Easy BACnet
What is the best free BACnet explorer tool?
Updated 18 September 2026
For a Windows desk, the established free choices are YABE (Yet Another BACnet Explorer, open source), the Contemporary Controls BACnet Discovery Tool (BDT), Chipkin's CAS BACnet Explorer, and Wacnet. They are capable and worth having. What none of them is, is a tool you can carry — they are all Windows programs. For discovering and reading BACnet from the plant room on the device in your pocket, Easy BACnet fills the gap the desktop explorers leave open, and it writes as well as reads.
The free desktop explorers
| Tool | Platform | Reads | Writes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YABE | Windows | Yes | Yes | Open source, very capable, technical interface. The default “free explorer” answer. |
| CAS BACnet Explorer | Windows | Yes | Yes | Polished, free tier, from Chipkin. Good for commissioning. |
| Contemporary Controls BDT | Windows | Yes | No | Free discovery/read tool; read-only. Download is behind a form. |
| Wacnet | Windows/Java | Yes | Yes | Open source, single-JAR, quick to stand up. |
| Easy BACnet | Android (phone/tablet) | Yes | Yes | Free; discovery, read, write with priority safety, CSV export — in the field. |
How to choose
- You are at a Windows desk and want the deepest free tool: YABE or CAS BACnet Explorer. YABE if you like open source and don't mind a dense UI; CAS if you want something more polished.
- You just want to discover devices on a Windows laptop: the Contemporary Controls BDT is purpose-built for that — but it is read-only, so it will not command a point.
- You want to check equipment where it lives, without a laptop: that is the phone case, and it is the one the desktop tools cannot serve. Easy BACnet discovers, reads live values, writes with a priority array and release, and exports a CSV — from the network you are already standing on.
These are not either/or. Many people keep YABE or CAS on the laptop for deep desk work and use a phone tool for the walk-around — discovery, a quick read, a careful override and release, a CSV for the file. The desktop explorers are strong; the open niche is portable, and that is where a phone wins. See is there a BACnet scanner app for Android?
A note on “free”
Watch what “free” includes. Some free tools read but do not write; some gate the download behind a lead form; some are free for personal use only. Easy BACnet is free to scan, read, write and export; a one-time purchase only lifts the limit on saved custom control panels. Reading and commissioning a device costs nothing.