The short answer
People look at alternatives for three reasons: digitizing is a separate purchase, and the total grows with each module; Embrilliance's pages don't say whether it is built for Apple silicon; or they only need to view and convert designs and want to pay less.
What Embrilliance does: Separate modules: Essentials edits, merges, resizes, recolors and letters designs (21 fonts included); StitchArtist Levels 1 to 3 add digitizing; further add-ons such as AlphaTricks, Density Repair Kit and Thumbnailer.
Price: One-time purchases, bought separately and added together: Essentials $159 list ($139 in a sale running when checked); StitchArtist Levels $169 to $649 at that sale's prices; 90-day refund.
Sources, read September 24, 2026: Mac and Windows statement, Store and prices, Essentials features and formats, Downloads and macOS versions.
Your options on a Mac
| Option | On a Mac | Digitizing | How it is sold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satinsmith (ours) | Native Apple silicon app (M1 or newer), macOS 14 or later | Yes, from Digitizer | Free tier with five exports a month |
| StitchBuddy | Native Mac app from the Mac App Store, macOS 12 or later | No | Free download (saves designs of up to 1,000 stitches) |
| Ink/Stitch | Extension for Inkscape (1.0.2 or later) on macOS 12 or later, with Apple silicon and Intel downloads | Yes, inside Inkscape | Free and open source (GPL-3.0) |
The full comparison has what each one is good at, its limits and its sources.
Bringing your files
Embrilliance saves its working designs as .BE files, which Satinsmith doesn't open. Machine files you made in Embrilliance or bought as PES, DST, JEF, VP3 and other formats open free in Satinsmith.
Try them with a copy of the same folder of designs, so you compare them on your own files.
Which fits?
- You want native editing and lettering and are happy to buy modules as you go: Embrilliance.
- You mainly view, convert and combine designs at low cost: StitchBuddy, or Satinsmith's free tier.
- You want free digitizing and are comfortable in a vector editor: Ink/Stitch.
- You want one native Apple silicon app from your design folder to digitizing, with one-time prices: Satinsmith.
Try Satinsmith with your own files
Opening, previewing and checking designs is free, with five exports a month. Download Satinsmith for an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later, or start with the free library lesson and its practice files.
Satinsmith is not affiliated with any company named here. Product names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify their products.