---
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: '2026-08-04'
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&#39;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. Complete PCB Library That Speeds Up Team Collaboration

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 07, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It has a complete library for PCB designing, and it makes project development faster in our process. We use it with the whole team, which helps avoid misunderstandings and reduces any lack of communication.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

There are no pre-created basic templates, and the customization options are almost nonexistent. Pricing is also a big issue for us as we build larger projects, and sometimes it lags when handling connections.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

We were lacking in fast development and in tracking progress across our ongoing projects. With the help of this, we’re now able to use PCB design kits more effectively and speed up our development.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> It's great to hear that Altium Develop is helping you to track progress and speed up development. We understand the importance of pricing and performance, and we are continuously working to enhance these aspects of our product. Thank you for your feedback.

  ### 2. Great Cross-Functional Collaboration, But Occasional Slowness and Support Delays

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Joe C. | Sales &amp; Technology Leadership – Enterprise &amp; Public Sector, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 09, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Collaboration with cross functional disciplines.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It's a bit slow at times, technical support also lags when an issue arises.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Allowing the team to stay in tune with the projects and collaborate effectively.

  ### 3. Best Tool for Real-Time PCB Model Collaboration

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Internet | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** June 09, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

This is the best tool for developing PCB models and reviewing them directly with the team, without wasting time on revisions. All team members can see the progress in real time on the platform, all in one place.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

The biggest drawback is the plan and licensing pricing, which feels too high for smaller projects. Also, the integrations are very hard to understand.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

All PCB components are available in one place, which helps us develop faster and finalize projects in less time, with fewer errors.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> It's great to hear that Altium Develop has been beneficial for your team in developing PCB models and collaborating in real time. We take your feedback about pricing and integrations seriously and are continuously working to enhance our offerings to better serve our users.

  ### 4. Highly Functional with Room for Stability Improvements

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Aiden V. | Hardware &amp; Software Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 29, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

I like that Altium Develop makes circuit boards. I also appreciate the eCAD integrations, as they make it easier to do cross-team development with 3D models. The initial setup of Altium Develop was easy.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

I find the crashing, specifically in ActiveBOM and in the Explorer, to be problematic. It would be better if it could limit and cache queries to Database Libraries instead of querying on every navigation.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

I use Altium Develop for circuit board creation. The eCAD integrations make cross-team development with 3D models easier.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi Aiden. We appreciate your positive feedback about Altium Develop's circuit board creation capabilities and eCAD integrations. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the stability issues you've encountered. Our team is actively addressing these concerns to enhance the overall user experience. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

  ### 5. Easy Collaboration for Fast, Manufacturing-Ready PCBA Designs

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Arpad K. | Cofounder and CTO, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 17, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Easy to collaborate with others and quickly create PCBA designs for manufacturing.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Learning curve for using Altium tools is high.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Altium Develop solves the problem of integrating multiple tools such as Development, Supply chain/sourcing, requirements setting, and manufacturing in one central tool for a good value.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your experience with Altium Develop! We're thrilled to hear that you find the integrated cloud access feature beneficial for your workflow and collaboration needs. We appreciate your feedback regarding the syncing issues and bugs you've encountered. Our team is constantly working on improving the software's performance and reliability. If you encounter any further issues or have suggestions for enhancement, please feel free to reach out to our support team. 

  ### 6. Intuitive and effective PCB design software

**Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consumer Electronics | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 16, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Fluid and intuitive system from making parts, schematics, and PCB layout.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Restricts part creation templates and lifecycle control in a arbitrary way, only available higher plans.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Gives full control of the design process in a intuitive way. Simple designs can have simple design rules, complicated designs can have complicated design rules. No need for work arounds or manual methods.

  ### 7. Great UI and Value, but Cloud-Only Setup and Support Need Improvement

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Hardware | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 09, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

cost and functionality.
UI UX good, pricing is good, 
The differential track placement is good. Integrated SI and PDN is good

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

support is awful. The cloud only aspect created a lot of headaches. Additionally, altium not knowing their product offerings prior to launch was awful for customers. Had no idea what we were buy/getting quotes for

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

building complex high speed boards

  ### 8. All-in-One PCB Design Platform That Streamlines Our Workflow

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in E-Learning | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** June 02, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It offers schematic capture, PCB layout, component management, and design validation all in one platform. It has really helped us streamline our process and keep everything in one place.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It is very hard to use in the beginning, because there is a very complex setup to learn. Licensing is also very costly for smaller teams.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It solves the challenges of managing PCB workflows by providing a unified platform for design, validation, and collaboration. It also helps us reduce errors.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We appreciate your feedback on Altium. It's great to hear that our platform has been beneficial in streamlining your process and providing a unified solution for PCB design. We understand the challenges of the initial learning curve and cost, and we're continuously working to enhance the user experience and offer more accessible pricing options.

