What your lab would cost

Budget justification: electronics lab equipment and software

September 28, 2026

Request

For 30 students over 3 years: a Mokxi Teacher plan at $129 a year, used on our existing Chromebooks for the whole course, plus 9 ELEGOO UNO R3 Super Starter Kit kits ($42.99 each) shared by groups of 4 for the final hands-on build. This is the "simulate first, then build" option below.

Cost comparison

Over 3 years, the simulate-first plan comes to $1,189.51 against $4,215.79 for a full hardware lab, $3,026.28 less, on the assumptions listed below.

Assumptions (editable in the calculator)

• Hardware lab: one ELEGOO UNO R3 Super Starter Kit ($42.99) per 2 students, 15 kits plus 10% spares (2).
• Instruments: multimeter ($21.50 per kit), oscilloscope ($329 per bench), logic analyzer ($26.95 per bench), function generator ($377 per bench), bench power supply ($104.14 per bench); 3 shared benches.
• Breakage: 15% of kit value replaced each year (5% in the simulate-first plan, where most mistakes happen in the simulator). An estimate, not a measured rate.
• Consumables $5 per kit a year; a storage box $8 per kit; 20 minutes of inventory per kit a year.
• Simulate-first plan: bench instruments used in the simulator only; 8 real multimeters, one per build kit.
• Mokxi: the whole simulator, including oscilloscope, logic analyzer, multimeter, function generator and bench supply, is on the free plan. The Teacher plan ($129 a year, 40 students) adds class rosters, submissions, automatic checks and a live room for the class.

Trade-offs we considered

• Students still benefit from handling real parts. The simulate-first plan keeps a small set of real kits for the final build instead of dropping hardware.
• Mokxi runs in the browser on the Chromebooks we already have. Nothing is installed, and it works signed out.
• The simulator does not teach soldering, and a finished circuit should be tried on real hardware before anyone relies on it.
• Mokxi signs school data privacy agreements, including the SDPC National Data Privacy Agreement (see mokxi.com/privacy/students).

Price sources

US list prices at quantity one, checked September 23, 2026, before tax, shipping and any education or bulk discount. Please confirm current prices with the purchasing office. Mokxi prices from mokxi.com/pricing. Calculator: mokxi.com/schools/lab-cost-calculator.