# Altium CircuitMaker vs Altium Develop Comparison
---
## AI Generated Summary
- **G2 reviewers report** that Altium Develop excels in providing a unified design environment, allowing users to seamlessly transition from schematic capture to PCB layout. This integration is particularly praised for its real-time collaboration and version control features, which enhance team efficiency during the design process.
- **Users say** that Altium CircuitMaker stands out for its **intuitive interface** and ease of setup, making it a great choice for beginners or those in educational settings. Reviewers appreciate how straightforward the software is, with one user noting it helped them discover their passion for hardware and embedded systems.
- **According to verified reviews** , Altium Develop has a higher overall satisfaction score, reflecting its robust capabilities and support. Users highlight the extensive built-in libraries and modules that streamline project development, allowing for faster and more organized workflows.
- **Reviewers mention** that while Altium CircuitMaker is free and accessible, it may not meet the advanced needs of professional users as effectively as Altium Develop. Users have noted that CircuitMaker is ideal for small businesses and hobbyists, but larger teams may benefit more from the comprehensive features of Altium Develop.
- **G2 reviewers highlight** the quality of support for Altium Develop, with many users appreciating the responsive assistance they receive. In contrast, CircuitMaker users have reported mixed experiences with support, indicating that while the software is user-friendly, additional help may be needed for more complex issues.
- **Users say** that Altium CircuitMaker's powerful layout design tools are a significant advantage, especially for those just starting out. However, Altium Develop's advanced PCB layout editing and schematic capabilities are often cited as superior, with users noting the enhanced precision and control it offers for professional-grade projects.



| | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Star Rating** | 4.3 out of 5 | 4.5 out of 5 | 
| **Total Reviews** | 110 | 1,002 | 
| **Largest Market Segment** | Small-Business (68.2% of reviews) | Small-Business (58.2% of reviews) | 
| **Entry Level Price** | Free | Starting at $1,990.00 Per Year | 

---
## Top Pros & Cons

### Altium CircuitMaker

Pros:
- PCB Design (8 reviews)
- Features (7 reviews)

Cons:
- Slow Rendering (4 reviews)
- Complex Interface (3 reviews)

### Altium Develop

Pros:
- Ease of Use (269 reviews)
- Features (217 reviews)

Cons:
- Learning Curve (93 reviews)
- Expensive (88 reviews)

---
## Ratings Comparison
| Rating | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
  | **Meets Requirements** | 8.5 (93 reviews) | 8.9 (822 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Use** | 8.2 (95 reviews) | 8.1 (840 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Setup** | 8.9 (34 reviews) | 8.3 (378 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Admin** | 8.1 (8 reviews) | 8.3 (137 reviews) | 
  | **Quality of Support** | 7.7 (74 reviews) | 8.3 (736 reviews) | 
  | **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?** | 8.1 (7 reviews) | 8.5 (131 reviews) | 
  | **Product Direction (% positive)** | 7.8 (97 reviews) | 8.9 (803 reviews) | 

---
## Pricing

### Altium CircuitMaker

#### Entry-Level Pricing

Plan: CircuitMaker

Price: Free

Description: CircuitMaker is the best free-to-use schematic and PCB design tool for the Open Source Hardware community.

Key Features:
- Unlimited Access and Free to Use
- Comprehensive Component Library
- Sharing and Collaboration Made Easy with Altium 365

[Learn more about Altium CircuitMaker](https://www.g2.com/products/altium-circuitmaker/reviews)

#### Free Trial

Yes

### Altium Develop

#### Entry-Level Pricing

Plan: Altium Develop Pricing

Price: Starting at $1,990.00 Per Year

Description: Altium Develop offers subscription-based pricing starting at $1,990 per year per workspace, which includes one ECAD Design Author seat and a shared collaboration workspace for projects, libraries, and design data. Additional ECAD Design Author seats can be added for $995 per user per year, with support for up to four additional authors per workspace. The platform also includes unlimited free collaborator access for review, commenting, task management, and BOM visibility at no extra cost. This pricing model is designed to help teams scale design capacity through a per-seat subscription while enabling broad cross-functional collaboration without increasing overall costs.

