Audio Rack Design Software Compared (2026)

Most rack design tools draw boxes in a 19-inch frame. The difference that matters is how much each one knows about the gear: its height and depth, its connectors, its power draw, and whether it can tell you a cable won’t fit.

The short answer

• Planning a band or IEM rack: a tool that knows live audio gear and its ports, such as IEM Rig.
• Documenting a server or homelab rack for free: Rackula or draw.io.
• Office diagrams with reports: Visio Professional or Lucidchart.
• An AV integration business: XTEN-AV, Vectorworks ConnectCAD or Jetbuilt, which tie drawings to proposals and paperwork.

What a rack tool should know

A rack drawing is only useful if it catches the mistakes you would otherwise find at load-in. Before picking a tool, decide which of these it has to get right for you.

• Height: every 19-inch rack counts in rack units of 1.75 inches. Any tool here handles that.
• Depth: a case can have the spaces and still be too shallow. Few general tools check it.
• Connectors: which jacks are on the back, so you know what the cables are.
• Power: how much the rack draws, so it stays inside one circuit.
• Weight: what it will take to lift.

IEM Rig

IEM Rig is our own planner, so weigh this section with that in mind. It is built for live audio racks: in-ear transmitters, mixers, stage boxes, playback interfaces and power. Every unit in its catalog carries its rack size, depth, weight and power draw, and drawn front and rear panels with their real connectors. You wire jack to jack, and it totals power and weight as you build and warns when the rack goes past a single circuit or a one-person lift.

It is not a general IT tool. If your rack is servers and patch panels, the tools below fit better. You can start free in the browser, and the paid plans add PDF export and share links.

Free diagram tools: Rackula and draw.io

Rackula is a free, open-source rack layout designer under the MIT license. It runs entirely in the browser, you drag devices from a hardware library into a rack, and you export the layout as PNG, PDF or SVG. Its device images come from the NetBox device type library, which leans toward IT and network gear.

draw.io has rack and cabinet shape libraries, including vendor shapes from APC, Cisco, Dell, HP and others that you can search by model number. It draws the rack well. It doesn’t know a unit’s depth, power or connectors unless you type them in yourself.

Office tools: Visio and Lucidchart

Microsoft Visio Professional has a Rack Diagram template with rack-mounted equipment shapes that follow industry-standard sizes. You can store data such as serial numbers on each shape and run shape reports out to Excel. Microsoft lists the template under Visio Professional, not the standard edition.

Lucidchart offers a server rack shape library and rack diagram templates. Its basic network diagram templates are free, while its server rack templates are marked for paid accounts.

AV integration tools: XTEN-AV, ConnectCAD and Jetbuilt

These are built for companies that design and install AV systems for clients, so they tie drawings to product libraries, proposals and documentation.

• XTEN-AV has a free rack diagram maker that lays out the devices you enter in 2D or 3D. The free preview is watermarked, and going past 13 rack units or removing the watermark needs its 15-day trial.
• Vectorworks ConnectCAD is Vectorworks’ AV design software. It maps connections between devices, models equipment racks in 3D, and generates worksheets and reports that update as the design changes.
• Jetbuilt generates system schematics from a project’s bill of materials with its Jetbot Drawings feature, exported as DWG for AutoCAD and Vectorworks. Jetbuilt says rack elevations are still in development.

How to choose

• Will the rack go on a stage? Pick a tool that knows audio gear, its depth and its jacks.
• Is it IT gear in a closet? Rackula or draw.io will do it for free.
• Does someone need a report or a stamped drawing? Visio, ConnectCAD or an integrator platform.
• Is the drawing part of a client proposal? XTEN-AV or Jetbuilt.

Whatever you use, check the deepest unit against the case depth and add up the power before you buy. For the numbers to check, see IEM rack case sizes and rack power planning.

Sources

• Rackula on GitHub: MIT license, browser-only, NetBox device images, PNG, PDF and SVG export
• Rackula mirror listing: free, open-source rack layout designer
• draw.io, Rack diagrams: rack and cabinet libraries, vendor shapes searchable by model
• Microsoft Support, Create a rack diagram: Rack Diagram template, shape data, shape reports, Visio Professional
• Lucidchart, rack diagram tutorial: server rack shape library, free and paid templates
• XTEN-AV free rack diagram tool: watermark, 13 RU limit, 15-day trial
• Vectorworks, ConnectCAD for live events: connections, 3D racks, worksheets and reports
• Jetbuilt, Jetbot Drawings announcement: schematics from the bill of materials, DWG export, rack elevations in development
• RackSolutions, What is EIA-310: 1U is 1.75 in