StruCalc alternative
StructSuite vs StruCalc
StructSuite is free structural design software for US engineers: wood and steel members, joists and rafters, shear walls, footings, retaining walls and ASCE 7-22 loads, in the browser, with no account. Here it is next to StruCalc, row by row.
Verified 7 November 2026. Every StruCalc row comes from StruCalc's own published pages, and every StructSuite row from the StructSuite code. Written and checked by StructSuite's licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.).
The short answer
StructSuite is the free, browser-based choice: every design module runs in full with no account and nothing to install, on Windows, Mac or a tablet. It models shear walls on the building plan with collector forces, names the smallest adequate joist, rafter or header from the 2024 IBC and TJI tables, checks Simpson hangers, hold-downs, SABR anchors, clips and post caps, builds dead and live loads from ASCE 7-22, and designs steel to AISC 360-22. Pro is $100/month or $50 for a week. StruCalc is a Windows program (per its help center) at $99.97/month after a 30-day trial, with no free plan; it adds ASD and LRFD, concrete beams and columns, masonry walls, snow loads and load linking between members.
At a glance
Free use
- StructSuite
- Every design module, no account
- StruCalc
- 30-day free trial; no free plan
Price
- StructSuite
- Free · Pro $100/mo · $50 week
- StruCalc
- $99.97/mo or $1,079.67/yr (CORE)
Runs on
- StructSuite
- Any web browser (Windows, Mac, tablet)
- StruCalc
- Windows app (per its help center)
Steel edition
- StructSuite
- AISC 360-22
- StruCalc
- AISC 360-16
Why engineers choose StructSuite
Free in full, no account
Every design module runs in the browser with the complete calculation on screen. No trial, no sign-up.
Shear walls on the plan
Model every wall line on the building plan at once. Forces distribute automatically and collector forces are drawn along each line.
Simpson Strong-Tie built in
Hangers, hold-downs, SABR anchor bolts, framing clips and post caps, checked against the loads the module computed and drawn as connection details.
Framing sized fast
Floor joists, ceiling joists, rafters and headers from the 2024 IBC and TJI tables, every candidate charted against the span (or the load, for TJ-9000 headers).
Loads from ASCE 7-22
Dead loads from Table C3.1-1a, live loads from Table 4.3-1, wind (Ch. 27, 28, 30) and seismic, in the same project.
The code text, quoted
A book icon beside a governing input opens the provision word for word: 2024 IBC, ASCE 7-22, NDS 2024, SDPWS 2021, ACI 318-25, AISC 360-22.
The whole package, one project
Cover sheet with your logo, stamp and signature, loads, every member, footings and walls, a table of contents and page numbers, printed as one PDF with a plan-check link. Revise a module and the contents and page numbers follow.
Guided, step by step
Every module walks through numbered steps: geometry sketches draw as you type, a step summary stays red until its inputs are filled, and every check is written out. A filled-in sample project, videos and worked examples show the way.
Built for the job site and the plan-check counter
On a phone or tablet
Size a joist, rafter or header at the job site: the modules lay out for small screens in any mobile browser, with nothing to install.
On a locked-down office computer
No installation and no administrator rights, so it runs on city and agency computers where installing software is not allowed.
Code text for the correction list
The governing provision is quoted word for word beside the input it governs, so a plan checker can check the value and copy the section into a correction comment.
Code and catalog in one place
The code sections and the Simpson Strong-Tie catalog data sit inside the module that uses them, so you are not jumping between code books and catalogs.
StructSuite vs StruCalc, feature by feature
How to read it. A check mark means the product does it, with the note saying how. For StruCalc, “Not stated” means its published material does not claim the feature, which is not proof it is missing. For StructSuite, “No” means it doesn't do it today.