  ### 9. Fast, Reliable Software with an Amazing Library Manager

**Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Jacopo G. | Elcrical engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 02, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It’s a fast and reliable software. Library manager is amazing.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It’s pretty expensive for one licence use

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

The library manager is reliable and very powerful

  ### 10. 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.

  ### 11. Pro-Level Features at a Great Price for Small Teams

**Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Industrial Automation | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 28, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

The feature set is just what a smaller team needs - and at a very reasonable price. Nod bad for a real pro tool!

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Every now and then I run into some weird issues - keyboard shortcuts not working, editor/license seat not working after a network connection reset

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Altium Develop provides us with the complete EDA toolkit - from requirements management to design, component management, lifecycle management and teamwork facilitation - all in one reasonably priced package

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for your positive feedback on our feature set and pricing. We're sorry to hear about the issues you've encountered with keyboard shortcuts and editor/license seat. Our team is committed to addressing these issues, and we appreciate your patience as we work to improve the user experience.

  ### 12. Best Digitalized PCB Platform with Rich Libraries That Speeds Up Project Builds

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Airlines/Aviation | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** March 06, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It is giving best digitalized PCB platform with lots of in built library and modules. After started using it we are building projects faster without any confusion and delay. From planning to final project it is helping us throughout in the documentation to building the project bit by bit

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

We tried this on large scale but some projects are not getting saved automatically because of heavy size of them. Also the integration part is not up to mark it is very lengthy

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Now we don't have to keep lots of documentation to track and build PCB projects just Altium develop is helping us in one place. Also PCB library has all versions and needed inbuilt library.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hello, thank you for sharing your review! We're glad to hear that Altium Develop has helped you speed up your project builds with its digitalized PCB platform and rich libraries. We appreciate your feedback and are continuously working to improve our integration and automatic saving features to better accommodate large-scale projects. Thank you again for sharing your experience.

  ### 13. Covering the Entire Design Flow with Ease

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 02, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

I like that Altium Develop fully covers the entire design flow, from the initial schematic to 3D and very technical aspects of PCBs. It makes it easy to make modifications or adapt, especially the mechanical part.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

I believe that the integration of AI to assist in electronic design would be very interesting. And if it also helps with simulation, even more so.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

I use Altium Develop for PCB design and related mechanical aspects, covering the entire design flow from schematic to 3D, allowing me to make modifications or adaptations, especially in the mechanical part.

  ### 14. Unified Design Environment with Real-Time Collaboration and Version Control

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** March 31, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It is unified design environment because it has a schematic capture to pcb layout and design verification happens in one place. It has real time collaboration and version control which makes it easy for teams to work together efficiently.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It is very costly and it is a barrier for long term and new startups. Sometimes it is resource intensive and occasionally slow when you work on large projects.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Problem of fragmented and complex pcb design workflows is solved by Altium Develop. It also addresses collaboration challenges by enabling real time framework and version control. It solves design accuracy and error reduction also.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your feedback on Altium Develop. We're happy to hear that you appreciate the unified design environment and real-time collaboration features. We understand your concerns about the cost and performance issues, and we are continuously working to enhance the product's efficiency and value. If you have any specific issues or suggestions for improvement, please feel free to reach out to our support team. We're here to assist you and ensure you have a positive experience with our solutions.

  ### 15. Excellent PCB Design Tool with a Simple UI and Smooth Collaboration

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** André G. | Hardware Engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** April 09, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Altium Develop is an excellent tool for PCB design, it allows for several people to work on the same project. The UI is surprisingly simple for such a complicated software and the performance is also not that demanding which is good.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

I would say that the biggest downside of using Altium is the price. While it is a great program the cost makes it an enterprise only tool and not hobby tool.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Electrical, mechanical and software teams often work in separate environments, with Altium that is no longer necessary for the most part.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi André. Thank you for sharing your experience with Altium Develop. We're glad to hear that you find the UI simple and the collaboration smooth. We appreciate your feedback!

