--- title: Altium Develop Reviews meta_title: 'Altium Develop Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 1050 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Altium Develop works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.5 review_count: 1050 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-08-07' parent_category: name: CAD url: https://www.g2.com/categories/cad --- # Altium Develop Reviews **Vendor:** Altium **Category:** [PCB Design Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/pcb-design) **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 1,050 ## About 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. ## Altium Develop Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users value the **intuitive ease of use** of Altium Develop, enhancing their PCB design efficiency and workflow. (272 reviews) - Users love the **extensive collaboration features** of Altium Develop, enhancing teamwork and speeding up design processes. (218 reviews) - Users appreciate the **user-friendly interface** of Altium Designer, praising its ease of use and seamless integration. (145 reviews) - Users value the **collaborative environment** of Altium Develop, enhancing teamwork during design and prototype testing. (136 reviews) - Users praise Altium Develop for its **efficiency** , with streamlined workflows and quick project setup enhancing productivity. (101 reviews) - User Interface (92 reviews) - Sharing (86 reviews) - Customer Support (82 reviews) - Users find Altium Develop to be incredibly **intuitive** , facilitating faster PCB design with helpful features and shortcuts. (82 reviews) - Library Management (82 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users face a **steep learning curve** with Altium Develop, requiring considerable time to gain proficiency. (93 reviews) - Users find Altium Develop **expensive** , which hinders access for hobbyists and beginners trying to enter the ecosystem. (91 reviews) - Users find Altium Develop's **missing features** frustrating, limiting options for editing and project management capabilities. (65 reviews) - Users find the **complex interface** challenging, needing more intuitive menus and tutorials for better usability. (57 reviews) - Users experience **slow performance** with Altium Develop, particularly during internet-dependent tasks and project loading times. (51 reviews) - Users report **performance issues** with Altium Develop, including bugs, crashes, and slowdowns on large projects. (48 reviews) - Learning Difficulty (46 reviews) - Software Bugs (40 reviews) - Lack of Features (36 reviews) - Complexity (35 reviews) ## Altium Develop Reviews ### 1. Reliable for Complex Projects, But Needs Improved Drawings **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 16, 2026 **What do you like best about Altium Develop?** I like the fact that every time I have a complicated constraint, I usually find it. Not necessarily easily, but I always find it. I also appreciate the depths of the software where I can always find a way to do complicated things such as completely gated ground stitching or dealing with ground pores. **What do you dislike about Altium Develop?** I find the drawing tools in Altium Develop very cumbersome, especially compared to SolidWorks, which I also heavily use. When I draw a footprint, I'd prefer to do it like in SolidWorks, where I can pull a datasheet, draw a quick hand sketch, and apply constraints directly. I wish Altium could interpret a rough sketch and convert it into a proper footprint, just like SolidWorks does. Another frustration is the seat availability issue, which occasionally prevents me from saving my project. This has happened a couple of times and is quite frustrating, as it leads to losing work when the seat isn't available, and I can't save. Moreover, it happened a few times when I forgot to close it, causing me to lose my work by not being able to save. **What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Altium Develop because I've been trained on it. It helps me find solutions for complex constraints in PCB design, like gated ground stitching, even if it's not easy. ### 2. Great Features but Frustrating Usability **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Francois G. | Director of Operations, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 07, 2026 **What do you like best about Altium Develop?** I appreciate the integration of MCAD with ECAD and find the software to be robust with lots of functionality. I like that Git diff finally works. **What do you dislike about Altium Develop?** Everything is cloud based, which means more manipulations. The seat assignments are atrocious; I always have to restart to refresh the seat availability. The initial setup wasn't great because I lost some beta features I was testing. **What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Altium Develop for integrating MCAD with ECAD, and I find it to be robust with lots of functionalities. The Git diff feature finally works well. **Official Response from Alanna Jordan:** > Hi Francois. We're glad to hear that you appreciate the integration of MCAD with ECAD and the robust functionality of our software. We understand your frustration with the cloud-based system and seat assignments, and we are constantly working to improve the user experience. