Equilab Alternative: 5 Free Poker Range Tools for 2026
Quick answer: Equilab is a solid equity calculator, but it runs on Windows only, the installer gets flagged by modern antivirus software, and it does not teach you what to do with the ranges it shows. The best Equilab alternatives in 2026 are Preflop Wizard (mobile preflop training), Flopzilla (range vs. board analysis), Power-Equilab (updated Equilab from the same team), PokerRanger (cross-platform equity tool), and Simple Postflop (free postflop solver). This guide covers what each one does, who it is for, and which to pick depending on your study goals.
Equilab alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Best for | Price | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preflop Wizard | GTO preflop training on mobile | Free tier + $10.83/mo | iOS, Android |
| Flopzilla | Range vs. board texture analysis | $25 one-time | Windows, Mac |
| Power-Equilab | Advanced equity calculation | Free | Windows |
| PokerRanger | Cross-platform range analysis | Free tier + paid | Mac, Windows, iOS, Android |
| Simple Postflop | Postflop solver (free tier) | Free tier + paid | Windows, Mac, Web |
What Equilab actually does (and what it does not)
Equilab, built by PokerStrategy.com, is an equity calculator. You enter two or more ranges, click calculate, and it tells you how often each hand wins. That is it. It answers the question “what is my equity against this range?” not “what should I do preflop in this spot?”
The distinction matters. Equity tells you your raw winning percentage in a hand. Strategy tells you whether to fold, call, raise, or reraise. Equilab gives you the first piece, but you still need to know your opponent’s range accurately and then interpret the equity number correctly. That is a lot of mental work for a free desktop calculator.
The other issue: Equilab is Windows-only and has not had a major update in years. The Equilab installer gets flagged by Windows Defender on modern Windows 10 and 11 systems. PokerStrategy.com acknowledged the workaround (unzipping a pre-installed version manually rather than running the installer), but for many players, that is already a dealbreaker. If you play on a Mac, use your phone, or just do not want to deal with antivirus warnings on a poker tool, you need something else.
Train preflop ranges on your phone. Preflop Wizard is free to download and includes AI coaching from day one.
1. Preflop Wizard — best for preflop training on mobile
Preflop Wizard is not an equity calculator. It is a GTO preflop trainer, and that distinction is the whole point. Instead of showing you a range grid and letting you calculate, it puts you in real preflop spots and asks you to decide: open, fold, 3-bet, or call. Get it right, and you move on. Get it wrong, and the AI coach explains the correct play and why.
Most players who use Equilab are trying to understand preflop ranges well enough to make better decisions at the table. Preflop Wizard skips the intermediate step. You drill the decisions directly, the same way you would practice a language by speaking it rather than studying grammar. The repetition builds the kind of pattern recognition that actually shows up in your game.
The other major advantage is the platform. Preflop Wizard is a native iOS and Android app. You can drill opening ranges on your phone during a commute, review your 3-bet spots before a session, or quiz yourself on big blind defense while waiting for a table. Equilab requires a Windows PC and a decent monitor. If you do most of your study away from a desk, that contrast is significant.
Preflop Wizard covers cash games and tournaments, all positions, all stack depths from 100BB down to push/fold territory, and includes ranges for 6-max and 9-max formats. For more on the training methodology, see the guide on how to practice poker ranges.
Preflop Wizard vs. Equilab
Price: Free to download. Premium from $10.83/month (annual plan) or $29.99/month. Platform: iOS and Android.
2. Flopzilla — best for range vs. board analysis
Flopzilla is the most popular Equilab alternative among serious students, and it does something Equilab cannot: it shows you how a range connects with a specific board texture. You enter a preflop range, then enter a flop, and Flopzilla breaks down exactly how often that range hits top pair, two pair, sets, draws, and air. This is how coaches build the hand-reading intuition that separates good players from great ones.