  ### 16. Amazing Components Library and Easy Octopart Imports

**Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Ryan M. | Director of Prototype Development, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 16, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

The components library is amazing, it’s easy to bring new components in from octopart

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

I can’t think of anything, I would like the advance training course to be available on demand

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It’s allowing me to make the best PCBs that I have ever made in my career

  ### 17. Seamless PCB Design and Collaboration, Though Some Workflows Feel Overly Complex

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Tony X. | engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 26, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

I like Altium Develop best for its seamless integration of design, collaboration, and automation tools that make complex PCB development feel fast and intuitive.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

I dislike that Altium Develop can feel overly complex at times, making certain workflows slower than they need to be.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Altium Develop streamlines multi-discipline PCB workflows by unifying schematic, layout, real‑time collaboration, and automation into one environment, which saves me time, reduces handoff errors, and lets me iterate designs faster.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi Tony. Thank you for sharing your feedback on Altium Develop. We're thrilled to hear that you appreciate the seamless integration of design, collaboration, and automation tools that make PCB development fast and intuitive. We understand your concerns about certain workflows feeling overly complex, and we are continuously working to enhance user experience and streamline processes. Your input is valuable in helping us improve our product. If you have any specific areas where you find the complexity challenging, please feel free to reach out to our support team for assistance. We are here to help and ensure you have a smooth experience with Altium Develop. Thank you for choosing Altium Develop for your PCB design needs.

  ### 18. perfect tool for layout and designing PCB

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Software | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 26, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It is a perfect one platform for pcb design and pcb layout, component management and design verification . It has poweeful routing tools

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It has a high licensing cost, and complex projects require a lot of system resources to maintain optimal performance.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It helps streamline the PCB design process by reducing errors and speeding up development. It improves productivity, shortens design cycles, and helps ensure higher-quality products.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your feedback on Altium Develop. We're glad to hear that you find it to be a perfect tool for PCB design and layout, with powerful routing tools. We understand your concerns about the high licensing cost and system resource requirements for complex projects and we continuously strive to enhance our software's performance and optimize resource usage. 


  ### 19. Seamless Cloud Collaboration for Efficient PCB Project Management

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consumer Electronics | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** April 16, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It helps us achieve seamless integration between design, collaboration, and version control, which makes managing complex PCB projects much more efficient. The cloud-based collaboration features allow the team to work together in real time, reducing miscommunication and keeping everyone aligned.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

For new users, there’s a learning curve. Some features and workflows aren’t very intuitive, and performance can also feel laggy on larger projects.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It helps us achieve faster development cycles, better coordination, and fewer design revisions. As a result, it saves us time and increases productivity.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your positive experience with Altium Develop. We're committed to providing a collaborative and efficient PCB project management solution. We acknowledge the learning curve for new users and are actively working on enhancing the intuitiveness and performance of our platform.

  ### 20. Streamlines PCB Layout Tracking and Collaboration with Powerful Testing & Reports

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Dnyan U. | Electrical Engineer, Consumer Electronics, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 12, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It helps me keep track of changes made to the layout, and I can add multiple collaborators as needed. I also like the added functionality for testing the layout and creating a report from it.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

The UI feels a bit laggy. It would also be helpful to add an AI-based suggestion feature for how to lay out a PCB.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

I can review the layout more effectively now, and it helps me access parts life information in the Z2 data.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi Dnyan. We're glad to hear that Altium Develop is helping you keep track of layout changes and collaborate effectively. We appreciate your feedback about the UI and the suggestion for an AI-based layout feature, and we'll definitely take that into consideration for future improvements.

  ### 21. MPS Makes Finding Parts Fast and Easy

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Simon S. | Systems Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 02, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

the MPS. makes it so much easier to search for parts

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

the 30-year-old file format implementation and the lag when the net code is running (or search)

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

more professional EDA that is well-integrated with part search. the routing helper also makes things a bit easier

  ### 22. Promising direction, but some features are unclear / missing

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Defense & Space | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 12, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

I use it daily to design HDI and RF boards. The current pricing is very favorable for startups and small companies for the feature set it provides. As we had previous experience with the Altium Designer the switch to the Altium Develop was mostly seamless for us (minus missing managed templates). The unlimited A365 accounts make it easy for the entire team to collaborate with the designers and integrates into our workflow well.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Not all features are available. Some important ones, such as managed templates and project review, were presented during the trial but were removed after I subscribed to the software. Customer support is only done via forums and it is visible that the Altium team does not have clear narrative or knowledge what Altium Agile or Develop should provide or contain. A clear comparison table of the features available in both versions would be helpful.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It empowers us to design HDI and RF boards quickly and with ease. Collaboration and design reviews are seamless, making it straightforward to work together and validate designs as we go.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your experience with Altium Develop. We understand the importance of managed templates and project review, and we are working to address these concerns. We will also consider providing a clear comparison table of features between versions to assist our users in making informed decisions. Thank you again for sharing your feedback.