Key Features:
- Unified Workspace & Collaboration: Cloud-based platform (Altium 365) for PCB design, schematics, MCAD models, and BOMs with real-time collaboration across teams
- Component & Library Management: Centralized component libraries with traceability, lifecycle management, and part request workflows
- Advanced PCB Design: Support for high-speed PCB design, HDI, rigid-flex, and 3D-MID using Altium Designer

[Learn more about Altium Develop](https://www.g2.com/products/altium-develop/reviews)

#### Free Trial

Yes

---
## Features Comparison By Category

### General-Purpose CAD

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Altium CircuitMaker** | N/A | N/A |
| **Altium Develop** | 8.4/10 | 82 |

#### Design

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Drawing** | Not enough data | 8.5 (75 reviews) | 
| **Modeling** | Not enough data | 8.3 (72 reviews) | 
| **Visualize ** | Not enough data | 8.6 (73 reviews) | 
| **Rendering** | Not enough data | 8.2 (71 reviews) | 

#### Edit

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **File Import ** | Not enough data | 8.0 (71 reviews) | 
| **Push/Pull** | Not enough data | 8.1 (65 reviews) | 
| **Views** | Not enough data | 8.8 (69 reviews) | 
| **Grips ** | Not enough data | 8.0 (63 reviews) | 

#### Collaboration

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Annotate** | Not enough data | 8.7 (67 reviews) | 
| **Documentation ** | Not enough data | 8.5 (68 reviews) | 
| **Data Extract** | Not enough data | 8.2 (64 reviews) | 

### Product Data Management (PDM)

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Altium CircuitMaker** | N/A | N/A |
| **Altium Develop** | 8.5/10 | 44 |

#### Metadata

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Repository** | Not enough data | 8.4 (39 reviews) | 
| **Taxonomy** | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 
| **Types** | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 

#### Data Management

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Version Control** | Not enough data | 8.5 (43 reviews) | 
| **Alignment** | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 
| **Workflows** | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 
| **Lifecycle** | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 

#### Generative AI

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **AI Text Summarization** | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 
| **AI Image-to-Text** | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 

### PCB Design

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Altium CircuitMaker** | 8.3/10 | 91 |
| **Altium Develop** | 8.7/10 | 730 |

#### Design

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **PCB layout editing** | 8.8 (84 reviews) | 9.1 (688 reviews) | 
| **Schematic editor** | 8.8 (83 reviews) | 9.2 (681 reviews) | 

#### Tools

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **3D modeling tools** | 7.5 (68 reviews) | 7.6 (633 reviews) | 
| **Component placement** | 8.6 (84 reviews) | 8.9 (664 reviews) | 

#### Library

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Component libraries** | 7.6 (82 reviews) | 8.3 (681 reviews) | 

#### Platform

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Board size** | 8.5 (80 reviews) | 9.1 (664 reviews) | 
| **Layers** | 8.5 (80 reviews) | 9.2 (667 reviews) | 

#### Customization

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Custom interface** | Feature Not Available | 7.8 (584 reviews) | 

### Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Altium CircuitMaker** | N/A | N/A |
| **Altium Develop** | 8.0/10 | 23 |

#### Tools - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **3D/solid modeling Tools** | Not enough data | 8.3 (20 reviews) | 
| **Rendering Tools** | Not enough data | 8.1 (19 reviews) | 
| **Drawing Tools** | Not enough data | 8.7 (17 reviews) | 
| **Editing Tools** | Not enough data | 8.4 (18 reviews) | 
| **Text Editing Tools** | Not enough data | 7.7 (17 reviews) | 

#### File Options - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Export Files** | Not enough data | 8.4 (18 reviews) | 
| **Import Files** | Not enough data | 8.2 (17 reviews) | 
| **File Interoperability** | Not enough data | 8.0 (17 reviews) | 
| **Backwards compatibility** | Not enough data | 8.5 (17 reviews) | 
| **File size** | Not enough data | 9.2 (16 reviews) | 

#### Customization - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Custom Commands** | Not enough data | Feature Not Available | 
| **Custom Scripts** | Not enough data | 7.2 (15 reviews) | 
| **Custom Menus** | Not enough data | 7.4 (16 reviews) | 
| **Custom Interface** | Not enough data | 7.6 (16 reviews) | 

#### Environment - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

| Feature | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Hardware support** | Not enough data | 8.3 (17 reviews) | 
| **Task-based interfaces** | Not enough data | 8.2 (15 reviews) | 
| **Manage Multiple Profiles** | Not enough data | 8.2 (16 reviews) | 
| **Command Clarity** | Not enough data | 8.8 (16 reviews) | 

---
## Categories
**Shared Categories (1):** [PCB Design Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/pcb-design)


**Unique to Altium Develop (3):** [General-Purpose CAD Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/general-purpose-cad), [Product Data Management (PDM) Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/product-data-management-pdm), [Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD) Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/mechanical-computer-aided-design-mcad)


---
## Reviewer Demographics

### By Company Size

| Segment | Altium CircuitMaker | Altium Develop | 
|---|---|---|
| **Small-Business** | 68.2% | 58.2% | 
| **Mid-Market** | 15.5% | 29.6% | 
| **Enterprise** | 16.4% | 12.2% | 

