Start at $5.99, not $1,350
VideoCAD 16 Professional is a $1,350 licence per user, VideoCAD 16 is $675. CCTVplanner starts at $5.99 a month, and the 3D view comes with Studio at $229 a year.
VideoCAD alternative
CCTV design in the browser, from $5.99 a month
CCTVplanner designs the camera system on the real site, computes coverage from each camera's own lens, shows what every camera sees in 3D, and turns the design into a quote your client signs online. No licence to buy up front and nothing to install.
Free plan · No credit card · Runs in the browser
Why designers move from VideoCAD to CCTVplanner
In the browser, on any computer
VideoCAD is a program you download and install. CCTVplanner opens in the browser, so the same project is ready in the office, at home and on a tablet on site.
The real site under the design
Satellite map, terrain and buildings of the actual site, coverage from the lens data of 66,489 camera models, and a 3D walk through each camera's view.
From the drawing to a signed quote
PDF report, DXF, bill of materials and quote from the same design, and a client portal where the client comments and signs online.
CCTVplanner and VideoCAD side by side
| Feature | CCTVplanner | VideoCAD |
|---|---|---|
| Price, one user | $5.99 a month, or $229 a year with 3D (Studio) | $675 (VideoCAD 16) or $1,350 (Professional), one-time |
| Cameras per project | No cap from Installer up | 70 in VideoCAD 16, no cap in Professional |
| How it runs | In the browser, nothing to install | Downloaded and installed |
| Try it | Free plan, no credit card | Demo version |
VideoCAD prices and limits from cctvcad.com, checked October 2026. CCTVplanner prices in US dollars as charged at checkout; see pricing.
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 VideoCAD 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
Questions
How much does CCTVplanner cost compared with VideoCAD?
CCTVplanner Installer is $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year, and Studio, with the 3D view of every camera, is $229 a year. VideoCAD 16 Professional is $1,350 and VideoCAD 16 is $675 per user, as one-time licences.
Do I need to install anything?
No. CCTVplanner runs in the browser on a laptop, a desktop or a tablet, and the project is the same wherever you open it.
Is there a limit on cameras per project?
Not from the Installer plan up. The free plan is for trying the tool on a small site.
Which cameras can I design with?
66,489 camera models from 113 manufacturers, each with its own sensor and lens data, and coverage drawn to EN 62676-4 DORI zones.
Design your next site in CCTVplanner
Start on the free plan today and upgrade when the project needs it.