The core use case: you are reviewing a hand history and want to understand whether your opponent’s calling range on the flop connects well with the board. Enter their range, enter the board, and Flopzilla tells you the distribution. It is faster and more visual than Equilab for this type of analysis. Flopzilla Pro (the current version) also has a range editor that Equilab users will find familiar.
The limitation: Flopzilla is a one-time paid tool ($25) with a free trial, and it runs on Windows and Mac. There is no mobile version. It also does not train you on preflop decisions, so it is solving a different part of the game than Preflop Wizard targets.
Price: $25 one-time (free trial available). Platform: Windows, Mac.
3. Power-Equilab — if you need an updated version of Equilab
Power-Equilab is PokerStrategy.com’s updated equity calculator, meant to replace the original Equilab. It adds features like a built-in hand range notation editor, faster equity calculations, and additional filtering options. If you were already using Equilab and want to stay in the same ecosystem, Power-Equilab is the natural upgrade.
The same platform limitations apply: Windows only, desktop only, and some users have reported similar antivirus warnings with the Power-Equilab installer. If your reason for looking for an Equilab alternative is the platform or the installation problems, Power-Equilab does not solve those issues. It is a better Equilab, not a different kind of tool.
Price: Free. Platform: Windows only.
Stop looking at ranges. Start drilling them.
Preflop Wizard replaces passive range charts with active training. Download free and build the preflop habits that stick.
4. PokerRanger — best cross-platform equity calculator
PokerRanger is the closest thing to a modern, cross-platform Equilab. It runs on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android, which makes it the go-to equity calculator for players who are not on Windows. The interface lets you build ranges visually using the standard 13x13 hand grid, calculate equity against multiple ranges, and filter by hand category.
PokerRanger has a free tier with limited features, and the full version is available through a one-time purchase or subscription depending on the platform. For players who need an Equilab-style equity calculator but on a Mac or on their phone, PokerRanger is the most direct substitute.
What it does not do: it will not train your preflop decisions or give you feedback on whether a specific play was correct. It is a calculation tool, not a trainer. Players who want to move from passively studying ranges to actively drilling decisions should pair it with something like Preflop Wizard. Understanding what the GTO preflop ranges look like is covered in the free GTO preflop charts guide.
Price: Free tier available; paid plans vary by platform. Platform: Mac, Windows, iOS, Android.
5. Simple Postflop — best free postflop solver
Simple Postflop is a GTO solver, not an equity calculator, which puts it in a different category than Equilab. But many players searching for an Equilab alternative are actually looking for something that helps them understand what to do in a hand, not just their raw equity. For that, Simple Postflop’s free tier is worth mentioning.
The free version solves postflop spots with a restricted decision tree: limited bet sizes and a shallow tree depth. That is enough for occasional study. If you want to understand whether a flop check-raise or a turn barrel is the GTO play, Simple Postflop can calculate it without you paying for a full solver like PioSolver. The paid version removes the restrictions and handles more complex tree configurations.
For preflop decisions specifically, Simple Postflop is not the right tool. The preflop tree is enormous, and running a full GTO solve preflop requires significant processing time and a paid plan. If your main gap is preflop, a trainer like Preflop Wizard covers that territory without the solver complexity. If your gap is postflop, Simple Postflop is the most accessible free starting point.
Price: Free tier + paid plans. Platform: Windows, Mac, Web.
Why knowing your equity is not the same as knowing the right play
This is the thing most players figure out after a few months with Equilab. You calculate that AQo has 60% equity against your opponent’s 3-bet range. Great. Should you call, 4-bet, or fold? Equity alone does not tell you. You also need to know the pot odds, your position, whether a call allows profitable bluffing on later streets, and whether a 4-bet creates a better risk-reward ratio than calling.
GTO preflop ranges already account for all of that. When Preflop Wizard shows you the correct action for AQo from the hijack facing a BTN 3-bet at 100BB, that recommendation is built from solver output that balanced all of those variables simultaneously. You do not need to calculate equity in the moment. You need to have drilled the correct response until it is automatic.
For players who are early in their GTO study, understanding what GTO actually is (and why it matters for preflop specifically) is a useful foundation. The guide on what is GTO poker covers that from the ground up.
