# Altium Develop vs KiCad EDA Comparison
---
## AI Generated Summary
- **G2 reviewers report** that KiCad EDA is an excellent choice for beginners, highlighting its **free access** and the abundance of online tutorials that make it easy to learn. Users appreciate its ability to quickly launch prototypes and small pilot runs, making it a practical option for small businesses.
- **Users say** that Altium Develop excels in providing a **unified design environment** , where schematic capture, PCB layout, and design verification occur seamlessly in one place. This integration, along with real-time collaboration features, significantly enhances team efficiency, according to recent feedback.
- **Reviewers mention** that while KiCad EDA offers a high ease of setup, making it user-friendly for newcomers, Altium Develop's setup process is slightly more complex, which may require additional time for teams to adapt to its advanced features.
- **According to verified reviews** , Altium Develop stands out with its robust **component libraries** and extensive built-in modules, which help users build projects faster and with less confusion. This is particularly beneficial for teams working on complex designs.
- **G2 reviewers highlight** that KiCad EDA's strong community support and low cost are significant advantages, especially for small businesses. Users feel that the software is a great tool for designing various prototypes without the financial burden.
- **Users report** that Altium Develop's collaboration tools, such as the Altium 365 web portal, greatly simplify sharing and managing design versions, reducing the risk of confusion over file versions. This feature is particularly praised for enhancing teamwork and project management.



| | Altium Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
| **Star Rating** | 4.5 out of 5 | 4.5 out of 5 | 
| **Total Reviews** | 1,000 | 68 | 
| **Largest Market Segment** | Small-Business (58.2% of reviews) | Small-Business (84.1% of reviews) | 
| **Entry Level Price** | Starting at $1,990.00 Per Year | Free | 

---
## Top Pros & Cons

### Altium Develop

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

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

### KiCad EDA

Pros:
- Ease of Use (2 reviews)
- Library Management (2 reviews)

Cons:
- Cloud Issues (1 reviews)
- Inefficient Autorouting (1 reviews)

---
## Ratings Comparison
| Rating | Altium Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
  | **Meets Requirements** | 8.9 (820 reviews) | 8.4 (49 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Use** | 8.1 (838 reviews) | 8.6 (51 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Setup** | 8.3 (376 reviews) | 9.3 (10 reviews) | 
  | **Ease of Admin** | 8.3 (137 reviews) | Not enough data | 
  | **Quality of Support** | 8.3 (734 reviews) | 7.9 (38 reviews) | 
  | **Has the product been a good partner in doing business?** | 8.5 (131 reviews) | Not enough data | 
  | **Product Direction (% positive)** | 8.9 (801 reviews) | 8.7 (46 reviews) | 

---
## Pricing

### 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

### KiCad EDA

#### Entry-Level Pricing

Plan: OSS Edition

Price: Free

Description: KiCad is Open Source software.  We offer world-class EDA design tools that are free to use, now and forever.

Key Features:
- 100k+ Symbol and footprint library
- 10k+ 3d Models
- Fast, responsive interface

[Browse all 2 editions](https://www.g2.com/products/kicad-eda/pricing)

#### Free Trial

Yes

---
## Features Comparison By Category

### General-Purpose CAD

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

#### Design

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

#### Edit

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

#### Collaboration

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

### Product Data Management (PDM)

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Altium Develop** | 8.5/10 | 43 |
| **KiCad EDA** | N/A | N/A |

#### Metadata

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

#### Data Management

| Feature | Altium Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
| **Version Control** | 8.5 (42 reviews) | Not enough data | 
| **Alignment** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 
| **Workflows** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 
| **Lifecycle** | Feature Not Available | Not enough data | 

#### Generative AI

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

### PCB Design

| Product | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| **Altium Develop** | 8.7/10 | 728 |
| **KiCad EDA** | 8.0/10 | 41 |

#### Design

| Feature | Altium Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
| **PCB layout editing** | 9.1 (686 reviews) | 8.1 (39 reviews) | 
| **Schematic editor** | 9.2 (679 reviews) | 8.3 (39 reviews) | 