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the initial setup and the loss of beta features. Your feedback is valuable to us and will be taken into consideration for future improvements. ### 3. Buggy, Crash-Prone, and Not Worth the License Cost **Rating:** 1.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 12, 2026 **What do you like best about Altium Develop?** Altium is not good software, and it is definitely not worth the money that the license costs. **What do you dislike about Altium Develop?** It's free, has bugs, and crashes with data loss. **What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I design in Altium Electronics together with my team and clients, but I think that soon I will consider moving to a different environment. **Official Response from Alanna Jordan:** > We apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced with Altium. We take your feedback seriously and are constantly working to improve the stability and performance of our software. Please reach out to our customer support team for assistance with any data loss or bugs you have encountered. ### 4. Don't use anything else but please pay extra. **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Daniel A. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 08, 2023 **What do you like best about Altium Develop?** Altium 365 makes it really easy to collaborate and work on a design as a team. To be able to share a PCB design and interactively place comments is really a step forward in the workflow in the case where different people work on different parts of the circuit and for reviews. The built in version control makes it easy to take a step back if an intended improvement did not turn out as planned. **What do you dislike about Altium Develop?** Altium promotes using Altium365 in almost all of its beginner level tutorials without showing up the many alternatives that do not require pushing your data to a cloud. This makes it really hard for someone to understand the way most people use Altium as 365 is not so widespread. If one wants to benefit from a online library one has to pay extra even if a good library management is a very basic feature of a good EDA program. **What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?** We collaborate with other firms that review designs that we made and design subsystems for our product on their one. This makes it essential that data is easy to exchange between the two parties and everyone has the latest version at any time. ### 5. It's a nice beginner tool. **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Hardware | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 06, 2019 **What do you like best about Altium Develop?** Simple, easy to use. I'd call it a commando tool (drop in, do the job, leave quickly), but with all it's limitations in the long run. **What do you dislike about Altium Develop?** Technical capabilities are far-far away from market leader CAD softwares. **Recommendations to others considering Altium Develop:** it is good for the beginning, but painfull to shift to bigger cad systems later... **What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I was using it for small to medium complexiti PCB design. ## Altium Develop Discussions - [How to import and convert the OrCAD (allegro) GERBER to Altium PCB file? (reverse OrCAD GERBER to Altium PCB )?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-to-import-and-convert-the-orcad-allegro-gerber-to-altium-pcb-file-reverse-orcad-gerber-to-altium-pcb) - 2 comments, 1 upvote - [How do I format symbol parameters from a database library?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-do-i-format-symbol-parameters-from-a-database-library) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [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 - [How do I write scripts for example.. transform a jpeg to a logo on a silk layer.](https://www.g2.com/discussions/13888-how-do-i-write-scripts-for-example-transform-a-jpeg-to-a-logo-on-a-silk-layer) - 2 comments, 1 upvote - [What is Altium 365 used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-altium-365-used-for) - 2 comments - [View Altium Develop pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/altium-develop/reviews?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=2§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-09+05%3A18%3A43+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=3ebf7502-aead-4b42-8df6-8d64e086592d&secure%5Btoken%5D=7eb9dc098d8a3c3863552cda1f20118113f64ce6c5c4a94511a45f39371861ef&format=llm_user) ## Altium Develop Integrations - [Autodesk EAGLE](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-eagle/reviews) - [FreeCAD](https://www.g2.com/products/freecad/reviews) - [Google Drive & Docs for Confluence](https://www.g2.com/products/google-drive-docs-for-confluence/reviews) - [Jira](https://www.g2.com/products/jira/reviews) - [Know Your Customer](https://www.g2.com/products/know-your-customer/reviews) - [Microsoft Access](https://www.g2.com/products/microsoft-access/reviews) - [Onshape](https://www.g2.com/products/onshape/reviews) - [Oracle Database](https://www.g2.com/products/oracle-database/reviews) - [Power Analyzer](https://www.g2.com/products/power-analyzer/reviews) - [SAS/OR](https://www.g2.com/products/sas-or/reviews) ## Altium