  ### 23. Intuitive Interface and Sleek GUI That Make Tasks Quick

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Automotive | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 19, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

The interface is intuitive, and it only takes a few "clicks" to perform the action I want. I also like the look of the GUI, even though that doesn’t really affect my efficiency.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

The roaming license has been removed, and using the site with a poor internet or cell phone connection can be challenging. I also have some difficulty understanding how plug-ins are purchased, including the cost and related details.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

As a small business, I find the Altium365 solution really helpful because it lets me easily share projects with customers and EMS. Altium Develop is also very fast to work with, especially compared to tools like Allegro or KiCAD.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We're glad to hear that you find our interface intuitive and efficient. We understand the challenges with the roaming license removal and poor internet connection, and we are continuously working to improve the user experience in such situations. As for the plug-ins, we apologize for any confusion and will work on providing clearer information about their purchase and related details.

  ### 24. One-Stop Circuit Design with Seamless Altium 365 and Version Control

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 17, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Altium Develop is a one-stop solution for most of my circuit design needs. It integrates version control and provides centralized access to all my projects through Altium 365, which has been a great way for me to debug and develop my hardware designs.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It usually comes with too many options which are overwhelming for a beginner to get started, learning curve is little steep.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

The ease of hardware development, providing manufacturer provided altium symbols & footprints is the best problem altium is solving and makes me want to use altium more & more. Eagle, kicad and other platforms don't have this so it's really hard to find perfect footprints.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your experience with Altium Develop. We're thrilled to hear that you find it to be a one-stop solution for your circuit design needs and that the integration with Altium 365 has been beneficial for your projects. We understand that the abundance of options can be overwhelming for beginners, and we appreciate your feedback on the learning curve.

We are constantly working to improve user experience and provide resources to help users navigate the platform more efficiently. If you need any assistance with getting started or have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our support team. We are here to help you make the most of Altium Develop and ensure a smooth design process. Thank you for choosing Altium!

  ### 25. Reasonably Priced Altium That’s Been Reliable for 15 Years

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 06, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Price is more reasonable especially for small companies which require 1 license.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

I do not have anything I do not like. I am using Altium for 15 years.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Reasonable price for 1 design license, and unlimited viewer licences.

  ### 26. Centralized Solution for PCB Projects with Excellent Support

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** James K. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 07, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

I like Altium Develop for its simplicity and the cost savings it offers with the full version of the application. I appreciate the easy license assignment between end users. The support is quick to respond and provides good follow-up, which made the initial setup easy with their help.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

nothing

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

I use Altium Develop to centralize collaboration and improve design visibility and project coordination across multiple teams.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi James. We're thrilled to hear that you appreciate Altium Develop's simplicity and cost savings, as well as the ease of license assignment and quick support. We're glad we could make the initial setup easy for you.

  ### 27. Seamless Altium 365 Integration with Valuable Included Extensions

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Semiconductors | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 15, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Seamless integration with Altium 365 and inclusion of some of the extensions only available to higher tiers in previous options

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Any time that I have to save some project it seems that it wants to commit automatically to the altium 365 platform.
Altium multi board support should have a net connection check.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Coworking in the same project.
Revision control of the projects.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for your review. We're glad to hear that you are enjoying the seamless integration with Altium 365 and the valuable included extensions. We appreciate your feedback and we will share this with our development team for future consideration.

  ### 28. Perfect Platform for Organized Digital PCB Design and Development

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** April 12, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

A perfect platform for digital PCB designing and development for new projects. It keeps all components and project progress organized and manageable in one place.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It has very heavy system requirements, which may not be feasible for small companies. It’s also quite expensive. The biggest problem for me, though, is the limited integration features.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It helps me manage complex PCB designs and reduces design errors. With it, we’re able to develop our projects faster and with fewer mistakes.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your positive experience with Altium Develop. We're thrilled to hear that it's helping you keep your components and project progress organized. We understand your concerns about system requirements and cost, and we're continuously working to make our software more accessible to all users. Your feedback is valuable to us and will be taken into consideration for future improvements.

  ### 29. Powerful All-in-One PCB Design, but Resource-Heavy

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Karan S. | Group TA @ AceVector Ltd. | Snapdeal, Unicommerce, Shipway, Convertway, Stellaro Brands, Internet, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 08, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Altium Designer is an advanced PCB design platform that helps engineering teams design, collaborate, validate, and manufacture electronic hardware faster in one integrated environment.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

One downside of [Altium Designer](https://www.altium.com/altium-designer?utm_source=chatgpt.com) is that it can be expensive and resource-heavy, especially for smaller teams or individual developers.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Altium simplifies complex PCB design workflows by bringing design, collaboration, simulation, and manufacturing into one seamless platform for hardware teams.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi Karan. We appreciate your feedback on Altium Develop. We understand the concern about the resource-heavy nature of the platform, especially for smaller teams. We are constantly working on optimizing performance and offering flexible pricing options to address these concerns and will take your feedback into consideration. Thank you for sharing your input.

