Altium Develop Reviews & Product Details

Cloud library of parts is great. Can copy or build up parts into one verified library that is available across different computers. PCB routing is pretty good, lots of tools & if you use an AI pointed at the official documentation it's pretty easy to learn how to do nearly anything. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It's a bit like Solidworks where it has a few random crashes so you must save regularly. Lack of AI integrations for things like schematic or PCB layout review and questioning. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Altium 365 Component library management. Having many components footprints and symbols readily available without needing to import them. Lots of hotkeys to make schematic capture and PCB layout easier. Being able to send my colleagues files through MCAD Codesigner. Altium Develop is now cheaper for my small team size. I have not used any AI features yet. Rendering and automated changes happen quickly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Small glitches or crashing. The Altium support team does not respond quickly. There are no MCP plugins to use Claude or ChatGPT directly in Altium. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really like its Cloud tools, and being able to quickly pull up a PCB and look at signal lines and the like. The UI for getting around is very useful and the cloud integration is strong. Onboarding is a little tricky of having to collact a bunch of separate files bit after that things are smooth. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Primary downside is the onboarding on documentation, especially when transitioning outside of Altium into it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find Altium Develop efficient once the libraries are complete, making the design process more fluid. Many of the features are quite helpful, particularly the circuit duplicator, which was invaluable when working on a design with 5 identical circuits. I could easily copy them in the schematic editor and use the PCB Layout Replication to achieve uniformity across the board. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find creating the libraries to be a long tedious process. While having a lot of freedom in the use of layers, it makes setting them up and getting them to be exactly the same for a layout difficult and tedious. The initial setup was a slow process of learning for me. With all the features and limited understanding of how it worked, it was hard to know how certain things operated. Some things that seem trivial after the fact, like the Objects for snapping, were not as customizable as in the previous software. Updating the PCB from the schematic or from the PCB to the schematic is tricky compared to Eagle, where both were unified so you didn't need to push them back and forth. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really like how Altium Develop makes managing the bill of materials easier, which can be the most challenging part sometimes. It's nice to be able to collaborate and share spaces using the online tools. The bill of materials feature is very easy to use. Another good feature is the revision control, which is really important for us. It's also great that I can add guests to the workspace, which is critical when we have external consultants. The product has become much more cost-effective than previous versions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I know that there is a conflict in transitioning from the previous license to Altium Develop. We faced challenges with the workspace, like duplicate workspaces and trouble logging in. It took about an hour to figure out how to transition over on a coworker's laptop because we had to delete and reinstall the entire system. It was kind of a mess, but once you're in, you're good. My coworker found it hard because he was signed into two different apps, and there were challenges that needed solving with a simple refresh or reinstall of the software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Lots of features. Most of these do in turn have a sharp learning curve, however once they are mastered it makes designing a board very streamlined. For example, when working with a schematic and creating a PCB, being able to highlight specific groups of components and then locate them on the PCB is huge timesaver and helps with board layout. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The only issues I have ran into so far are crashes and the autosave function failing. At times, it will freeze up randomly even if there was no input into the program. Additionally, the autosave feature is not the greatest, as it doesn't always reconnect to the host server. I actually lost a small amount of work from yesterday due to this. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really enjoy Altium Develop's intuitive PCB layout interface for creating detailed multilayer PCB layouts with precise components placement and routing. It makes it easier to design and organize multilayer and high-density boards, which is a significant benefit in my work. The initial setup was fast, which was a pleasant surprise. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The interface could be streamlined to make advanced functions easier for new users to discover. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I appreciate the task management capabilities in Altium Develop. Using structured task assignment within an agile framework creates a smoother, more predictable workflow for our firmware and hardware teams. It aligns our development cadence with the software team’s sprint planning, which improves cross‑functional coordination and helps ensure that all engineering disciplines move forward with shared priorities and clearer visibility. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There was the usual learning curve that comes along with change. However, it was short and we were up and running like nothing changed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Cheap and powerful, hit our needs when we do designs of only few PCBs a year. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It has more features as the Altium Standard Designer. But a very good internet connection is needed. When you do home office, maybe the internet connection is too slow and it takes a lot of time during the work. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.