### By Industry

#### Altium CircuitMaker

- **Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing:** 27.3%
- **Consumer Electronics:** 14.5%
- **Higher Education:** 5.5%
- **Aviation & Aerospace:** 4.5%
- **Computer Hardware:** 4.5%
- **Automotive:** 3.6%
- **Medical Devices:** 3.6%
- **Mechanical or Industrial Engineering:** 3.6%
- **Information Technology and Services:** 3.6%
- **Education Management:** 2.7%
- **Other:** 26.4%

#### Altium Develop

- **Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing:** 22.1%
- **Automotive:** 10.9%
- **Consumer Electronics:** 10.2%
- **Aviation & Aerospace:** 6.4%
- **Medical Devices:** 6.3%
- **Industrial Automation:** 4.1%
- **Research:** 3.4%
- **Higher Education:** 3.2%
- **Computer Hardware:** 3.0%
- **Design:** 2.5%
- **Other:** 28.1%

---
## Alternatives

### Alternatives to Altium CircuitMaker

- [KiCad EDA](https://www.g2.com/products/kicad-eda/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (68 reviews)
- [EasyEDA](https://www.g2.com/products/easyeda/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (20 reviews)
- [Autodesk Fusion](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-fusion/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (519 reviews)
- [Autodesk EAGLE](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-eagle/reviews) — 4.0/5 stars (77 reviews)
- [SOLIDWORKS](https://www.g2.com/products/solidworks/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (643 reviews)
- [Onshape](https://www.g2.com/products/onshape/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (695 reviews)
- [DipTrace](https://www.g2.com/products/diptrace/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (45 reviews)
- [Cadence PSpice](https://www.g2.com/products/cadence-pspice/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (11 reviews)
- [SolidWorks PCB](https://www.g2.com/products/solidworks-pcb/reviews) — 3.8/5 stars (14 reviews)
- [PADS Professional](https://www.g2.com/products/pads-professional/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (65 reviews)

### Alternatives to Altium Develop

- [Autodesk Fusion](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-fusion/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (519 reviews)
- [AutoCAD](https://www.g2.com/products/autocad/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (1934 reviews)
- [Onshape](https://www.g2.com/products/onshape/reviews) — 4.7/5 stars (695 reviews)
- [SOLIDWORKS](https://www.g2.com/products/solidworks/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (643 reviews)
- [Designcenter Solid Edge](https://www.g2.com/products/designcenter-solid-edge/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (606 reviews)
- [Designcenter NX](https://www.g2.com/products/designcenter-nx/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (598 reviews)
- [Inventor](https://www.g2.com/products/inventor/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (440 reviews)
- [SketchUp](https://www.g2.com/products/sketchup/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (1325 reviews)
- [Autodesk EAGLE](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-eagle/reviews) — 4.0/5 stars (77 reviews)
- [KiCad EDA](https://www.g2.com/products/kicad-eda/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (68 reviews)

---
## Top Discussions

### Altium CircuitMaker

- Title: [What does Altium software do?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/altium-circuitmaker-what-does-altium-software-do) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "Hi there, Altium makes software for PCB designers and engineers to create printed circuit boards (PCBs). Altium's flagship product is Altium Designer,..."
- Title: [What does Altium software do?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-does-altium-software-do) — 1 comment *(includes official response)*
  > **Top comment:** "Comment deleted by user."
- Title: [Is Altium CircuitMaker good?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-altium-circuitmaker-good) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "It's the best solution out there for small hobbyist or designers.  I've seen other and they do not come close to Altium CM"

### Altium Develop

- Title: [Who uses Altium?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/who-uses-altium) — 3 comments *(includes official response)*
  > **Top comment:** "Altium Designer is used mainly by those who create and work with printed circuit boards or PCBs. All electrical products, computers, toasters, remotes, and..."
- Title: [Is Altium Designer free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-altium-designer-free) — 3 comments
  > **Top comment:** "No, Altium Designer is not free but there is a free viewer that can be downloaded. "
- Title: [What is Altium Designer used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-altium-designer-used-for) — 3 comments
  > **Top comment:** "Altium Desinger is a complete PCB (Printed Circuit Board) design software package, which includes Schematic Capture, PCB Layout, Libraries, Manufacturing..."
- Title: [Is there a way to modelize in 3D the Pcb designs?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/36429-is-there-a-way-to-modelize-in-3d-the-pcb-designs) — 3 comments, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "No or Yes, you can only place 3D bodies for components in PCB and get 3D view of your design. I think by placing components are your will. yes you can..."
- Title: [What is Altium 365 used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-altium-365-used-for) — 2 comments
  > **Top comment:** "Create circuit design & PCB Design"

---
**Source:** [G2.com](https://www.g2.com) | [Comparison Page](https://www.g2.com/compare/altium-circuitmaker-vs-altium-develop)