Top Free PCB Design Software

Altium Develop

Altium Develop is a collaborative platform for electronic product development that connects requirements management (via Requirements Portal), ECAD design, supply chain, and manufacturing into a single, unified environment. Built on Altium Designer® and Altium 365®, it enables real-time collaboration across engineering, design, and operations teams, reducing delays caused by disconnected tools and file-based workflows. Designed for electronics teams and organizations managing complex PCB and hardware development, Altium Develop supports cross-functional collaboration throughout the entire product lifecycle. Through Requirements Portal, stakeholders can contribute to and review requirements in a centralized workspace, helping ensure alignment from definition through design and delivery. Key capabilities include: • Real-time collaboration: Shared workspace for ECAD design, reviews, and project coordination • Component and supply chain visibility: Access to live component data, pricing, and availability • Requirements management (Requirements Portal): Capture, review, and link product requirements to design decisions for end-to-end traceability • BOM and workflow management: Manage bill of materials, sourcing, and change processes in one platform • ECAD-MCAD co-design: Enable collaboration between electrical and mechanical teams By centralizing design data, workflows, and collaboration, Altium Develop improves visibility, reduces rework, and helps teams bring electronic products to market faster. The platform is particularly well suited for organizations looking to streamline PCB design processes, enhance collaboration, and scale development across distributed teams. Altium Develop is used by teams evaluating alternatives to tools like Autodesk Fusion, KiCad, Cadence OrCAD, and SOLIDWORKS for PCB design and collaborative electronics development, including requirements management for hardware and electronics systems.

Average Rating: 4.5/5.0

Total Reviews: 1,051

Onshape

Onshape by PTC is the leading cloud-native CAD & PDM platform that runs on any device, anywhere-requiring zero IT. Onshape is for product design companies who are fed up with the errors, time waste, and hidden costs of outdated file-based CAD & PDM. Only Onshape: - Eliminates CAD crashes and never loses data - Enables secure, real-time collaboration - Tracks all activity and provides infinite restore - Has built-in PDM with branching and merging

Average Rating: 4.7/5.0

Total Reviews: 711

Autodesk Fusion

Autodesk Fusion connects capabilities, data, and people across the entire product development lifecycle. Fusion provides you with CAD, CAM, CAE and PCB tools along with PLM/PDM and MES (manufacturing execution system) capabilities to facilitate seamless workflows across your entire organization. Key features: - 3D Design and Modeling: Autodesk Fusion offers a robust set of tools for creating 3D models and designs, making it ideal for product development and industrial design. - Manufacturing Integration: With Autodesk Fusion, you can design and manufacture products using the same platform, streamlining the process from concept to production. - Electronics Design: PCB design capabilities are integrated into the Autodesk Fusion platform, allowing for the creation of electronic components as part of the overall product design process. - Simulation and Analysis: Autodesk Fusion includes simulation tools to test and optimize designs before manufacturing, reducing the need for physical prototypes. - Cloud Collaboration: As a cloud-based platform, Autodesk Fusion enables seamless collaboration among design and engineering teams, regardless of location. - Generative Design: This feature allows you to input design goals and constraints, and Autodesk Fusion will generate multiple design options that meet these criteria. By integrating the entire product development process into one platform, Autodesk Fusion allows users to bring products to market faster and more efficiently.

Average Rating: 4.5/5.0

Total Reviews: 509

Xpedition Standard

Xpedition Standard is a type of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) design solution specifically engineered to assist individual engineers and expanding teams in the electronics design industry. Built on Siemens’ robust Xpedition technology stack, this software integrates intelligent automation and collaborative workflows, enabling users to design, reuse, and efficiently release their projects to manufacturing. The primary goal of Xpedition Standard is to enhance productivity and scalability, allowing teams to work with confidence as they navigate the complexities of PCB design. Targeted at small to mid-sized engineering teams, Xpedition Standard serves as a bridge between entry-level tools that may limit growth and comprehensive enterprise solutions that can overwhelm smaller teams with unnecessary features. It offers professional-grade capabilities in a mid-tier package, ensuring that users have access to advanced functionalities without the associated costs and complexities of higher-tier solutions. This makes it an ideal choice for organizations looking to enhance their design processes while maintaining budgetary constraints. One of the key features of Xpedition Standard is its support for seamless collaboration across various domains, including electrical design (ECAD), mechanical design (MCAD), manufacturing, and sourcing. This integration allows distributed teams to work together more efficiently, minimizing costly handoffs and reducing the likelihood of rework. Additionally, the software provides flexible expansion options, enabling teams to incorporate advanced capabilities such as rigid-flex design, signal integrity analysis, and enhanced MCAD co-design as their projects evolve. This adaptability ensures that teams can meet increasing design challenges without the need for a complete upgrade. The user experience of Xpedition Standard is designed to be intuitive, with built-in automation that accelerates every stage of PCB development, from schematic capture to manufacturing preparation. The solution also includes integrated real-time component sourcing intelligence, which offers live insights into the supply chain. This feature helps reduce risks associated with component availability and enhances the overall reliability of designs. Xpedition Standard is suitable for a range of projects, from simple circuit boards to more intricate designs, delivering enterprise-grade results without the associated costs and complexities. By empowering growing teams to achieve shorter design cycles and higher first-pass success rates, Xpedition Standard provides a clear and efficient pathway to advanced and enterprise-level Xpedition tiers, all while ensuring data continuity and familiar workflows.

