF, JSON, label print	PDF; XLSX and CSV in Pro
Teamwork	Share link, no version history	Pro: version history, named revisions, project sharing
Status	Beta	Early Access
Made by	Me, Christoph	Nevid Grupp OÜ, Tartu, Estonia

What Panelworks does that FusePlan doesn’t

Wiring is the biggest difference. In Panelworks every connection is project data: terminals, busbars, distribution blocks and separate N and PE systems. The wiring diagram, the board schedule and the bill of materials with part numbers come out of that one model and a changed breaker changes all three. FusePlan has a wiring tab with busbars and single conductors. That is enough to know which RCD protects which circuit and to draw a one-line overview diagram, but FusePlan draws no terminal plan and no full wiring diagram.

Panelworks also knows more brands. Its library lists twelve manufacturers, Eaton, Legrand and Doepke among them. FusePlan has Hager, ABB, Schneider and Siemens. Anything else goes onto the rail as a custom device with a name, a width in TE and a pole count, so it takes the right space but carries no part number.

For teams, Pro adds version history with named revisions, project sharing with colleagues and clients and exports as XLSX and CSV. FusePlan shares a project as a link or a JSON file. Whoever opens the link gets their own copy, so two people never edit the same project.

On the board itself you can mark things that are not parts: space kept free for a meter that hasn’t arrived, where the trunking runs, notes and measurements. None of it ends up in the bill of materials. The interface comes in six languages.

What FusePlan does that Panelworks doesn’t

FusePlan costs nothing and has no project limit. There is no account. Projects stay in your browser’s storage, in a JSON file or in a share link and the share link carries the project in the part of the URL after the #, which browsers don’t send to the server. Panelworks keeps boards in its cloud database once you sign up. Its demo mode stores them in the browser too and the free plan is one project.

Panelworks has a floor plan where you place sockets, lights and switches and give each one a circuit. FusePlan’s room planner works with heights and zones. You draw floors and rooms or trace them over a photo or scan of your floor plan and place sockets, switches, light, network and TV outlets. The DIN 18015-3 installation zones run along every wall and a wall view sets each outlet’s height. The PDF for the electrician lists every outlet with its height and circuit. The circuits go straight to the board planner and the shopping list works out board parts, switch range, flush boxes and cable in metres. The Panelworks site doesn’t mention installation zones or outlet heights.

FusePlan gives hints on what it sees in the plan: the RCD type per circuit, which circuits sit behind which RCD and how much load that adds up to, surge protection, outlets in the bathroom zones, protection ratings outdoors and smoke alarms. Each hint says what it found and where in DIN VDE 0100 or DIN 18015 the topic is covered. The hints don’t replace the electrician who designs, installs and signs off the board.

You type the circuit list once and FusePlan numbers the devices in reading order and prints label strips for the panel door, cut to the real module widths. The board PDF also contains a test report template for the electrician. If you don’t want to start from an empty rail, there are ready-made boards from 2x12 TE upwards.

Which one fits

If you build boards for customers every week, use brands beyond Hager, ABB, Schneider and Siemens and need XLSX exports or colleagues on the same project, Panelworks fits better and the €19 a month pays for exactly those features. If you’re planning your own house, want rooms and board in one place and hand the result to an electrician, FusePlan does that for free. Both run in the browser without installing anything: FusePlan’s board planner and room planner open straight away and Panelworks has a demo without sign-up.