What it designs
| Feature | StructSuite | StruCalc |
|---|---|---|
| Wood shear walls | YesEvery wall line modeled on the building plan at once; force distributed automatically; hold-downs, anchor bolts, end posts, two-sided sheathing (SDPWS 2021) | Single wall segment calculator with hold-down forces; links to roof beams, stud walls and footings |
| Collector (drag strut) forcesForce along a wall line between its shear walls | YesDrawn along each wall line, with the diaphragm and wall unit shears, per ASCE 7-22 | Not stated |
| Framing clips for base shear transferSimpson A35, LTP4, LTP5 | YesRequired clip spacing worked out from the wall line’s shear, capacity tabled from 8 to 48 in, and the clips drawn in the connection detail | Not stated |
| Joists, rafters and headers sized from span tablesFloor joists, ceiling joists, rafters, headers | YesSmallest adequate size named as soon as the table inputs are in, every candidate charted against the span (or the load, for TJ-9000 headers): sawn lumber from the 2024 IBC tables, TJI joists and TJ-9000 headers from the Trus Joist tables | Sized by calculation; no IBC/IRC span-table lookup stated |
| Connectors | YesSimpson Strong-Tie hangers, hold-downs, SABR anchor bolts, framing clips and post caps, picked from the catalog and checked against the computed loads | Simpson connectors (2019–2020 catalog per its help center) filtered to those that carry the beam loads; “automated connector selection” on its site; hold-downs as a force calculation |
| Wood beams and joists | YesSawn, glulam, LVL, LSL, PSL, I-joists (TJI, BCI, LPI); multi-span and cantilever | YesSawn, glulam (incl. curved), LVL, I-joists; ASD and LRFD (NDS 2024 / 2018) |
| Wood columns and posts | YesSawn, glulam, round timber; NDS Table G1 effective length, §3.9.2 combined loading | YesNDS 2024 posts, axial and bending |
| Steel beams and columns | YesLRFD (AISC 360-22); W, HSS and pipe shapes | YesAISC 360-16, ASD and LRFD |
| Spread and strip footings | YesBearing, overturning, sliding, uplift, punching and one-way shear, flexure, dowels; ACI 318-25 or 318-19 | YesSquare, rectangular and round footings |
| Cantilever retaining walls | YesConcrete or CMU stem; Mononobe-Okabe or Seed-Whitman seismic pressure; groundwater, surcharges | YesCantilever and gravity walls |
| Restrained (basement) retaining walls | At-rest pressure option; no top-support model | Not stated |
| Masonry walls | CMU retaining-wall stem only (TMS 402-22) | YesCMU walls, TMS 402/602-16 |
| Combined and pier footings | No | Embedded posts (rotation, pull-out, bearing); combined and pier footings not stated |
| Steel connections, base plates, joists | No | Not stated |
| Cold-formed steel | No | Not stated |
| Concrete beams, columns and slabs | No | YesBeams and columns, ACI 318-19 |
| Frame, truss or 3D analysis | No | Not stated |
The loads it builds for you
| Feature | StructSuite | StruCalc |
|---|---|---|
| Dead loads from material weightsASCE 7-22 Table C3.1-1a | YesAssembly builder with presets | Live and dead loads listed among its features; source table not stated |
| Live loads by occupancyASCE 7-22 Table 4.3-1 | Yes | Listed among its features; occupancy table not stated |
| Wind, main wind-force resisting system | YesASCE 7-22 Ch. 27 directional and Ch. 28 envelope | YesBuilt-in wind calculator (ASCE 7-22); procedure not stated |
| Wind, components and cladding | YesASCE 7-22 Ch. 30 | Not stated |
| Seismic | YesASCE 7-22 equivalent lateral force: base shear, story, overturning and diaphragm forces | YesBuilt-in seismic calculator (ASCE 7-22); procedure not stated |
| Live-load pattern arrangementsWorst-case arrangements of live load on multi-span beams | Opt-in box per ASCE 7-22 §4.3.3; wood and steel beams, including overhangs; each arrangement drawn with a note on why it can govern | Not stated |
| Site values from a project address | Seismic values (USGS); wind speed you enter | Built-in ASCE hazard loads with a map interface, applied automatically |
| Snow | Not generated; you enter the snow load | YesBuilt-in snow calculator |
