The work is devoted to the topical problem of choosing a scheme of a linear electromechanical drive, developed as an alternative to an autonomous electro-hydraulic drive. Mass characteristics of the main functional elements of the actuators: electric motors and ball screws are considered. Synchronous motors and a collector motors were considered in this work as an electric motor. Ball-screw transmissions with separator and ball-screw transmissions with recirculation of balls were considered in this work as a ball-screw transmission. Comparison was made according to functional, technological and economic criteria of two schemes for construction of linear electromechanical drives: with intermediate mechanical transmission based on a collector motor and based on a permanent magnet synchronous motor without an intermediate mechanical transmission. The comparison showed that the scheme with an intermediate mechanical transmission has better mass characteristics compared to the scheme without an intermediate mechanical transmission with similar dynamic characteristics. The presented comparison results can be useful in solving the problem of choosing schemes for newly developed electric electromechanical steering drives.