LITIO alternative: Planichapa develops sheet metal parts in the browser, nothing to install, now that LITIO2 is no longer sold

LITIO was the sheet metal add-on for AutoCAD, BricsCAD, ZWCAD and GstarCAD that calculated and drew the flat developments of ducts, transitions, cylinders, cones, pipes and elbows inside the CAD. Anyone who used it, or was about to buy it, now finds that it is no longer sold: its own site, litio.si, checked in October 2026, says that new downloads and purchases of LITIO2 were discontinued on 1 January 2025 and that all LITIO2 support was discontinued on 1 January 2026. A replacement has to be chosen. This page presents Planichapa as the replacement in the browser, says what changes and what does not, and puts CaldereriaOnline, the site LITIO itself points to, side by side with the figures its site publishes, so you can compare with the facts in hand.

Everything Planichapa develops is worked on the neutral axis, at mid-thickness of the plate, in millimetres or inches, and every part page shows the formulas and a worked example. That is the part of the comparison that can be checked, and the end of this page says how to check it in ten minutes with a part of your own.

What LITIO's own site says

What follows is what litio.si publishes, in English, checked in October 2026. If it changes, the source wins:

• New downloads and purchases of LITIO2 were discontinued starting 1 January 2025.
• All LITIO2 support was discontinued starting 1 January 2026.
• The site points users to CaldereriaOnline.com, saying that all the tools of LITIO2 are now available online, CAD independent, with the DXF downloaded without CAD installed.
• It offers LITIO2 users one year of complimentary access there, as compensation for the end of support.

In other words: there is nowhere to buy a new licence and nobody to ask for support, and the program's own authors moved the work into the browser. The two ways forward are both online: CaldereriaOnline, the one LITIO points to, and Planichapa. Each is described below with what its site publishes.

What changes moving from LITIO to Planichapa

• It runs in the browser, with nothing to install and nothing tied to one computer or one CAD licence. The same account on the office PC, the laptop and the phone on the shop floor, with the calculation history on all of them. LITIO2 lived inside a CAD program on one Windows computer.
• The price is on the page. Full access is a one-off purchase by card, £9, €9 or US$12 for one month or £69, €69 or US$79 for 12 months depending on where you are, with no subscription that renews by itself.
• You can start without paying and without an account. Every part is calculated on its own page, the cone, the cylinder, the 90° segmented bend and the pipe branch included, and the calculations are unlimited. A free account adds the saved history and 1 part a month in DXF.
• Millimetres or inches, chosen with the switch above the form: the drawing, the measurements table, the printed sheet and the DXF all follow.
• Neutral axis on all 52 parts, with the thickness offset taken along the normal to the surface, and the working shown: every part page carries the formulas and a worked example with the same figures. π × (D − t) on the rolled shell, (t/2) × cos α on the cone.
• The output the shop uses: a 3D view to check the part before cutting, a PDF template to scale for marking out, and DXF with cut, bend and weld lines on separate layers for plasma, laser and CNC cutting. Full access adds unlimited DXF and the full-size 1:1 template, printed on A4 or Letter sheets to join over the plate.

What Planichapa does not do

Being straight here is what makes this page worth anything. Before switching, see whether one of these affects you:

• It does not open LITIO files. There is no project import: you type the dimensions of the part and get the development. What comes out, PDF and DXF, opens in any CAD and on any cutting machine.
• It does not draw inside your CAD. LITIO2 was an add-on: the development appeared in the AutoCAD or BricsCAD drawing you were working on. Planichapa gives you a DXF to open or insert there, one more step.
• It does not work offline. The calculation runs on the server; without a connection you only have the PDF templates you downloaded earlier. An installed program runs on a shop floor with no signal.
• The catalogue is closed: 52 parts. If the part you need is not in all parts, that settles it, because there is no way to define a shape point by point.

If you still have LITIO2 installed, nothing here asks you to remove it. Planichapa is a web page: it touches nothing on your computer, and the two coexist.

CaldereriaOnline, the option LITIO itself points to

LITIO's site sends its users to CaldereriaOnline.com, a calculator in the browser like Planichapa, and CaldereriaOnline's own page says it is powered by LITIO.si: it is the same authors' online successor, not a third party. What its site published when checked in September 2026: US$9.99 for 6 months, US$29.99 for 1 year or US$15.99 a month, with DXF export and several developments free to try. It does not publish how many parts it covers and does not mention the neutral axis, so we claim nothing about either: check there.