Average Rating: 4.5/5.0

Total Reviews: 13

Altium CircuitMaker

Altium CircuitMaker is the best free-to-use schematic and PCB design tool for the Open Source Hardware community of designers, makers, hobbyists, students and professionals. CircuitMaker delivers powerful autorouting capabilities, hierarchical schematic entry, and Native 3D™ technology that's easily accessible and free to use.

Average Rating: 4.3/5.0

Total Reviews: 110

PADS Professional

PADS Professional PCB software is a comprehensive electronic design automation (EDA) software suite developed by Siemens Digital Industries Software, formerly Mentor Graphics. It provides advanced tools for designing, simulating, verifying, and manufacturing printed circuit boards (PCBs) and electronic systems.

Average Rating: 4.1/5.0

Total Reviews: 65

NI Multisim

Multisim is industry standard SPICE simulation and circuit design software for analog, digital, and power electronics in education and research. Multisim integrates industry standard SPICE simulation with an interactive schematic environment to instantly visualize and analyze electronic circuit behavior. Multisim has an intuitive interface that helps educators reinforce circuit theory and improve retention of theory throughout engineering curriculum. Researchers and designers use Multisim to reduce PCB prototype iterations and save development costs by adding powerful circuit simulation and analyses to the design flow.

Average Rating: 4.3/5.0

Total Reviews: 42

DipTrace

DipTrace is professional PCB design software by Novarm Limited, used by 30,000+ engineers worldwide — from Fortune 500 companies to independent designers. Features include interactive push-and-shove routing and editing — traces and components move fluidly with automatic rerouting — hierarchical multi-sheet schematics, IPC-compliant footprint generator, real-time 3D preview, and direct access to 2M+ components via SnapEDA integration. Supports multi-layer boards with copper pours, differential pairs, and high-speed design rules. Imports Eagle, Altium, KiCad, OrCAD, and other formats. Perpetual license — pay once, no subscription.

Average Rating: 4.3/5.0

Total Reviews: 44

KiCad EDA

KiCad is an open source software suite for Electronic Design Automation (EDA). KiCad handles schematic capture, symbol and footprint library management, PCB Layout with Gerber output and 3d model generation. KiCad runs on Windows, Linux and macOS. KiCad is the most used EDA tool in the world.

Average Rating: 4.5/5.0

Total Reviews: 64

ETAP

ETAP® is a full spectrum analytical engineering software company specializing in the analysis, simulation, monitoring, control, optimization, and automation of electrical power systems. ETAP electrical engineering software offers the best and most comprehensive suite of integrated power system enterprise solution.

Average Rating: 4.3/5.0

Total Reviews: 20

DesignSpark PCB

DesignSpark PCB is a comprehensive printed circuit board (PCB) design software developed to cater to engineers and designers across various experience levels. It offers a robust platform for creating, testing, and finalizing PCB designs without imposing limitations on layers, connections, or schematic sizes. This flexibility ensures that users can undertake projects ranging from simple single-layer boards to complex multi-layered designs. One of the standout features of DesignSpark PCB is its unlimited schematic sheets and PCB layer count, allowing for intricate and expansive designs without constraints. The software supports seamless integration with mechanical design tools and SPICE simulators, facilitating a holistic design process that encompasses both electronic and mechanical aspects. Users can generate manufacturing plots, including Gerber and Excellon files, and produce essential reports such as Bills of Materials (BoM) and generic netlists, streamlining the transition from design to production. The Design Rule Check (DRC) functionality is integral to ensuring design accuracy and manufacturability. By verifying that designs adhere to predefined rules, DRC helps mitigate potential errors that could lead to costly manufacturing issues. Additionally, the software offers pre-plot checks to confirm correct layer selections before generating output files, further enhancing design reliability. For those seeking advanced capabilities, DesignSpark PCB paid subscriptions introduce features like serpentine routing, which is particularly beneficial for high-speed PCB designs requiring precise signal timing. The Archimedean spiral generator facilitates the creation of compact, frequency-independent antenna designs suitable for wide bandwidth wireless communication. An interactive BoM exporter outputs an HTML file with a clickable PCB layout and parts list, simplifying component identification during prototyping. Integration with SnapEDA.com provides users access to millions of CAD models for electronic components. This feature allows for easy searching, previewing, and insertion of schematic symbols and PCB footprints directly into projects, enhancing design efficiency. The software also supports blind and buried vias, essential for high-density PCB designs where space is limited, and differential pairs, which are crucial for maintaining signal integrity in high-quality audio and video applications. DesignSpark PCB is designed with user-friendliness in mind, featuring an intuitive interface that accommodates both novice designers and seasoned professionals. Its professional-grade tools, including unlimited layers and manufacturing-ready outputs, ensure that users have the resources needed to bring their designs to fruition. The software offers a free Explorer plan with no hidden fees, allowing users to start their design journey without financial commitment and upgrade to more advanced plans as needed. Community support is a cornerstone of the DesignSpark ecosystem. Users have access to a vibrant community where they can ask questions, access tutorials, and receive assistance from fellow engineers. This collaborative environment fosters continuous learning and problem-solving, enhancing the overall user experience. In summary, DesignSpark PCB provides a versatile and powerful platform for PCB design, offering a range of features that support the entire design process from conception to production. Its combination of flexibility, advanced tools, and community support makes it a valuable resource for engineers and designers aiming to create high-quality PCB designs efficiently.

