Chroma alternative
Everything Chroma keeps for Luxe, in one licence.
Chroma sells three plans, and design analysis, appliqué, the magic wand and splitting a design across hoops come only with Luxe, US$2,499 for the first year. Qepe sells one licence with all of them, for €149 a year.
Not released yet. From the first release: 7 days free, then €149 a year with every tool, beside what the others sell today.
Side by side
| Qepe | Chroma Luxe | |
|---|---|---|
| Price, first year | €149, or €99 for the first 100 shops | US$2,499 |
| Each year after | €149 | US$492 |
| Plans | One, with everything | Three: Inspire, Plus, Luxe |
| On a Mac | Native, on Apple silicon | Native |
| On Windows | Windows 10 and 11 | Included |
| Free trial | 7 days, export included | 14 days |
| AI credits | 1,000 every year | Not in this plan |
| Qepe€149 a year | Chroma InspireUS$799 first year | Chroma PlusUS$1,799 first year | Chroma LuxeUS$2,499 first year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto digitizing | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Realistic stitch view | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Design analysis | Quality, with Fix all | Not in this plan | Not in this plan | Included |
| Appliqué | Included | Not in this plan | Not in this plan | Included |
| Magic wand | Included | Not in this plan | Not in this plan | Included |
| A design split across hoops | Included | Not in this plan | Not in this plan | Included |
| Cross stitch | Included | Not in this plan | Not in this plan | Included |
| More fill types | Contour, circular, meander, guided, gradient, tartan | Not in this plan | Not in this plan | 10 complex fills |
| Embroidery fonts | 128, and any installed font | 150 | 200 | 250 |
Read on 21 October 2026; prices without tax, and they can change. AI credits: none of the three pages lists them. Names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used only to compare; Qepe is not affiliated with them. The full comparison, with its sources
Why shops choose Qepe
One plan, no upgrades
Every tool from the first day, and every update in the year.
Quality, not only a preview
Qepe lays the stitches over the original artwork and scores what a customer would see: bare fabric, lost details, closed openings.
Mac and Windows
Like Chroma, Qepe runs natively on both.
Files read back
Every machine file is read back and compared with the screen before it is saved.
Questions
- What does each cost?
- Qepe is €149 a year with every tool. Chroma is US$799, US$1,799 or US$2,499 for the first year, then US$16, US$33 or US$41 a month, billed yearly.
- Does Qepe have as many fonts?
- Qepe has 128 Qepe Fonts, digitized by hand for embroidery, and it can embroider any font installed on your computer. Chroma has 150 to 250, by plan.
- Does it work with Ricoma machines?
- Yes. Qepe writes DST, the format Ricoma machines read, and reads every file back before it is saved.
Your next logo, ready to embroider.
Turn the next logo your customer sends into a checked, machine-ready file, on your Mac or PC.
Not released yet. From the first release: 7 days free, then €149 a year