DCACLab alternative: a browser lab for the logic inside a computer
DCACLab is an online virtual electronics lab: you build circuits in the browser and measure them with tools that behave like lab equipment, including analog and digital multimeters, a three-channel oscilloscope with time/div and volt/div settings, and a new full breadboard view. It animates current flow (conventional or electron flow), teaches resistor colour bands, and has examples from Kirchhoff's laws and RLC resonance to rectifiers, a 555 timer and a full adder. Its about page says it was launched in 2009 by its founder, Samir Sabri, and added classroom tools, assignments and LMS integration in 2019. It is a paid subscription: Starter (50 projects), Premium (100 projects) and Classroom (30 users) plans, billed monthly, every six months or yearly. DCACLab is a lab bench for electricity and electronics; digiwleea is a lab for digital logic, from one transistor to a CPU.
What DCACLab is good at
Hands-on electricity and analog electronics without a kit: wiring series and parallel circuits, measuring them with realistic meters, watching capacitors charge and AC signals on an oscilloscope, and seeing the current move. For teachers it adds classrooms and assignments with student tracking. If the course is about Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's laws and real components, it is a good fit. (digiwleea is an independent project, not affiliated with DCACLab.)
How digiwleea is different
digiwleea simulates logic, not analog electronics: every wire is 0, 1 or floating, so there are no meters or waveforms of voltages, but every gate and bit is visible. You build NOT and NAND from CMOS transistors, then adders, latches, flip-flops, registers, RAM and control logic, and finally an 8-bit CPU that runs a stored program, through a 40+ level course where every part is checked against its truth table, with an AI tutor (Wleea). The lab and the first act of the course are free; DCACLab has no free plan. The two fit together: measure a circuit's voltages in DCACLab, and see how gates become a computer here, starting with the full adder both tools show.
| DCACLab | digiwleea | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Electricity and analog electronics, with lab instruments | Digital logic, transistor to CPU |
| Signals | Voltages and currents, on meters and an oscilloscope | Logic levels: 0, 1 or floating |
| Logic gates | Included as components | Built by you from transistors, then reused |
| Classroom tools | Classrooms, assignments, LMS integration | Teacher view and a guided 40+ level course |
| Price | Paid plans (Starter, Premium, Classroom) | Free lab and Act I; Premium for the full course |
No sign-up is needed to start: open the lab and place your first transistor, or read the free theory course. The account (and the AI tutor) are optional.
More comparisons: Electronics and SPICE simulators
See for yourself: build a logic gate from transistors in the simulator, then follow the path from sand to an 8-bit CPU.
Open the digiwleea lab →Frequently asked
Is DCACLab free?
No. DCACLab is a paid subscription with Starter, Premium and Classroom plans, billed monthly, every six months or yearly; its pricing page explains that the platform is self-funded.
What can you simulate in DCACLab?
Electricity and electronics circuits in the browser, measured with multimeters and a three-channel oscilloscope: series and parallel circuits, capacitors and inductors, rectifiers, a 555 timer, logic gates and integrated circuits, now also on a breadboard view.
Is there a free alternative to DCACLab for logic gates?
For digital logic, yes: digiwleea's lab and first course act are free in the browser, from transistors and gates up to adders. For analog circuits, Falstad's circuit simulator and PhET's circuit kit are free too.