Zorowire vs Excel spreadsheets
Almost every harness shop runs on spreadsheets: a from-to list, a cut list, a BOM, a quote sheet. They are flexible and free to change, but each one is typed separately, so a customer change has to be made in every sheet. Zorowire reads your Excel list and builds the board, the cut list, the BOM and the quote from it, so they cannot drift apart.
— · checkedIn short
For a one-off harness, a good spreadsheet is enough. Once harnesses repeat, change and need a board, a cut list and a quote that agree, keep Excel for import and export and let Zorowire hold the harness.
What you get with Zorowire
- One entry for every document: a change to a wire updates the cut list, the BOM, the board and the quote.
- Cut lengths computed from branch lengths and your allowances, not typed.
- A 1:1 formboard drawn for you.
- Zoro checks before anything is built: empty cavities, wrong gauge for the terminal, missing seals and part numbers.
- A revision diff instead of comparing two sheets by eye.
Where Excel is strong
- Everyone has it and knows it.
- Completely flexible: any column, any format.
- Fast for one-offs: one builder bills a complete harness in about 30 minutes with his own sheet.
- No lock-in.
Plan by plan
| Excel spreadsheets | Zorowire | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feature | Your own sheets | Free | Starter | Shop | Pro |
| Price, as listed | Your Excel licencesource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | €0 | €24 a month or €190 a year | €79 a month or €790 a year | €149 a month or €1,490 a year |
| Users | Anyone with the filesource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | 1 | 1 | 5, plus unlimited read-only viewers | 15, plus unlimited read-only viewers |
| Limits | Nonesource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Unlimited harnesses × 150 connections; 3 quotes a month | 1,000 connections per harness; unlimited quotes | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Platform | Windows, macOS, browsersource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Browser on macOS, Windows and Linux; nothing to install | Browser on macOS, Windows and Linux; nothing to install | Browser on macOS, Windows and Linux; nothing to install | Browser on macOS, Windows and Linux; nothing to install |
| 1:1 formboard | No; connectors drawn by hand or in Visiosource: hpacademy.com · checked | Automatic 1:1 layout; tiled A4/A3/Letter/Tabloid with overlap, registration marks and a 100 mm check ruler, or one piece; peg coordinates | Automatic 1:1 layout; tiled A4/A3/Letter/Tabloid with overlap, registration marks and a 100 mm check ruler, or one piece; peg coordinates | Automatic 1:1 layout; tiled A4/A3/Letter/Tabloid with overlap, registration marks and a 100 mm check ruler, or one piece; peg coordinates | Automatic 1:1 layout; tiled A4/A3/Letter/Tabloid with overlap, registration marks and a 100 mm check ruler, or one piece; peg coordinates |
| Cut list and cut lengths | Typed by hand; lengths worked out by handsource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Your allowances per connector and splice end, loops, slack, rounding; strip length, terminal and seal per end | Your allowances per connector and splice end, loops, slack, rounding; strip length, terminal and seal per end | Your allowances per connector and splice end, loops, slack, rounding; strip length, terminal and seal per end | Your allowances per connector and splice end, loops, slack, rounding; strip length, terminal and seal per end |
| Labels | Typed again into the label printer's softwaresource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Wire-end, connector and bundle labels: PDF sheets and CSV for label software | Wire-end, connector and bundle labels: PDF sheets and CSV for label software | Wire-end, connector and bundle labels: PDF sheets and CSV for label software | Wire-end, connector and bundle labels: PDF sheets and CSV for label software |
| BOM | By hand; one builder calls the material tick-sheet “a real PITA”source: hpacademy.com · checked | BOM CSV, wire and covering in metres | BOM CSV, wire and covering in metres | BOM CSV, wire and covering in metres | BOM CSV, wire and covering in metres |
| Quote and costing | Home-made sheets; no harness quoting template for sale foundsource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Labour from operations, setup, quantity breaks, margin, customer PDF: 3 a month | Same, unlimited; your labour table and price list | Same, for 5 users; quote PDF with your logo | Same, plus NRE lines and several price lists |
| Missing information before quoting | Nosource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Missing part numbers and prices flagged | Flagged; basic RFQ checklist | Full RFQ checklist: missing customer information, unidentified parts, supplier price requests | Full RFQ checklist |
| Revisions | By hand: every sheet updated after each changesource: hpacademy.com · checked | Last 2 revisions | Full history; diff of inputs, cut list, BOM and operations | Full history with diff | Full history with diff |
| Imports | —source: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Excel and CSV with column mapping | Excel, CSV and WireViz YAML | Excel, CSV and WireViz YAML | Excel, CSV and WireViz YAML |
| Cutting-machine export | CSV saved by handsource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Generic metric cut-list CSV | Generic metric cut-list CSV | Generic metric cut-list CSV | Saved machine column profiles (planned)planned |
| Languages | Excel's ownsource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | 32 interface languages; native text in English, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian | 32 interface languages; native text in English, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian | 32 interface languages; native text in English, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian | 32 interface languages; native text in English, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian |
| Try before buying, support | —source: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | Free plan, no card; community support | E-mail support | E-mail support | Priority support |
Price difference per year
| Licence | Excel, which most shops already pay forsource: Zorowire test, 2026-10-30 · checked | €0 on Free; €190 a year on Starter | Not stated: the comparison is time and consistency, not the licence |
|---|
We do not compare against the price of Excel, because shops keep using it alongside Zorowire: imports and exports stay in Excel and CSV.
Outgrowing your harness spreadsheets?
Import the list you already have; Zorowire keeps the board, the cut list, the BOM and the quote in sync.
Switching from Excel?
Show us a paid Excel licence or invoice and get your first year of Shop at the founding price, €49 a month instead of €79. We help you import your first harnesses.
How to switch
- Import your from-to sheet as it is (.xlsx or .csv); map the columns once.
- Add the branch lengths in a Segments sheet, or keep the lengths you have as fixed lengths.
- Read the findings and fix the source sheet or the harness.
- Export the cut list and BOM as CSV whenever you need them back in Excel.
Other comparisons
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Competitor facts come from each vendor's public pages and our own tests, checked on the date shown in every cell. Prices are as listed, with currency and VAT status; conversions are marked ≈. Names are used only to identify the products. Tell us at [email protected] if something has changed and we will correct it.