An alternative technique to control multilevel inverters with vector approximations has been presented. The innovative control method utilizes specially designed two-dimensional hysteresis comparators to simplify the implementation and improve the resultant waveform. The multistage inverter designed with maximum number of levels is operated in such a way to approximate the reference voltage vector by exploiting the large number of multilevel inverter vectors. A three-stage inverter with the main high voltage stage made of three phase, six-switch and singly-fed inverter is considered for application to the proposed design. The proposed control concept is to maintain a higher voltage stage state as long as it can lead to a target vector. High and medium voltage stages controllers are based on surface hysteresis comparators to hold the switching state or to perform the necessary change to achieve its reference voltage with minimal switching losses. The low voltage stage controller is designed to approximate the target reference voltage to the nearest inverter vector using the nearest integer rounding and adjustment comparators. Model simulation and prototype test results show that the proposed control technique clearly outperforms the previous control methods.