I have pe design plus, which I haven't used much, its okay, but I wished I had shopped around, try as many 30day free trials before you make your decision because I really wish now that I had purchased embroidery works because I like it better but to shell out another 500 bucks is out of the question, unless I sell my pe design plus. the only thing I do like on pe design plus that isn't on embroidery works is the photo stitch capability. I find embroidery works has more feature in actual editing and is more user friendly. Really wish I would have tried everything first