Hikvision products only
HiTools Designer selects and places Hikvision products. Many sites and tenders also need Axis, Bosch, Hanwha or Dahua cameras, and a single-brand tool cannot draw what is not in its catalog.
Hikvision and every other brand
Hikvision design tool alternative: Hikvision and every other brand on one plan
HiTools Designer is Hikvision's online tool for choosing Hikvision products and placing them on maps and network topologies. CCTVplanner designs with Hikvision too, and puts Dahua, Axis, Bosch, Hanwha and the rest of its 113 manufacturers on the same plan, with EN 62676-4 DORI, cable routes and one bill of materials.
Free tier · No credit card · Browser-based
Where a single-brand tool stops
Two limits of a single-brand design tool
Projects under NDAA Section 889
US federal work and many RFPs exclude Hikvision under NDAA Section 889. A tool built around Hikvision products cannot design the compliant version of the same site, which CCTVplanner does from the same catalog.
What CCTVplanner does instead
Hikvision plus every other brand
Put a Hikvision DS-2CD2T87 next to a Dahua IPC-HFW3849 and an Axis P3265 on the same plan. One canvas, one EN 62676-4 calculation and one set of DORI rings, and the bill of materials lists every brand together.
NDAA Section 889 filter and check
Switch the camera picker to NDAA Section 889 compliant brands only. In a US project the design check flags every camera from a covered brand, and the PDF compliance summary has an NDAA column for each camera.
Floors, cables and PoE in one design
Stack floors, draw cable routes and place switches and recorders. The design check compares the cameras' PoE draw with the switch budgets and flags copper runs over 90 m before the cable is pulled.
DXF in, DXF and PDF out
Import the architect's DXF with its layers, blocks and hatches, or an aerial image, and set the scale with two clicks. Export a DXF for the contractor and a client-ready PDF, white-labelled with your logo on Studio.
Side-by-side: CCTVplanner vs Hikvision HiTools
| CCTVplanner | Hikvision HiTools | |
|---|---|---|
| Camera catalog | 65,000+ models · 113 brands | Hikvision products |
| NDAA Section 889 | Compliant-only filter, design check and PDF column | Hikvision products, which Section 889 covers |
| Site plan | Architect's DXF, satellite map or floor plan image | Maps and network topologies |
| Coverage | EN 62676-4 DORI per camera, Johnson DRI for thermal | Device coverage on maps |
Shipping today
The engineering behind the drawing
Everything below is in the product today, on the free tier, and none of it needs an install. Open it in a browser and check it against Hikvision HiTools on a job you already know.
A full 3D site, in the browser
No install and no workstation. Walk the site from any camera point of view, with DORI silhouettes standing at the Detect, Observe, Recognize and Identify distances so the customer sees what the camera sees. Sun and shadow study for the time of day that matters, and one-click 3D PDF export for the people who will never open a design tool.
Coverage solved in 3D, not drawn on a flat plan
Every cone is computed from the sensor, resolution and focal length at the mounting height (1 to 20 m) and tilt you set, then clipped by buildings, fences and real ground elevation on satellite imagery. On a flat indoor floor a 2D tool agrees with us. On a sloped yard or a sunken loading dock it does not, and that gap is exactly where the blind spots are.
22 site objects that genuinely block the view
Racking, containers, concrete blocks, scaffolding, solar panels, trees, and the machinery a live construction site actually parks in the shot: excavators, cranes, concrete mixers, bulldozers, vans and pickups. Each one carries real dimensions and a vertical range, and the field of view clips against it with the shadow drawn on the plan.
Interiors: stacked floors, walls, rooms
Stack ground floor, mezzanine, plant room and roof as separate levels. Draw walls, close rooms and read the floor area back in square metres. Cabling routes between levels, the topology graph carries across them, and each floor exports as its own DXF sheet and PDF page.
Wi-Fi and radio links designed with the cameras
Predictive coverage for access points using ITU-R P.2040 wall transmission and a P.1238 margin, drawn as a heatmap over the same plan the cameras sit on. Point-to-point links are checked for line of sight against the buildings and terrain, so the wireless leg of the design fails on screen rather than on site.
Cabling engineered, not estimated
51 specified cable types with PoE budget from loop resistance, DC voltage drop, fibre loss budget with splice and connector allowances, coax attenuation per format, speaker line loading and conduit fill. Route length is measured on the drawn route and carries straight into the bill of materials, the cable schedule and the customer offer.
67 automatic design checks
The plan is validated while you draw it: DORI shortfall, blind spots, perimeter gaps, PoE budget and class escalation, cable length and category headroom, conduit bundling, fibre loss, thermal lens and pairing, EMC and environmental class, lightning protection zones, ONVIF profile mixing, NDAA compliance, bandwidth headroom and switch port capacity.
Deliverables a contractor can hand over
CAD-grade DXF (AutoCAD R2018 / AC1021) on named layers with BLOCK, INSERT, SPLINE, ELLIPSE, HATCH and DIMENSION preserved, inside an ISO 5457 sheet frame with an ISO 7200 title block. Multi-page PDF with bill of materials, cable schedule, equipment list, elevation views, coverage analysis, acceptance test protocol, maintenance schedule and the GDPR Article 35 DPIA worksheet.
66,489
camera models
113
manufacturers
33
interface languages
5,600+
automated tests
100% EU
hosted and operated
Frequently asked questions
Can I still design Hikvision-only systems on CCTVplanner?
Yes. The catalog lists 3270 Hikvision models, including ColorVu, AcuSense, DeepinView and TandemVu cameras, with sensor, lens, IR and IP rating data from Hikvision datasheets. A Hikvision-only project works the same way, and other brands can join it at any point.
Does CCTVplanner integrate with Hikvision iVMS or HikCentral?
CCTVplanner is where the system is designed, and iVMS or HikCentral run it once it is installed. The design exports as PDF and DXF and the camera list as CSV, ready for the quote and for the commissioning team.
How does CCTVplanner handle NDAA compliance?
Section 889 names Hikvision, so its cameras and those sold under its other brands, such as HiLook, HiWatch and EZVIZ, are excluded from US federal projects. The camera picker can show compliant brands only, the design check of a US project flags every covered camera, and the PDF compliance summary has an NDAA column. The NDAA page lists the covered brands.
Why use CCTVplanner next to HiTools Designer?
HiTools Designer is built around Hikvision products. When a site mixes brands, a tender needs NDAA-compliant cameras or the architect sends a DXF, CCTVplanner keeps it all on one plan. It is free for small projects (2 projects, 6 cameras) and unlocks unlimited projects and cameras at €5 a month or €50 a year.
Continue reading
NDAA Section 889 reference →
Which camera brands Section 889 covers, brand by brand.
CCTVplanner vs Hikvision HiTools Designer →
How design (CCTVplanner) and operate (iVMS) split cleanly.
Hikvision vs Dahua →
Honest comparison of the two market leaders.
DORI Calculator →
Detect / Observe / Recognize / Identify per EN 62676-4.
Design with Hikvision and every other brand
Every brand on one plan, with DORI, DXF and an NDAA filter. Free tier covers 2 projects and 6 cameras. No credit card.