Average Rating: 4.3/5.0

Total Reviews: 6

Flux

Flux is browser-based PCB design software (EDA) with a built-in AI copilot that works as a hardware co-designer. It generates schematics from natural-language prompts, selects and places components, routes traces, and runs design rule checks, taking a project from idea to manufacturable board in one tool. There is nothing to install: projects run in the browser with real-time multi-user collaboration. Core capabilities: - AI copilot for schematic generation, part selection, placement, routing, and design review, including full plan-to-layout workflows from a text prompt - Schematic capture and PCB layout with live design rule checks - Real-time collaboration: multiple engineers can work in the same project simultaneously - Component library with sourcing data, plus BOM and Gerber export for manufacturing - Import support for Altium and KiCad projects Flux is used by startups, hardware teams, and individual engineers as an alternative to desktop EDA tools such as Altium Designer and KiCad, and by teams migrating off Autodesk EAGLE after its retirement in June 2026. As of 2026, Flux has 1.1 million registered builders and 6.4 million projects. Pricing: paid plans from $20 to $158 per month, with AI features metered through compute credits included in each plan. Free 14 day trial to start.

Average Rating: 4.2/5.0

Total Reviews: 3

elec calc

elec calc is a calculation software for the design of all types of high and low voltage architecture according to the corresponding national and/or international standards. Its user-friendly interface has been designed to bring flexibility and productivity to the design of your projects. The software will accompany you to ensure both the compliance and optimisation of your installation. Optimised power grid design With elec calc, accurately model your grid architecture to optimise the energy efficiency and reliability of your facilities. Accurate cable sizing Ensure the safety and performance of your electrical systems with cable cross-section calculations that take into account the latest standards and technologies.7 Intelligent Protective Device Selection Simplify your protective equipment selection with an ever-growing multi-manufacturer database for seamless and cost-effective integration. Rigorous Electrical Risk Assessment Accurately assess short-circuit currents, which are critical to the safety of your facilities, controlling risks and ensuring compliance with international safety standards. Features : - Exceptional Compute Performance - Simulation of all operating scenarios - If you draw it, it's calculated - State-of-the-art know-how - An accelerator for your international development - Precision saves money - A real time saver - Enhanced security - A multi-manufacturer catalogue - Easy editing, export and printing The guarantee of personalized assistance. We believe that the key to success for our users is not just our products, but the conjunction of our programs and services. In order to better meet your expectations, Trace Software has set up many services and offers you two levels of contracts; Silver or Gold to better meet your needs while supporting you over the long term. Trace Software solutions are professional programs with a large number of technical features. By subscribing to one of these service contracts, we are committed to supporting you throughout the use of the software and over the entire duration of the contract. They chose elec calc : "In elec calc, it is very easy to manage several operating modes on the same installation as well as several sources" - Study Manager "The elec calc tool is versatile with support for both high and low voltage in the same project, which is a strong point." Design Office Manager

Average Rating: 5.0/5.0

Total Reviews: 2

XFdtd 3D Electromagnetic Simulation Software

XFdtd Electromagnetic Simulation Software is a full wave 3D EM solver for designing and analyzing complex, high-fidelity devices. XF leads the market in FDTD-based modeling and simulation. Why FDTD? The main benefit of the FDTD approach is the excellent scaling performance of the method as the problem size grows. As the number of unknowns increases, the FDTD approach quickly outpaces other methods in efficiency. FDTD has also been identified as the preferred method for performing electromagnetic simulations for biological effects from wireless devices. Applications Include: • Antenna Design and Placement • Automotive Radar • Biomedical EM Analysis • EMI/EMC Testing • Microwave Devices and Waveguides • Radar and Scattering • SAR Validation