#### Tools

| Feature | Altium Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
| **3D modeling tools** | 7.6 (632 reviews) | 6.6 (31 reviews) | 
| **Component placement** | 8.9 (664 reviews) | 8.4 (37 reviews) | 

#### Library

| Feature | Altium Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
| **Component libraries** | 8.3 (679 reviews) | 7.7 (36 reviews) | 

#### Platform

| Feature | Altium Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
| **Board size** | 9.1 (663 reviews) | 8.6 (36 reviews) | 
| **Layers** | 9.2 (666 reviews) | 8.6 (36 reviews) | 

#### Customization

| Feature | Altium Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
| **Custom commands** | Feature Not Available | 7.6 (27 reviews) | 
| **Custom interface** | 7.8 (584 reviews) | Feature Not Available | 

### Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---
## 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 Develop | KiCad EDA | 
|---|---|---|
| **Small-Business** | 58.2% | 84.1% | 
| **Mid-Market** | 29.6% | 11.1% | 
| **Enterprise** | 12.2% | 4.8% | 

### By Industry

#### Altium Develop

- **Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing:** 22.1%
- **Automotive:** 10.9%
- **Consumer Electronics:** 10.2%
- **Medical Devices:** 6.3%
- **Aviation & Aerospace:** 6.3%
- **Industrial Automation:** 4.1%
- **Research:** 3.4%
- **Higher Education:** 3.2%
- **Computer Hardware:** 3.0%
- **Design:** 2.5%
- **Other:** 28.0%

#### KiCad EDA

- **Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing:** 41.3%
- **Consumer Electronics:** 12.7%
- **Design:** 7.9%
- **Research:** 6.3%
- **Automotive:** 4.8%
- **Higher Education:** 4.8%
- **Industrial Automation:** 4.8%
- **Education Management:** 3.2%
- **Information Services:** 1.6%
- **Information Technology and Services:** 1.6%
- **Other:** 11.1%

---
## Alternatives

### Alternatives to Altium Develop

- [Autodesk Fusion](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-fusion/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (518 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 (603 reviews)
- [Designcenter NX](https://www.g2.com/products/designcenter-nx/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (550 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 (1324 reviews)
- [Autodesk EAGLE](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-eagle/reviews) — 4.0/5 stars (77 reviews)
- [PADS Professional](https://www.g2.com/products/pads-professional/reviews) — 4.1/5 stars (64 reviews)

### Alternatives to KiCad EDA

- [Autodesk Fusion](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-fusion/reviews) — 4.5/5 stars (518 reviews)
- [Altium CircuitMaker](https://www.g2.com/products/altium-circuitmaker/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (110 reviews)
- [Autodesk EAGLE](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-eagle/reviews) — 4.0/5 stars (77 reviews)
- [DipTrace](https://www.g2.com/products/diptrace/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (45 reviews)
- [NI Multisim](https://www.g2.com/products/ni-multisim/reviews) — 4.3/5 stars (42 reviews)
- [OrCAD Capture](https://www.g2.com/products/orcad-capture/reviews) — 4.2/5 stars (34 reviews)
- [EasyEDA](https://www.g2.com/products/easyeda/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (20 reviews)
- [SolidWorks PCB](https://www.g2.com/products/solidworks-pcb/reviews) — 3.8/5 stars (14 reviews)
- [ExpressPCB Plus](https://www.g2.com/products/expresspcb-plus/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (29 reviews)
- [Allegro X PCB Designer](https://www.g2.com/products/allegro-x-pcb-designer/reviews) — 4.4/5 stars (30 reviews)

---
## Top Discussions

### 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"

### KiCad EDA

- Title: [What is the best EDA software?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-the-best-eda-software) — 1 comment
  > **Top comment:** "KiCad"
- Title: [How can I turn on only the radsnet of the component I am moving?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/36347-how-can-i-turn-on-only-the-radsnet-of-the-component-i-am-moving) — 1 comment, 1 upvote
  > **Top comment:** "Yes you can. If you open Pcbnew, go to the right-hand side toolbar and you will see some tools. The first one (top) is the arrow key for "Select item". The..."

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