Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc vs DC Wire Sizer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc
Calculate the appropriate wire size for electrical circuits. This tool helps determine wire size based on voltage drop and current carrying capacity, ensuring compliance with NEC ampacity limits.
- Determine wire size for voltage drop
- Calculate voltage drop for conductor runs
- Limit wire size by voltage drop
- Limit wire size by NEC ampacity
- Supports AWG and KCMIL sizes
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Southwire's voltage drop calculator will help you determine the proper wire size for an electrical circuit based on the voltage drop and current carrying capacity of an electrical circuit. Determines wire size to meet specific voltage drop limits or calculates voltage drop for a specific conductor run. When sizing conductors, calculations limits wire size to voltage drop and NEC ampacity. Southwire's Voltage Drop Calculator is designed for applications using AWG and KCMIL sizes only.
DC Wire Sizer
Calculate appropriate DC wire sizes for electrical projects, preventing equipment damage and fires. Save, edit, and export wire run details for electrical plans and material purchases. Features a wizard for easy sizing for all users.
- Calculates wire size, voltage drop, and ampacity
- Supports custom DC voltages up to 500 amps
- Save, edit, and export wire run details
- Sizer Wizard for easy calculations
- Select marine standards (ABYC or ISO)
- Choose from various wire types and insulation ratings
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Adding accessories (bilge pumps, electronics, solar, etc.) or upgrading batteries (AGM, Li, etc.) this year? The #1 Cause of Boat and RV fires is DC wiring! Undersized wires can damage equipment or cause fires. The top-rated DC Wire Sizer calculates wire size for any DC voltage (ideal for solar in series). Plus lets you SAVE, EDIT, SUM, EMAIL and EXPORT the wire runs and material for your electrical plan, wire purchases, work orders, and records. And the Sizer Wizard option makes wire sizing easy for EVERYONE! Fast and safe wire sizing calculator for your next DC wiring project (battery, charger, inverter, trolling motor, stereo, and more). Designed with and for Marine Electronics Installers, Repair Services, Boat Builders, Surveyors, Do-It-Yourselfers, and Boat Owners. ONLY DC WIRE SIZER OFFERS these FEATURES: - Select any DC voltage and up to 500 amps - Results display wire size, VOLTAGE DROP (VD), and AMPACITY! - More granular “What if” analysis of ampacity & VD based on wire sizes & length - Choose from three methods of entering wire lengths for fast entry including separate positive/negative wire lengths (when different or negative is contact grounded, like a starter) - SAVE Wire Runs with the option to select or enter Wire Run & Project Name, wire type, wire color, status, and material source (Inventory or Buy) - EDIT Wire Runs including wire length, amps/watts, max voltage drop, insulations, inside/outside engine room, bundle, and the fields above. - SUMs active wire run lengths by size, type, and color to make purchasing easier and less expensive when by the reel (25’, 50’, 100’, etc.) - Select from a wire type list (e.g., primary, battery, safety, flat, duplex, triplex, mast, twisted, bilge, trailer, and solar cable) - Select marine standards (ABYC or ISO) - Change Unit of Measurement (Feet or Meters) in existing Wire Runs - Easy to use Sizer Wizard - Email and Export of Wire Runs and Raw Material MORE FEATURES: - Set default Wire Gauge (AWG, SAE, or MM2) - Set default Unit of Measure (feet or meters) - Select or enter Maximum Voltage Drop % - Select Bundle Size (1, 2-3, 4-6, 7-24, and 25+) - Select Insulation rating (60°, 75°, 80°, 90°, 105°, 125°, and 200°C) - Tap Inside/Outside Engine Room - Spin Amp/Watts and Wire Length for fast entry - Built-in Help and Technical Reference includes installation tips, connector types, color codes, tables (Voltage Drop, Ampacity, & Bundle), formulas (Power Triangle, Ohm's Law, etc.), recommended tools/books, and more. HERE’S WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING: "The DC Wire Sizer is the most complete and comprehensive marine DC wire-sizing tool available. Developed for both marine professionals (the Wire Sizer Pro) and the occasional tinkerer (the Wire Sizer Wizard), the app determines the proper wire size, along with the voltage drop and ampacity by using the ABYC E-11 or ISO 10133 formulas and tables.” - OnboardOnline (2013) "Stay organized by adding a wire description to the wire run and assign it to a project name (ie boat name, owner or work order). Mark the wire run as "Complete" or “Cancelled”, re-order wire runs within a project or move them between projects. Tired of adding wire runs in order to figure out what to purchase and how much? DC Wire Sizer sums the active wire runs for you by wire size (e.g. 8 AWG) and type (e.g. Safety Duplex, Battery Cable, and Primary Wire).” - marinabusiness (AU 2013) "If you're doing a lot of wiring on your boat, the app allows you to save the calculations with project names and wire type. The app then can sum the length of the wire runs by wire type and size which can be used as a shopping list for your projects. No other app offers these unique features and that's what makes it a winner.” - i-marineapps (2013) "This is the best wire sizer program I have seen to date. I can size and make a list at the same time also there is a better selection of amps and volts.” - Keith Herridge, Special Projects, Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: DC Wire Sizer at 100% against Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc's 48%. DC Wire Sizer also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and chart position (#169 vs unranked). Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 20 months). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc is free to download; DC Wire Sizer costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DC Wire Sizer holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc has 1.5K ratings behind it against 24, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc's written reviews are positive against 100% of DC Wire Sizer's.
Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc ships an update every 2 months, DC Wire Sizer every 20 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc | DC Wire Sizer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (1.5K ratings) | 5.0 (24 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 48.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | 24 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 20 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #169 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Southwire Company | Dirty Dog Software, LLC |
Customer experience
Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc
DC Wire Sizer
Bugs and requests
Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc
Reported bugs
24 issues- Useless!
- Won't work
- How to use
- Confused
- Bad app
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Bad
- Not applicable for Residential
- Electrician
- Terrible
- Not working
- What??
- Terrible
- Don't work
- Terrible
- Choice Between AWG and Metric wire Gauge
- Updated app not so simple
- The last version was better
- App
- Terrible
- Voltage drop calculator
- IOS 8
- One flaw
- Worst app ever
- Average
Requested features
2 requests- Motor starting Voltage drop calculation
- Metric wire size options
DC Wire Sizer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc
No in-app purchases
DC Wire Sizer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc free?
Is DC Wire Sizer free?
Which has better reviews, Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc or DC Wire Sizer?
Do Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc or DC Wire Sizer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Southwire® Voltage Drop Calc or DC Wire Sizer?
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