Which Equilab alternative should you use?
The best choice depends on what you are actually trying to improve:
| If you want to... | Use this |
|---|---|
| Drill preflop decisions until they are automatic | Preflop Wizard |
| Study poker on your phone or Mac (no Windows PC) | Preflop Wizard or PokerRanger |
| Understand how ranges interact with board textures | Flopzilla |
| Calculate hand equity and stay in the Equilab ecosystem | Power-Equilab |
| Run occasional postflop GTO calculations for free | Simple Postflop (free tier) |
| Calculate equity across multiple platforms (Mac and Windows) | PokerRanger |
When Equilab (or Power-Equilab) is still fine
Not every Equilab user needs an alternative. If you already have a Windows PC, the installer worked for you, and you use Equilab regularly to sanity-check ranges before sessions, it still does its job. The equity calculation is accurate, the range grid is intuitive, and the price is zero.
The cases where Equilab starts to fall short:
- - You moved to a Mac or primarily use a phone.
- - Windows Defender blocks the installer and the manual unzip workaround is annoying.
- - You have memorized the range grids but your in-game decisions have not improved.
- - You want to practice ranges, not just view them.
- - You want to understand board texture interaction, which Equilab does not show.
Each of those cases maps to a different tool in the list above. For more on how to structure a preflop study routine that actually translates to the table, the guide on GTO Wizard alternatives covers the broader landscape of poker training tools.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free Equilab alternative?
The best free Equilab alternative depends on what you need. For preflop training on mobile, Preflop Wizard has a free tier that lets you drill GTO opening ranges and 3-bet spots with AI coaching at no cost. For equity calculation on Windows, Power-Equilab is the direct free successor from the same team. For cross-platform equity work including Mac, PokerRanger has a free tier. For free postflop solver work, Simple Postflop's free tier runs restricted solver trees at no cost.
Does Equilab work on Mac?
No. Equilab is a Windows-only application and has no Mac version. If you need a poker equity calculator or range trainer on a Mac, the best options are Flopzilla (now available for Mac), PokerRanger, or Preflop Wizard (iOS and Android app). Power-Equilab is also Windows-only.
Why is Equilab flagged by Windows Defender?
The Equilab installer is unsigned, which triggers Windows Defender SmartScreen on Windows 10 and 11. This is not a virus, but it means the installer is not digitally verified by Microsoft. The PokerStrategy.com forums note a workaround: download the pre-installed version as a ZIP and extract it directly to your Program Files folder, bypassing the installer entirely. If that process is too much friction, Power-Equilab or PokerRanger are cleaner alternatives.
What is the difference between Equilab and Flopzilla?
Equilab calculates equity between two or more hand ranges. Flopzilla shows you how a range connects with a specific board texture, breaking down hits into top pair, draws, sets, overcards, and air. Flopzilla adds the postflop dimension that Equilab lacks. Most serious students use both: Equilab (or Power-Equilab) for range vs. range equity work, and Flopzilla for understanding how ranges interact with boards.
Can Preflop Wizard replace Equilab?
Preflop Wizard does not calculate equity the way Equilab does. What it replaces is the study habit of passively reviewing range grids: instead of looking at a range chart and trying to memorize it, you drill preflop decisions in real spots with AI feedback. If your goal with Equilab was to understand and internalize GTO preflop ranges, Preflop Wizard accomplishes that more directly through active practice. If you need raw equity percentages for postflop hand analysis, Power-Equilab or Flopzilla still have a role.
Is there an Equilab mobile app?
No. Equilab and Power-Equilab are Windows desktop applications with no iOS or Android version. PokerRanger is the closest mobile equivalent for equity calculation, available on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. For mobile preflop training (not just range viewing), Preflop Wizard is the only purpose-built native app on both the App Store and Google Play.
Train preflop ranges on your phone
Preflop Wizard is free to download. GTO opening ranges, AI coaching, and active drilling for every position and stack depth.