AbstractConventional multilevel inverters (MLI) incorporate many independent dc sources and switches, which adds to the overall system's cost and complexity. This article presents a detailed analysis of a reduced switch single‐phase five‐level inverter for medium‐ and high‐power applications. The comparison of the proposed topology with traditional and recently developed MLI topologies shows that the topology proposed has a smaller number of circuit elements, isolated dc sources, and voltage stress of half of the supply voltage on 50% of switches. Reducing the number of components and sources reduces the complexity and total cost of the inverter. These reduced switches voltage stresses increase the overall system reliability. The MATLAB/SIMULINK simulations for different load changes were carried out for analysis in software mode. The scaled‐down prototype is used for the validation of simulation analysis. The components comparison was also carried out to list the advantages of this topology over other MLI configurations.