It is cheaper than Planichapa, and that should be said plainly: US$29.99 a year against £69, €69 or US$79 for 12 months. What Planichapa gives for the difference is this: the neutral axis shown on all 52 parts, with the thickness offset taken along the normal to the surface and the formula on the page; the 3D view to check before cutting; the PDF template to scale and the full-size 1:1 template; millimetres or inches; and unlimited free calculation of every part with no account. If what you need is the DXF at the lowest price, run one of your own parts through both, as explained below, and decide on the result.

Part by part: what LITIO users ask for, and where it is here

LITIO was sold for HVAC, hoppers, cyclones, dust extraction, ducting, conveying and piping, and those are the names used on the shop floor, not the catalogue names. This table joins the two: on the left, how the part is usually asked for; on the right, the Planichapa page that develops it. There are 52 pages in all, under all parts, grouped by family: shells, cones and reducers, segmented bends, taps and branches and transitions.

How to compare them in ten minutes, with your own part

Do not take a comparison page's word for it, this one included. Take a part you have already made and run it through both tools:

1. A rolled shell: diameter, height and thickness. The plate length must come out as π × (D − t). If it comes out as π × D, the tool does not offset the thickness, and the seam will overlap: on a 12 in shell in 1/8 in plate that is 0.39 in too long, nearly 3/8 in.
2. A cone of 800/1200/800 in 3 mm plate. The sector radii must be 1643 and 2468 mm and the angle 87.3°. The cone development guide shows the whole calculation.
3. A 90° segmented bend with 4 gores: 2 half gores and 3 full ones, the full gore twice the height of the half.
4. Export the DXF and open it in CAD or on the machine: cut, bend and weld lines must be on separate layers.

How Planichapa reaches those figures, and how it checks itself, is written out in how we check. About LITIO and CaldereriaOnline, what we know is what their sites publish; prices and coverage change, so check at the source.

Price and payment

Free: unlimited calculations, every part on its own page with no account, and with an account 1 part a month in DXF and the saved history. Full access: a one-off purchase by card, £9, €9 or US$12 for one month or £69, €69 or US$79 for 12 months depending on your region, which unlocks unlimited DXF export and the full-size 1:1 template. No auto-renewal: when the period ends the account returns to the free plan and nothing is charged. Details are on plans and pricing. For comparison, CaldereriaOnline published US$9.99 for 6 months, US$29.99 for 1 year and US$15.99 a month in September 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Does LITIO still exist?

According to its own site, litio.si, checked in October 2026, new downloads and purchases of LITIO2 were discontinued on 1 January 2025 and all support was discontinued on 1 January 2026. The site points its users to CaldereriaOnline.com, with a complimentary year of access.

Does Planichapa replace LITIO?

For the 52 parts in the catalogue, with 3D, PDF and DXF, yes, and with nothing to install. It does not open LITIO files, does not draw inside your CAD and does not work offline; and if the part you need is not in the catalogue, that settles it.

Does Planichapa work inside AutoCAD or BricsCAD like LITIO did?

No. LITIO2 was a CAD add-on; Planichapa is a web page that gives you a DXF with the development on separate layers, which you open or insert in any CAD, or send straight to the cutting table.

Does it work in inches?

Yes. Pick millimetres or inches with the switch above the form, and the drawing, the measurements table, the printed sheet and the DXF follow. Thickness in inches is entered as a decimal, 0.125 for 1/8 in.

What is the difference between Planichapa and CaldereriaOnline?

Both run in the browser and export DXF. CaldereriaOnline is LITIO's own online successor and is cheaper: US$9.99 for 6 months, US$29.99 for 1 year or US$15.99 a month, according to its site in September 2026. Planichapa costs £9, €9 or US$12 for a month or £69, €69 or US$79 for 12 months and gives, besides the DXF, the neutral axis shown on all 52 parts, the 3D view, the PDF template to scale, the full-size 1:1 template, millimetres or inches, and unlimited free calculation of every part with no account. How many parts CaldereriaOnline covers we do not know: check its site.

Can I use it on a phone?

Yes. It is a page in the browser: it works on a phone, a tablet, a Mac and Linux, with nothing to install. The PDF template and the DXF download the same way.

Do I need to uninstall LITIO to use Planichapa?

No. One does not interfere with the other: Planichapa is a web page and touches nothing on your computer. If LITIO2 is installed, it stays.