| Tornado | No | Not stated |
Codes and design methods
| Feature | StructSuite | StruCalc |
|---|---|---|
| US code editions | NDS 2024 · SDPWS 2021 · AISC 360-22 · ACI 318-25 or ACI 318-19 · TMS 402-22 · ASCE 7-22 · 2024 IBC | IBC 2024 / 2021 / 2018 · NDS 2024 / 2018 · ASCE 7-22 · ACI 318-19 · TMS 402-16 · AISC 360-16 |
| Design method | Wood ASD · steel LRFD | ASD and LRFD |
| Other countries | US codes only | US codes; metric units and Spanish per its blog (CORE lists imperial units) |
Reports and review
| Feature | StructSuite | StruCalc |
|---|---|---|
| Code references | Clause cited, and the provision quoted word for word beside the governing input | Reports described as code-referenced |
| Working shown | Every check written out on screen with the numbers substituted | Not stated |
| Drawn connection details | YesSill anchor bolts and framing clips, Simpson hangers and post caps, drawn with the catalog’s key dimensions | Not stated |
| Link for the plan checkerReviewer opens the live calculation, no account | YesPro; the printed report links to a read-only page that flags any change made after printing | Not stated |
| PDF calculation report | YesPro; one US Letter package from one project: cover sheet with your logo, engineer of record, stamp and signature, then a table of contents, every module and page numbers that update as modules are added, removed or reordered | YesExportable, code-referenced documentation for plan review |
Workflow
| Feature | StructSuite | StruCalc |
|---|---|---|
| Autosize | Span tables name the smallest adequate size; beams and columns are sized by hand | YesSizes beams, footings and more |
| Load linking between membersA beam reaction feeds the column or footing | No | YesMulti-level load linking with 3D visuals, roof to footing |
| Member schedule | No | Not stated |
| Team workspace | No | YesConcurrent licenses with sub-users |
| API and AI | No | AI planned for its FUSION plan (coming soon) |
| Custom calculators | No | Custom templates (stated on its engineers page) |
Price and access
| Feature | StructSuite | StruCalc |
|---|---|---|
| Using it for free | Every design module runs in full with no account and no time limit. A free account saves one project. | 30-day free trial (its EULA limits it to some monthly subscriptions); no free plan |
| Platform | Any web browser, including phones and tablets; nothing to install and no administrator rights needed | Windows app per its help center (Windows 10 64-bit recommended; no Mac or Linux app); CORE pages don’t state a platform |
| Paid plans (US$) | Pro $100/mo ($1,000/yr) · $50 one-week pass | CORE $99.97/mo or $1,079.67/yr |
| What paying adds | Printing the PDF report, unlimited cloud projects and the plan-check link. Every calculation is already free. | Any use: CORE covers every module that is live today |
| Refund | No refunds; cancel any time and Pro runs to the end of the period paid for | Subscriptions non-refundable once payment is processed (EULA) |
Where StructSuite leads
- Free in full: every design module runs without an account or a time limit, and the complete calculation shows on screen. Paying is only needed to print, save more than one project or share a plan-check link.
- Runs in any web browser on any computer, with nothing to install or license per machine.
- Shear walls modeled on the building plan all at once: wall lines drawn on the plan, the force distributed automatically, collector (drag strut) forces drawn along each line, then hold-downs, anchor bolts and end posts.
- Fast framing: for floor joists, ceiling joists, rafters and headers the smallest adequate size is named as soon as the table inputs are in, sawn lumber from the 2024 IBC tables or TJI from the Trus Joist tables, with every candidate charted against the span (or the load, for TJ-9000 headers).
- Simpson Strong-Tie beyond hangers and hold-downs: SABR anchor bolts, framing clips for base shear transfer and post caps are checked against the computed loads, and hangers, post caps, clips and sill anchorage are drawn as details.