  ### 30. Good Features and Stability, but Support Needs a Human Touch

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consulting | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 02, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Works well for a small business. Features are good. Realaviely stable

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Service and support has become awful. No humans able or willing to help

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Good library management. I would use KiCad  but for this

  ### 31. Seamless All-in-One PCB Design That Saves Time and Reduces Errors

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Internet | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** April 06, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It is how seamlessly it brings the entire PCB design process into one single environment. Rather than juggling multiple tools, I can do capture, PCB layout, simulation, and documentation all in one place, which help saves a lot of time and helps reduce errors.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It’s very resource-intensive, and the licensing and subscription fees are very expensive.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It helps me design faster and more accurately. It also improves collaboration between teams and helps reduce production errors and costs.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We're glad to hear that you find Altium Develop's all-in-one environment helpful for your PCB design process. We understand your concern about the resource intensity and cost, and we are constantly working to improve performance and provide flexible pricing options.

  ### 32. Seamless Schematic-to-PCB Sync with Powerful Rule-Based Routing

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Airlines/Aviation | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** January 22, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

What I like most about Altium Designer is how smoothly it integrates schematics with the PCB layout. It keeps everything synchronized, so updates carry through cleanly, design changes are quicker to implement, and it’s easier to avoid mistakes. I also appreciate the rule-based design approach and the powerful routing tools, which make complex boards simpler to lay out and more reliable to build.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

What I dislike about Altium Designer is its high cost and steep learning curve. For new users, it can feel overwhelming at first, and on larger designs the performance can slow down noticeably. I also run into occasional bugs, and the frequent updates tend to disrupt my workflow more than they should.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Altium Designer addresses the problem of fragmented PCB design workflows by bringing schematics, PCB layout, design rules, and components together in a single integrated platform. This integration helps reduce errors, saves time during revisions, and makes it easier to manage complex designs. For me, that translates into better design accuracy and a faster overall development process.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your feedback on Altium Develop. We're thrilled to hear that you appreciate the seamless synchronization between schematics and PCB layout, as well as the rule-based routing tools. We understand your concerns about the cost, learning curve, performance issues on larger designs, and occasional bugs. Your insights are valuable to us, and we're continuously working to improve the user experience.

We'd love to assist you further with any challenges you encounter and provide support to enhance your workflow. Please feel free to reach out to our support team for any assistance or to address any specific issues you may have. Thank you for choosing Altium!

  ### 33. User-Friendly with Great Cloud Support, but Constraints Need Work

**Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Design | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** July 02, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Altium Develop is very user friendly and has a great cloud support

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Implementation of Constraining is little bit disappointing for me.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Easy to use tool for quick and dirty usage.

  ### 34. Competitive price and quick launch: a nice improvement if long term

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Morgan. N. | Ingénieur conception électronique, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 13, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Compared to AD Classic, the price is more competitive and the launch is faster.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Loss of seat management functionality for everyone, and fairly frequent GIT management bugs.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

very good UI, keyboard shortcuts are numerous and very practical; the routing tools (xSignals, impedance matching, rules, and others) are quite comprehensive.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi Morgan. We appreciate your positive comments about the competitive pricing and quick launch of Altium Develop. It's great to hear that you find the UI and routing tools comprehensive. We acknowledge your concerns about the seat management functionality and GIT management bugs, and we are committed to resolving these issues. Thanks again for your feedback!

  ### 35. Powerful Requirements Management with Strong Collaboration

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 19, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It helps us to bring requirements, Collab, traceability for  development team together in one place. We are able to track every link of designs, requirement, changes, discussions to make impact analysis.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It is very hard to work with version histories. And tough to collab for baselining and branching workflows when multiple teams are involved. Some time customisation is also a problem in ongoing project.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It has one Data repository where everything can be stored based on project requirements. Shared workspaces with changes, comments, status for work and changes, Collab features

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We appreciate your positive feedback about Altium Develop's ability to track designs, requirements, changes, and discussions. We understand the challenges with version histories, collaboration for baselining and branching workflows, and customization, and we're actively working to enhance these aspects of the platform. Thank you for sharing your experience!

