Comparison
Use WiFi Heatmap (wifiheatmap.app) when the job is not all Omada, or when you want to start without a TP-Link ID: it plans 79 access points across 11 vendors, needs no account, and the floor plan never leaves your browser. If every access point is Omada, Design Hub does more for free: it places them, draws the cabling and writes the proposal. Across the 15 rows below we take 6, Design Hub takes 8, and 1 is even.
Every claim read from TP-Link’s product page, support FAQ and user guide, last verified 26 October 2026. The tool itself opens on a sign-in, so nothing here comes from inside it.
Design Hub plans Omada
And the rest of an Omada job with it: gateways, switches, VIGI cameras, cabling across floors and a proposal with your prices and logo, free, once you have a TP-Link ID. For an all-Omada building it does more of the work than we do, and it knows the whole Omada range; we have 6 Omada access points.
WiFi Heatmap plans anything
Put an Omada, a UniFi and an Aruba access point in the same room and see which one the building needs, before you pick a vendor. Anything not in the list, you type in. No account to create, and the floor plan stays on your machine instead of in a vendor’s cloud.
A single-vendor planner can answer “how many of these?” but never “which ones?”. That is the whole case, and it does not depend on either tool’s maths being better.
6 rows favour us, 8 favour Design Hub, 1 is a genuine tie. The tally is counted from the table, not written by hand.
Design Hub is TP-Link’s planner for a whole Omada job, cameras included. It does not plan anyone else’s access points.
| Dimension | WiFi Heatmap | Omada Design Hub | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vendors you can model If the bill of materials is not settled yet, a single-vendor planner answers a narrower question than the one you are asking. | 11 vendors, 79 models: Ubiquiti, TP-Link, Aruba, Ruckus, Cisco Meraki, Cisco, Zyxel, EnGenius, MikroTik, Cambium, Netgear | TP-Link only: Omada networking and VIGI cameras | WiFi Heatmap |
| Mixing vendors on one plan | Yes, any combination, per access point | No | WiFi Heatmap |
| Omada’s own range If every access point is Omada, theirs is the fuller list. | 6 Omada access points: EAP245 (V3), EAP610, EAP650, EAP670, EAP683 LR, EAP690E HD | TP-Link’s own Omada catalogue, from the company that makes it | Design Hub |
| The rest of the network | Wiring closets, cable runs and a PoE budget for the access points | Gateways, switches, OLTs, controllers and VIGI cameras, with cabling laid out automatically across floors and a topology map | Design Hub |
Both detect walls for you and predict coverage at 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz. Design Hub does more of the work automatically; we publish the numbers it runs on.
| Dimension | WiFi Heatmap | Omada Design Hub | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Floor plan formats | PNG, JPG, WebP or PDF | PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF, PDF and CAD (DXF), up to 30 MB | Design Hub |
| Wall materials | 7 fixed materials: drywall, wood, glass, coated / low-E glass, brick, concrete, metal | Wall types you can name, colour and give your own loss values | Design Hub |
| Wall figures you can read | Published for every material at 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz | Not printed on the product page, in the launch post or in the user guide | WiFi Heatmap |
| Automatic wall drawing | Yes, free | Yes, free (“AI Wall”) | Even |
| Automatic access point placement | In Pro: “How many APs do I need?” and Optimise placement | Free: “AI Devices” places Omada access points, up to 300 | Design Hub |
| Several floors | One floor free; every floor in Pro | Several floors, with cabling between them, free | Design Hub |
| Published accuracy | A stated envelope of ±6–10 dB for a typical home or small office, with the full method on /accuracy | “Accurate simulation” is claimed; no figure is given | WiFi Heatmap |
Design Hub is free, and its free output is the better document. It asks for a TP-Link ID first, and the plan lives in TP-Link’s cloud.
| Dimension | WiFi Heatmap | Omada Design Hub | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price It is free because it sells Omada hardware. A perfectly good reason, and it is still free. | Free tier; paid from €9 for a 7-day pass, €29 a year, or €39 once | Free | Design Hub |
| Start without an account | Yes, open the page and start | No. The tool opens on a TP-Link ID sign-in | WiFi Heatmap |
| Where your floor plan goes Matters for a client’s building, and for anyone whose floor plan is a security document. | Nowhere: it stays in the browser, and exports are built there too | Into TP-Link’s cloud, which is where the tool runs | WiFi Heatmap |
| What you get out, free Their free proposal is a better document than our free export. | A watermarked PNG with up to 5 access points on one floor; the branded client PDF is in Pro | A proposal as PDF, Word or Excel: Wi-Fi coverage, topology, an equipment list with your own prices and installation notes, under your logo and company name | Design Hub |
Yes. TP-Link describes it as a free tool. It is a web app at design.tplinkcloud.com and needs a TP-Link ID: the tool opens on the sign-in page. It plans TP-Link hardware only: Omada gateways, switches, access points, OLTs and controllers, and VIGI cameras. Checked on TP-Link’s own pages on 26 October 2026.
No. TP-Link’s user guide has you open it in a web browser; there is no desktop version to install. If you want nothing to install and no sign-in either, WiFi Heatmap (wifiheatmap.app) runs in the browser with no account and keeps the floor plan on your machine.
Not according to TP-Link: it plans TP-Link’s own hardware. For a mixed job, or one where the vendor is not chosen yet, use a vendor-neutral planner. WiFi Heatmap has 79 access point models across 11 vendors, Omada included, and accepts any radio by transmit power and antenna gain.
Yes. WiFi Heatmap (wifiheatmap.app) has the Omada EAP245 (V3), EAP610, EAP650, EAP670, EAP683 LR, EAP690E HD built in, with their datasheet figures, and needs no account at all. Upload a floor plan, mark the walls, place the access points and the predicted heatmap updates live. Placement is unlimited in the free editor; exports include 5 access points on one floor and carry a watermark.
If every access point is Omada and a TP-Link ID is no trouble, Design Hub itself: it is free, places the access points, draws the cabling and writes a proposal. If the job is not all Omada, or you want to start without an account and keep the floor plan off the cloud, WiFi Heatmap is a free predictive planner in the browser with 79 models from 11 vendors.
Comparing something else? vs UniFi Design Center · vs Cambium · vs Hamina · vs NetSpot · vs Deconflict · every free planner, compared
Planning another brand? Meraki · Aruba Instant On · RUCKUS
Any vendor, in your browser, with no install and no account. Put the candidates side by side on your own floor plan and let the building choose.