| Hatch Embroidery 4 | Broderly | |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Wilcom, Australia | Broderly, France |
| Price | Organizer $199 · Personalizer $299 · Composer $699 · Digitizer $1,199; or $99/month until paid in full | €0 Discovery · €9.99/month · €19.99/month · €29.99/month |
| Installation | Windows 11 only, installation and activation | None: browser, Windows, Mac, Linux, iPad |
| Language | English, French and others | French, English, Spanish, Italian, German |
| Formats written | Every common format, including PES, DST, JEF, VP3, EXP, XXX | DST, PES, EXP, JEF, VP3, HUS |
| Auto-digitizing | Yes, very mature, colour PhotoStitch in Digitizer | Yes, with a detail slider and shape preview; photos with density gradient |
| Manual digitizing | Yes, complete (Digitizer level) | Yes: nodes, Bézier, booleans, stitch styles, two-rail satin |
| Shop production | Multi-hooping, no multi-head management or quoting | Multi-head, needles, stops, run sheet, machine sheet, quote, series |
| Patches | Advanced appliqué (version 4) | Placement, tack-down, background, border, following outline, SVG/DXF cut line |
Where Hatch Embroidery 4 is better
Photo digitizing: PhotoStitch, in Hatch Digitizer, produces photo-realistic embroidery that our density gradient does not claim to match. The font library: 130 hand-digitized fonts in Digitizer, against our built-in fonts and your converted .ttf files. Multi-hooping for very large designs on home machines. Thirty years of Wilcom engine and a huge community of tutorials.
Where Broderly is better
The price: €19.99 a month, cancellable, against $1,199 for the level that digitizes manually. Mac, Linux, iPad: Hatch 4 requires Windows 11. Shop production: multi-head machine, needle assignment, programmed stops, run sheet and machine sheet, quote per stitch, name series in ZIP, log; Hatch has none of that. Complete patches with placement, tack-down, following outline and cut line. The printable density test and per-fabric settings. The guided mode for someone who is not at ease with computers.
Verdict
A shop that does a lot of photos or has already invested in Hatch and its fonts has no reason to switch. An embroiderer who is starting out, works on a Mac or does not want to spend $1,199 will find in Broderly everything needed for logos, text and patches, for €19.99 a month. A multi-head shop will also find the production features Hatch does not have.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hatch available in my language?
Yes, the Hatch interface and help exist in English, French and several other languages.
Can I open Hatch files in Broderly?
Machine files exported by Hatch (PES, DST, JEF…) open and can be edited. The Hatch project format (.emb) is not read.
Does Hatch offer a subscription?
FlexPay: $99 a month until the full price is paid, then the software is yours. It is not a cancellable subscription.
Go further
The studio is free to draw, open and check designs. Your first machine file takes five minutes.
Updated 2026-09-24.