  ### 36. Altium 365: A Game-Changer for Seamless, Cost-Effective Team Setup

**Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Petros P. | Head of Electronics, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 17, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Altium 365 is a game changer. Now under the Develop umbrella, it’s easier (and cheaper) than ever to set up a new engineering team.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

No issues yet. It has been working seamlessly since  we upgraded

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

An all-in-one solution that integrates library management , BOM management, design git server and easy cross-discipline reviews

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We're thrilled to hear that Altium 365 has been a game changer for your team setup. Thank you for sharing your positive experience!

  ### 37. Cloud PCB helping us build faster.

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consulting | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 24, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Pro tools of this software is helping us to version control and real time team Collab, and helping us to bigger projects in lesser time.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

It has very high cost for solo users and small teams around 10k $ dollar per year. That's very high for small companies. There are some sync lags during heavy sessions.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It removes the pain of slow designs and verification and poor team Collab by pcb design. It helped us to reduce errors through live comments and version controls.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We're thrilled to hear that Altium Develop is helping you build faster and collaborate more efficiently! We understand your concern about the cost for solo users and small teams. We continuously strive to provide value for our customers and will take your feedback into consideration. Regarding the sync lags during heavy sessions, our team is actively working on optimizing performance to provide a smoother experience. We're glad to hear that Altium Develop is solving your design and collaboration challenges, reducing errors, and improving team collaboration. If you have any further feedback or need assistance, please feel free to reach out to us. Thank you for choosing Altium!

  ### 38. Unhappy with these idiots wasting my time

**Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Joshua G. | Your Mom, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** June 17, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Nothing helpful, this company is a waste of time

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

How much they will waste your time making worthless youtube ads

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Nothing, they only waste time

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi Joshua. We apologize for your negative experience and we strive to provide valuable content and solutions. Please reach out to our customer service team so we can address your concerns https://www.altium.com/support. Thank you.

  ### 39. Simplifies Complex PCB Development

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Automotive | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 23, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

It helped us at Renault to create design, collaboration, and data management at one platform. helping us to reduce time for our time for developing new projects.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

simpler PCB to Altium PCB tools transition takes time to understand and performance got laggy and stuck when we do on large projects and connections.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

basic PCB design to collaboration workflow everything is very easy to handle here. revisions are scattered across emails. we can manage PCB layout and version controls here.Sim

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We're glad to hear that Altium has been helpful in streamlining your design, collaboration, and data management processes. We understand that transitioning from simpler PCB tools to Altium may take some time, and we appreciate your feedback on the performance issues with large projects. We are constantly working to improve our software and will take your comments into consideration for future updates.

  ### 40. Simple, Clean Interface with Everything Right Where You Need It

**Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Amrit G. | Electronics Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 18, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

The simplicity of the user interface, clean and clear with everything right where you need it.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Sometimes the revision history can be a little tricky to navigate when saving and mixing files.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Impedance controlled signals, rigid flex design, delay tuning. Using multi-board assembly.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your feedback! We're thrilled to hear that you appreciate the simplicity and clean interface of Altium Develop. We understand that navigating the revision history can be challenging at times, and we appreciate your input on this matter. Our team is continuously working to improve user experience, and we will take your feedback into consideration for future updates. If you have any specific suggestions on how we can enhance the revision history feature, please feel free to share them with us. 

  ### 41. Migration Promises Fell Short—Paying for Seats Without Being Able to Use It

**Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consumer Electronics | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 12, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

I haven't used it yet but longtime Altium user.  I like Altium Develop's proposed licensing, much more affordable and flexible than Altium Designer.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Migration from our old workspace to the Develop workspace was promised to be a button click.  In reality that didn't happen and I've had to open a ticket.  As a result, we've paid for 2 seats and a workspace for the past 2.5 months and haven't been able to use it yet.  No talk of extending our license renewal to compensate.  So not a great start...

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

We were coming from Altium Designer licenses so there isn't much change for us, but the new licensing options with Develop are way more flexible and affordable for our use case.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced with the migration process. Our team is working diligently to resolve this issue and ensure a smoother transition for all users. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

  ### 42. Great Value: Pro Features Included at a Solid Price

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Sam D. | Senior Electronics Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** February 13, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

The price and inclusion of certain Pro features.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

The disabling of the roam feature for travel.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

It drastically lowered the cost compared to Altium Standard, and added certain pro features such as multiboard design and revision control. For a small company that is helpful.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi Sam. We're glad to hear that you appreciate the value and pro features included in Altium Develop. We understand your concern about the disabling of the roam feature and will take this feedback into consideration for future improvements.

