Compare
A free Stitch Fiddle alternative with written instructions.
Stitch Fiddle’s free plan is its chart editor — uploading a picture, converting a chart into written instructions, and downloading in any format (PDF, SVG, Word, Excel) all require Premium, which costs €4.50 per month or €27.00 per year as of July 2026. StitchingLab does those things free in the browser with no account: upload a photo, get a chart up to 150 stitches wide, free written row-by-row instructions (single crochet and corner-to-corner), a free row tracker, and printable numbered charts.
The table below compares only what we could verify on Stitch Fiddle’s own pricing and help pages. Where a plan’s behavior isn’t documented, we mark it “—” rather than guess.
StitchingLab vs. Stitch Fiddle, feature by feature
| Feature | StitchingLab | Stitch Fiddle free | Stitch Fiddle Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Image upload → chart | Free, up to 150 stitches wide, aspect preserved | Not included | Included (grid up to 1,000 × 1,000) |
| Written row-by-row instructions | Free (single crochet + C2C) | Not included | Included (knitting & crochet; not cross stitch) |
| Chart editor | Free, incl. from-scratch designer | 15 charts, 50 colors, 300 × 300 grid | Unlimited charts, 250 colors, 1,000 × 1,000 grid |
| Row / progress tracker | Free, with shareable progress links | — | Row counter / stitch highlighter |
| PDF / print | Free printable numbered charts | Not included | PDF, SVG, Word, Excel; no Stitch Fiddle branding |
| Yarn matching + materials list | Real yarn colorways, per-color yardage, bobbin counts | — | — |
| Price | Free | Free | €4.50/month or €27.00/year ($5.50 / $33.00 in the US) |
| Account required | No | Yes — charts are saved to your account | Yes |
“—” means Stitch Fiddle’s public pages don’t state it clearly for that plan, or the feature isn’t offered. Stitch Fiddle prices are localized by region.
When Stitch Fiddle is the better choice
Stitch Fiddle is a mature editor with a genuinely larger feature set. If you design large or complex charts by hand, Premium buys you a 1,000 × 1,000 grid (StitchingLab charts top out at 150 stitches wide), up to 250 colors per chart, mirroring and fill tools, automatic error checking for knitting charts, and organization features like folders and chart search.
It also supports chart types StitchingLab doesn’t — symbol-based cross-stitch charts with half and quarter backstitches, and knitting-specific chart conventions — and it has an established user base with collaboration features for working on a chart with other people. If those matter more to you than free photo conversion and written instructions, Premium is fairly priced for what it does.
Is Stitch Fiddle free?
What is a free alternative to Stitch Fiddle?
Does Stitch Fiddle charge for written instructions?
Do I need an account to use StitchingLab?
Stitch Fiddle plan details and prices checked July 2026 on stitchfiddle.com’s pricing and help pages. If something here is out of date, the current source of truth is Stitch Fiddle’s own pricing page.
Try it
Turn a photo into a chart, written instructions, and a tracked project — free, in the browser, no account.