- Dead and live loads built from the ASCE 7-22 tables (Table C3.1-1a material weights, Table 4.3-1 occupancies), so the gravity loads start from a cited table.
- The newest US editions throughout (NDS 2024, AISC 360-22, ASCE 7-22, 2024 IBC), with ACI 318-25 as well as 318-19 for footings and retaining walls.
- US code text at the point of use: a book icon beside a governing input opens the provision word for word, from 2024 IBC, ASCE 7-22, NDS 2024, SDPWS 2021, ACI 318-25 and AISC 360-22.
- A plan-check link printed in the report: the reviewer opens the calculation read-only, and the page flags any change made after printing.
- Live-load arrangements per ASCE 7-22 §4.3.3 on wood and steel beams, each drawn with its load placement and a note on why it can govern.
- Pay only when you print: Pro is $100/month or $1,000/year, or $50 for a one-week pass, against StruCalc CORE at $99.97/month or $1,079.67/year for any use.
Where StruCalc fits
- ASD and LRFD, concrete beams and columns, CMU walls, and embedded posts.
- Load linking from roof to footing with 3D visuals, and autosize.
- Snow loads, and residential extras such as hip and valley beams, flitch beams, decks and curved glulam.
Which to choose
Choose StructSuite if…
- Most of your work is US residential and light commercial: wood beams, posts, joists, rafters, headers and shear walls, steel beams and columns, spread and strip footings, and concrete or CMU retaining walls.
- You want the whole calculation package from one project: a cover sheet with your logo, stamp and signature, the loads, every member, footings and walls, a table of contents and page numbers, printed as one PDF and renumbered for you when you revise.
- You want the tool free to use, or you need it for a week rather than a year.
- You want dead, live, wind and seismic loads built from ASCE 7-22 in the same place you size the members.
- You or your reviewer want to read the code text and every substituted step, not just the result.
- You want a tool a new engineer can pick up quickly: guided numbered steps, a filled-in sample project, step-by-step videos and worked-example guides.
- You size joists, rafters and headers at the job site, on a phone or tablet instead of a desktop computer.
- You review other engineers’ calculations: StructSuite is free, runs in the browser with nothing to install (so it works on locked-down city and agency computers) and needs no account, so a plan checker can rerun a beam, post, footing, shear wall or wind load from another program’s calc package, within StructSuite’s scope (US codes, wood ASD, steel LRFD), and copy the quoted code section into a correction comment.
Choose StruCalc if…
- You need ASD steel, LRFD wood, concrete beams and columns or CMU walls in the same tool.
- You want member-to-member load linking with a 3D view, on a Windows desktop.
- You need snow loads generated for you.
Already on StruCalc? A free StructSuite run is a quick second check on a member you've designed there, with every step written out.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to StruCalc?
Yes. StructSuite runs every design module free in the web browser with no account and no time limit: wood and steel beams and columns, joists, rafters and headers, wood shear walls, footings, retaining walls, and dead, live, wind and seismic loads to ASCE 7-22. StruCalc offers a 30-day free trial and no free plan; its CORE plan is $99.97/month or $1,079.67/year.
Does StruCalc run on a Mac or in a browser?
StruCalc’s help center describes a Windows application (Windows 10 64-bit recommended) and says there are no native apps for Apple or Linux; its current CORE pages don’t state a platform. StructSuite runs in any modern web browser, so it works on Windows, Mac, Linux and tablets with nothing to install.
Which is cheaper, StructSuite or StruCalc?
StructSuite. Every calculation is free; Pro ($100/month, $1,000/year, or $50 for one week) is only needed to print the report, keep unlimited cloud projects or share the plan-check link. StruCalc CORE is $99.97/month or $1,079.67/year for any use, and its EULA says subscriptions are non-refundable once paid.
Which one is better for wood shear walls?