  ### 43. Excellent Collaboration and Seamless 3D Integration

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Gomez R. | QC Specialist, Building Materials, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** November 22, 2025

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

This tool promotes great collaboration among team members which helps ensures great and streamlined workflow leading to high productivity.
It integrates well with other tools hence allows 3D visualization in real-time which helps us concentrate on the most important issues.
It also very easy to use.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

The tool has been efficient for us. I do not have any dislikes.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Through this tool we are able to prevent mechanical conflicts through 3D PCB modelling hence we are able to clear conflicts before they occur.

  ### 44. The setup time is worth the extra features

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 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?**

There's a lot of features so you can probably find exactly what you are looking for in this tool. Once things are set up for your use case, you can be very fast too.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

because of the flexibility, some features are very hard to find, so its common for my to work with a second window open for searching on the documentation

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

We use a lot of multi-board designs and the design checks are very helpful for handling that complexity.

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your experience with Altium Develop. We're pleased to hear that the setup time is worth it for the extra features. We understand the importance of efficient multi-board design checks and are committed to providing a user-friendly experience for all our customers.

  ### 45. Smooth Project Setup, Schematics, and PCB Layout

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Miguel B. | Project Engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 18, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Project configuration
Schematics construction
PCB layout
Library configuration

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

License too expensive
Different from other layout softwares
3D not really accurate

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Integration with other CAD softwares, like Solidworks
Component lifecycle management
Schematics revision management

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Hi Miguel, thank you for sharing your positive experience with the project setup and PCB layout features Altium Develop has to offer and we acknowledge your concerns about the license cost and the differences from other layout software. We are committed to enhancing our 3D accuracy and improving integration with other CAD software. We appreciate your feedback!

  ### 46. Decent Interface and Convenient Storage, but License Pricing Feels Uncertain

**Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Oil & Energy | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** June 11, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

decent interface, convinient data storage

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

uncertainty of license cost increase in the future

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

circuit design

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> We appreciate your feedback on the interface and storage. Regarding the license pricing, we understand your concern and are constantly working to provide transparent and predictable pricing for our customers. We will take your feedback into consideration as we continue to improve our offerings.

  ### 47. Great UI, easy to use, good for standardization

**Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Verified User in Automotive | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 08, 2026

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

user interface, output jobs for generating standardized production files

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Altium changing commercial policies too often

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

easy to use compared with other low cost softwares

**Official Response from Alanna Jordan:**

> Thank you for sharing your positive experience with Altium Develop. We understand your concerns about changing commercial policies and will strive to provide more stability in this area. We appreciate your feedback.

  ### 48. Altium has a steep learning curve but very capable for mechanical design integration.

**Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Andy M. | Chief Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** May 06, 2025

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

The MCAD CoDesigner functionality has been very useful for integrating PCB designs into our mechanical 3D models in AutoDesk Inventor, and was a big reason we moved to Altium. The 3D views are very useful within Altium and creating PCB footprints and adding existing STEP files available from many component manufacturers is easy. The OutJob functionality is useful in exporting files. 

The Draftsman documents are very powerful and have saved a significant amount of time in creating and updating production documentation. The layout capability works very well with a lot of configurability.

The ActiveBOM functionality is useful is checking part status and availability and for rolling up BOM cost.

Overall, Altium was an enormous leap from Mentor Graphics PADS (which I used for the previous 15 years), although now there are a number of other alternatives, including at least one open-source alternative that also has impressive capability (I have not explored these in detail).

Electronic design (schematic capture and layout) only makes up 10% of my working hours according to my time logging  (among mechanical design, project planning, as well as customer, sales, and production support), but I am quite productive in Altium compared to my previous workflow. If this was my primary job function, I would be even more comfortable in the software as it is certainly designed with the "power user" in mind, but there are many things I don't remember or haven't needed.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

The file management and revision control is complex and difficult for a simple file-based guy like me to understand (I only dabble in software so I am not very familiar with digital version control systems) so I'm probably doing it wrong. It's nice to have the online project viewing functionality to be able to share with coworkers who don't have a seat of Altium. 

I haven't figured out how to show manufacturer and MPN on a schematic, outside of the MPN assigned in the "Comment" field of a library component. It seems like this should be easy to pull from the part already set up in the "Part Choices" area.

PCB Outline editing capability is awkward. I usually end up importing from a 3D model but it's not intuitive (I end up needing to look up the process each time I do it). 

Draftsman, while powerful, has limited flexibility in some ways (for instance, I'd like to have control of opacity for hatched shapes so I can show a conformal coat masking area). It would be nice to be able to do some parametric drawing, but it is adequate for what I need. 

Import of files made in PADS (what we transitioned from) is quite difficult, mostly from a component library standpoint. I ended up starting over from scratch in some cases.

