A browser-based alternative to Multisim and Proteus for teaching

This page is for teachers and students who know Multisim or Proteus and want a circuit lab for lessons and homework that runs in a web browser.

Multisim and Proteus are circuit design tools with SPICE simulation and a route to PCB layout. DCACLab does less on purpose: it is a virtual circuit lab for learning how circuits behave, with bench-style instruments and classes, and nothing to install.

What Multisim and Proteus do well

Multisim does SPICE simulation and circuit design for analog, digital and power electronics.
Multisim for Education has more than 30 simulated instruments and more than 20 analyses, with an academic volume licence.
Multisim works with Ultiboard for PCB layout.
Proteus covers schematic capture and PCB layout.
Proteus VSM combines mixed-mode SPICE with microcontroller simulation, for more than 750 microprocessor variants.
Proteus has virtual instruments, including a logic analyser, function and pattern generators, voltmeters and ammeters.
Labcenter says Proteus is used in high schools, colleges and universities.

Where DCACLab is different

It runs in a web browser, so there is nothing to install, at school or at home.
It is made for learning how circuits behave: build a circuit, measure it, change a value and measure again.
Bench-style instruments: digital and analog multimeters, an oscilloscope and a wattmeter.
Components: sources, resistors, capacitors, inductors and potentiometers; diodes, LEDs, bipolar transistors and MOSFETs; operational amplifiers, transformers, relays and switches; logic gates and integrated circuits.
A breadboard mode, where students place parts and jumper wires as they would on a real breadboard.
Classes: create a classroom, share its join link, assign a circuit with a due date, then open each submission and enter a mark.
Ready-to-use lab activities, each with steps, a data table, questions and an answer key.
Saving and sharing circuits, with a plan or as part of a class. Without a plan the lab is a limited demo: saving needs an active plan, and a circuit can have at most two components of each type.

Side by side

Where it runs: Multisim: Windows software.; Proteus: Windows desktop software (minimum requirement: Windows 10).; DCACLab: in a web browser.
Simulation: Multisim: SPICE simulation for analog, digital and power electronics.; Proteus: mixed-mode SPICE plus microcontroller simulation.; DCACLab: circuit simulation for teaching; no microcontroller simulation and no SPICE export.
Instruments: Multisim for Education: more than 30 simulated instruments.; Proteus: logic analyser, function and pattern generators, voltmeters, ammeters and more.; DCACLab: digital and analog multimeters, an oscilloscope and a wattmeter.
PCB layout: Multisim: with Ultiboard.; Proteus: schematic capture and PCB layout.; DCACLab: none.
For classes: Multisim for Education: academic volume licence.; Proteus: used in high schools, colleges and universities.; DCACLab: classrooms with a join link, assignments with due dates, and grading.

When to choose Multisim or Proteus instead

You design circuits to be built: you need PCB layout from your schematic.
You need SPICE analyses, or to simulate a microcontroller running your code.
Your course teaches a professional design tool as a skill in its own right.
Your lab computers run Windows and these tools are already part of the course.

How to try DCACLab

For students

Create an account and open the lab in your web browser. Without a plan the lab is a limited demo: saving needs an active plan, and a circuit can have at most two components of each type.

Create an account

Teaching with circuits?

Create a classroom, give your students this lab, and review what they submit. The free classroom demo gives you one classroom with room for 30 students for 7 days, counted from when your first student joins (once per teacher); after that it keeps up to 5 students.

Try the free classroom demo

Frequently asked questions

Is DCACLab a SPICE simulator?

DCACLab is built for learning how circuits behave and for classes. It does not export SPICE netlists or PCB layouts. For SPICE analyses or PCB work, Multisim or Proteus fit that job.

Do students need Windows?

No. DCACLab runs in a web browser, so there is nothing to install.

Can DCACLab simulate a microcontroller?

No. DCACLab covers analog and digital circuits built from components, logic gates and integrated circuits, not microcontroller code.

Is DCACLab free?

Without a plan the lab is a limited demo: saving needs an active plan, and a circuit can have at most two components of each type. Teachers can also try the classroom demo: one classroom with room for 30 students for 7 days, counted from when the first student joins (once per teacher); after that it keeps up to 5 students.

Sources

Facts about other products come from their official websites, checked on 3 November 2026.

Multisim is a trademark of National Instruments (NI), now part of Emerson. Proteus is a product of Labcenter Electronics Ltd. DCACLab is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by National Instruments (NI), Emerson or Labcenter Electronics Ltd.