StructSuite models every wall line on the building plan at once: the lateral force is distributed to the lines automatically, collector (drag strut) forces are drawn along each line, and each wall is checked to SDPWS 2021 with hold-downs, anchor bolts and end posts, with Simpson products checked against the loads. StruCalc describes a shear wall calculator for a single wall segment, with hold-down forces, that can be linked to roof beams, stud walls and footings.
Which code editions do they use?
StructSuite uses NDS 2024, SDPWS 2021, AISC 360-22, ACI 318-25 (or ACI 318-19), TMS 402-22, ASCE 7-22 and the 2024 IBC. StruCalc’s site lists IBC 2024, 2021 and 2018, NDS 2024 and 2018, ASCE 7-22, ACI 318-19, TMS 402/602-16 and AISC 360-16.
Does StructSuite do load linking or autosize like StruCalc?
Not between members: StructSuite designs each member in its own module, and its span tables name the smallest adequate joist, rafter or header while beams and columns are sized by hand. StruCalc offers load linking from roof to footing and sizes beams and footings automatically.
How fast can StructSuite size floor joists, rafters and headers?
As soon as the table inputs are in: pick the member, live and dead load, spacing, and species and grade, and StructSuite names the smallest adequate size from the 2024 IBC span tables for sawn lumber, or the Trus Joist tables for TJI joists and TJ-9000 headers, with every candidate charted against your span (or against the load, for TJ-9000 headers).
Can a plan checker use StructSuite to check calculations made in other software?
Yes. StructSuite is free to use in full, runs in any web browser and needs no account, so a plan-check engineer can rerun a member from a calc package produced in another program and compare the results, within StructSuite’s scope (US codes, wood ASD, steel LRFD), with every check written out and the governing code text quoted beside the inputs.
Does StructSuite work on a phone or tablet?
Yes. StructSuite runs in the phone or tablet browser with nothing to install, and its modules lay out for small screens, so an engineer or contractor can size a joist, rafter or header at the job site without a desktop computer.
Can plan checkers use StructSuite on city or agency computers?
Yes. It runs in the web browser with no installation and no administrator rights, which suits locked-down government computers, and a plan checker needs no account to calculate. Each governing provision is quoted word for word beside its input, so a reviewer can check a value against the code and copy the section text into a correction comment.
Does StructSuite include Simpson Strong-Tie connectors?
Yes. Simpson Strong-Tie products are built into the modules: joist and beam hangers, shear wall hold-downs and SABR anchor bolts, framing clips for base shear transfer, and post caps. You pick the product from the catalog list and StructSuite checks it against the loads the module computed; hangers, post caps, clips and sill anchorage are also drawn as details with the catalog’s key dimensions.
Does StructSuite produce a complete calculation package?
Yes. One StructSuite project holds every module of a typical residential or light-commercial job: the cover sheet (firm logo, engineer of record, professional stamp and signature), dead and live, wind and seismic loads, beams, joists, rafters and headers, columns, shear walls, footings and retaining walls. Printing (Pro) assembles them into one US Letter PDF with a table of contents and page numbers, and the contents and page numbers follow when a module is added, removed or reordered. The report links to a read-only verification page for the plan checker.
Is StructSuite free?
Yes, to use: every design module runs in full in the browser with no account and no time limit, and a free account saves one project. Pro ($100/month, $1,000/year, or $50 for one week) adds printing the PDF report, unlimited cloud projects and the plan-check link.
Try StructSuite on your next project
Every design module runs free in the browser, with no account.
How we checked
Every StruCalc row was read from StruCalc's own public website and documentation on 7 November 2026, listed below. Nothing comes from inside a trial account, from third-party reviews or from memory. Every StructSuite row was read from the StructSuite code on the same day. Prices are in US dollars, as each vendor publishes them.
Software changes. If a row about StruCalc is wrong or out of date, tell us and we'll correct it and update the date at the top.
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The software directory lines up the main tools on what they design, the loads they build and what they cost. All comparisons.