Develop Features **Design** - Drawing - Modeling - Visualize - Rendering **Metadata** - Repository **Design** - PCB layout editing - Schematic editor **Tools - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)** - 3D/solid modeling Tools - Rendering Tools - Drawing Tools - Editing Tools - Text Editing Tools **Requirements Authoring and Structure - Requirements Management** - Structured Requirements Authoring - Hierarchical Requirements Organization **Compliance and Governance - Requirement Management** - Regulated Industry Standards Support **Edit** - File Import - Push/Pull - Views - Grips **Data Management** - Version Control **Tools** - 3D modeling tools - Component placement **Administration** - Requirements Listing - Centralized Information - Traceability **File Options - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)** - Export Files - Import Files - File Interoperability - Backwards compatibility - File size **Collaboration and Review - Requirements Management** - Review and Approval Workflows - Role-Based Access Control **Collaboration** - Annotate - Documentation - Data Extract **Library** - Component libraries **Communication** - Stakeholder Communication - Internal Communication Enablement **Generative AI** - Generative AI **Customization - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)** - Custom Scripts - Custom Menus - Custom Interface **Role-Based Access Co - Requirements Management** - Baselining **Additional Functionality** - Document Automation - Revision History - Audit Trail - Data Visualization - File Management - Supplier Management - Customizable Templates - Compliance Management - Search/Filter - Activity Dashboard - Workflow Management - Data Synchronization - Collaboration Tools - Performance Metrics - Third-Party Integrations - AI Copilot - Document Management - Customizable Branding - Multi-Language - Bills of Material - Configuration Management - Template Management - Parts Management - Catalog Management - Drag & Drop - File Sharing - Change Management - Reporting & Statistics - Multi-CAD editing - For Manufacturers - Data Storage Management - Design Management - Content Management - Data Import/Export - API - Access Controls/Permissions - Product Lifecycle Management - Document Classification - Multi-Channel Management - Metadata Management - Cost Tracking - Requirements Management - Commenting/Notes **Additional Functionality** - API - Image Editing - Activity Dashboard - Animation - Reference Management - Secure Data Storage - Third-Party Integrations - Configuration Management - Annotations - Drag & Drop - Data Synchronization - For 3D Printing - Customizable Templates - Modeling & Simulation - For Manufacturers - Multiple Format Support - Workflow Management - Version Control - Document Management - Sketching and Annotation Tools - Multiple Projects - For Architects - Content Library - Bill of Materials Management - Collaboration Tools - Design Management - Rules-Based Workflow - Reporting/Analytics - Data Visualization - Generative AI - Data Capture and Transfer - Projections - AI Copilot - Real Time Comparisons - Document Generation - Component Library - Compliance Management - Customizable Branding - File Management - Real-Time Updates - Configurable Workflow **Platform** - Board size - Layers **Procedural** - Automated Creation & Testing **Environment - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)** - Hardware support - Task-based interfaces - Manage Multiple Profiles - Command Clarity **Traceability - Requirements Management** - Bidirectional Traceability - Impact Analysis - Traceability Matrix Generation **Customization** - Custom interface **AI Traceability - Requirements Management** - Suspect Link Detection **Integration - Requirements Management** - ALM and Project Management Tool Integration **Change Management and Version Control - Requirements Management** - Complete Audit Trail **Additional Functionality** - Document Management - Requirements Review - Data Visualization - File Management - Stakeholder Defined Attributes - AI Copilot - Access Controls/Permissions - Lifecycle Management - Document Storage - Communication Management - Compliance Management - Application Management - Collaboration Tools - Real-Time Data - Version Control - Status Tracking - Commenting/Notes - Customizable Fields - Task Progress Tracking - Projections - Real-Time Updates - Bug Tracking - Project Workflow - Activity Tracking - Workflow Management - Prioritization - Project Tracking - To-Do List - API - Activity Dashboard - Customizable Templates - Assessment Management - Generative AI - Change Management - Configurable Workflow - Agile Methodologies - Customizable Reports - Reporting/Analytics - Budgeting/Forecasting - Third-Party Integrations - Task Management - Template Management - @mentions - Task Planning - Drag & Drop - Progress Tracking - Project Planning - Multiple Projects - Data Import/Export ## Top Altium Develop Alternatives - [Autodesk Fusion](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-fusion/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (510 reviews) - [AutoCAD](https://www.g2.com/products/autocad/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (1,841 reviews) - [Onshape](https://www.g2.com/products/onshape/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (712 reviews)