We recently added another seat for a new hire, and it was a chore to get him set up and the license assigned (I was confused between roles in the 365 project environment and Altium itself). Support was able to get this sorted out quickly.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Altium allows import of 3D models into our mechanical design software, which our previous software could not do. This has greatly improved our electromechanical design process (mechanical components moving past sensors mounted to the PCB, and avoiding collisions between moving parts and large PCB components).

The Draftsman feature has significantly improved our production documentation process.

  ### 49. A well rounded and complete software solution even to get started with no experience

**Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Gianni F. | CEO and Lead Designer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2025

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Started using Altium when it was called DXP (Design Explorer) to complete a project at School. It was mostly self learned and did not received formal training and within a couple of weeks I was successfully capturing schematics and making PCB layouts. Altium is very intuitive and easy to use, but at the same time very powerful. The power and complexity doesn't get in the way of the interface and the ease of use. The library tools, to create schematic symbols and footprints is excellent, very easy to use. It gives me all the flexibility to design the footprint based on the application and manufacturing requirements.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

I can't think of any negative on the software itself. I would like to see a more seamless integration for footprint providers like Ultra-librarian or SnapEDA. The import of models can be a bit of a hassle sometimes.  Overall, it's a great software.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

As a small business owner, I can't afford to outsource the design of certain components of our products so we design them in-house. Altium, easily allows us to capture the schematic and create a PCB that we can send out to manufacture. The generation of the Gerber files is quite powerful and easy to use. Making changes is very easy and straight forward. The ability of customize the design rules and the way the software highlights and adjust the PCB traces to fulfill the constraints is very helpful, it makes the design so much easier and we really value that feature. The Layer management is very good as well, as we do a QC at the end of the design to make sure everything is within spec, we can filter easily highlight the layers and work on the layers one at a time. The schematic to PCB cross probe is also amazing, highlighting the traces/nets on the PCB as they are selected in the Schematic.

  ### 50. Powerful Cloud‑Based PCB Collaboration with a Steep Learning Curve

**Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars

**Reviewed by:** Aarshon G. | Robotics &amp; Autonomous Systems Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

**Reviewed Date:** April 22, 2025

**What do you like best about Altium Develop?**

Real‑Time Collaboration: The cloud platform lets multiple designers and stakeholders review and comment on schematics and PCB layouts simultaneously, eliminating version‑mismatch headaches.
Centralized Data Management: All design data—including libraries, version history, and supply‑chain information—is stored in one place. I never have to hunt down the latest file.
Built‑In Supply‑Chain: Part availability, lead times, and cost tracking live right alongside the design, so I can catch procurement issues early.

**What do you dislike about Altium Develop?**

Limited Offline Access: When I’m traveling without reliable internet, I can’t review or comment on designs unless I remember to export them beforehand.
Initial Setup Complexity: Getting my team’s permissions and folder structure dialed in took longer than expected; the admin UI can feel overwhelming at first.
Pricing: Some advanced collaboration features (e.g., enterprise analytics, fine‑grained user roles) are only available in higher‑cost plans.

**What problems is Altium Develop solving and how is that benefiting you?**

Cross‑Discipline Collaboration (ECAD  MCAD  Firmware)
Problem: My mechanical team and firmware developers need accurate board outlines, pin‑outs, and net lists to mount PCBs inside the robot chassis and assign GPIOs in code. Exchanging exported STEP and CSV files via email is error‑prone and slow.
Benefit: With Altium 365’s unified project workspace, MCAD models and BOM data sync automatically with the latest board revision, while firmware teams can pull down up‑to‑date connector assignments straight from the cloud. This tight integration cuts days off our iteration cycles and avoids mis‑wiring bugs in the lab.

Disparate Design Data & Version Control
Problem: In a multi‑discipline robotics project, schematics, PCB layouts, firmware mappings and mechanical models often live in separate repos or file‑shares, leading to “which revision is the latest?” confusion.
Benefit: Altium 365 enforces a single source of truth with built‑in versioning and branching for ECAD projects. I can instantly roll back to a previous board revision if a new change breaks my sensor interface


## 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?page=2&qs=pros-and-cons&section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-04+22%3A52%3A45+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=d45c28a2-a85a-48d5-884e-0993c97cd445&secure%5Btoken%5D=e8fbb4892731296cce688491461e9ff5adf278ec535489028a58de862a82c0e1&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 &amp; 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

**Customization - Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)**
- Custom Scripts
- Custom Menus
- Custom Interface

**Role-Based Access Co - Requirements Management**
- Baselining

**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

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