Altair Inspire vs. Altium Develop

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Altair Inspire
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Altair Inspire, developed by SolidThinking which was acquired by Altair, is software for Generative Design/Topology Optimization, and rapid simulation solution for design engineers. It is designed to enhance the concept development process by enabling simulation-driven design to increase a product’s efficiency, strength and manufacturability. This can lead to reduced costs, development time, material consumption, and product weight.N/A
Altium Develop
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Altium Develop is a platform that unifies multidisciplinary teams across engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing to support seamless co-creation. It provides real-time visibility into designs, requirements, and supply chain data, enabling contributors to work together concurrently rather than in silos.
$995
per year per seat
Pricing
Altair InspireAltium Develop
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Altair InspireAltium Develop
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Altair InspireAltium Develop
Best Alternatives
Altair InspireAltium Develop
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 7.6 out of 10
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 7.6 out of 10
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.3 out of 10
Autodesk Fusion
Autodesk Fusion
Score 8.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Altair InspireAltium Develop
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(2 ratings)
9.5
(54 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(4 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.4
(51 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.1
(3 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
6.2
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
2.7
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Altair InspireAltium Develop
Likelihood to Recommend
Altair Engineering, Inc.
This software is incredibly intuitive and really does provide a great finished product. The software runs relatively quickly and will usually throw an error right away, which is a nice feature. I didn't use the geometry editing parts of the software, but it looks promising to be able to edit files directly in the program.
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Altium
For general PCB design, rigid flex PCB design, and multi-layer PCB design, Altium Designer is the best software to use on the market. The simple movement between board layers and easy component placement are what sets it apart from other similar software. When designing our PCBs for industry, it is easily capable of suiting all of our needs.
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Pros
Altair Engineering, Inc.
  • Defining the actuators, pin joints, sliding joints is very easy.
  • Defining a motion sequence is straightforward.
  • The UI tends to make you follow a sequence of steps to be successful in doing a motion simulation and finite element analysis study on a design.
  • The motion simulation results are automatically transferred to the FEA solver.
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Altium
  • BOM management - with just a little bit of extra care any designer produces a usable bom along with their pcb design ready to be ordered
  • 365 - being able to view and review (placing comments) projects without the need to have the software installed locally
  • Multi-pcb projects
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Cons
Altair Engineering, Inc.
  • I think the tools to create CAD are a bit difficult to use. Consequently, it is now easier to develop the part in other software, which is bad since we need to use more than one tool at a time.
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Altium
  • The tools organization section has too many tools that are easy to lose.
  • Save settings for multi-projects and reuse settings from other projects in new ones.
  • Better import final designs into multiple formats (details are often lost when imported into CAD formats).
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Likelihood to Renew
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Altium
ALTIUM DESIGNER is the reference tool in the electronic circuit design sector, its use is widespread worldwide. Although there are other alternatives, some of them free do not rival ALTIUM DESIGNER in terms of features and reliability. It is also very practical to request quotes with ALTIUM DESIGNER BOM reports since all suppliers are accustomed to using the tool.
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Usability
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Altium
For beginners, Altium 365 is extremely accessible because of its friendly UI and thorough documentation regarding how the software should be used. For professional engineers, Altium 365 lays out all advanced features that could ever be needed in a PCB project. Thus, Altium 365 makes it easy to transition from other ECAD software to this one.
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Reliability and Availability
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Altium
Not very stable. Sudden lack of functionality when the license expires is not indicated clearly and can lead to loss of work.
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Support Rating
Altair Engineering, Inc.
When I needed clarification on how do use a feature or best way to define the constraints for a design problem, the response was quick and solved my needs.
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Altium
I use the educational Program. And so far is the best technical support. Every time that I need one or I have a question. They respond so far and with excellent advice.
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Online Training
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Altium
easy to follow, Good technical materials. good videos The platform is easy to use.
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Implementation Rating
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Altium
Some times it is slow down PC due to polygons
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Alternatives Considered
Altair Engineering, Inc.
Working Model, MathCad, Dynamic Designer, Algor, and Mathlab had poor UI's and poor ways to define actuator and motor motion profiles. The force results and vectors were not easy to input into the FEA software. SOLIDWORKS Motion does not have an excellent way to define a linear actuator or its motion profile. Altair provides a UI that guides you through defining your linear actuator or motor's motion profile quickly.
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Altium
Altium offers much better features and usability over Proteus. Proteus also has certain limitations in what it can achieve, so that leaves it behind. Same with KiCad, while it is easier to use, and quite an amazing software for a freeware, it lacks certain features which makes it harder for us to use. OrCAD offers a lot of features, great focus on signal integrity, but the ease of use is non-existent
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Scalability
Altair Engineering, Inc.
No answers on this topic
Altium
Because, in my opinion, usage for small organization is poor, it is difficult to set up initial configuration to support scaling.
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Return on Investment
Altair Engineering, Inc.
  • In my personal opinion, we think that this product does not have any negative aspect that makes us feel very uncomfortable.
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Altium
  • I can only guess, but I think the investment, at least for real industry, is a no-brainer. The labor savings are obvious and far over the outlay.
  • To be more specific, the time saved on component selection/procurement is phenomenal. I will no longer waste days poring over catalogs and websites.
  • The biggest downside I know of is the time spent explaining the above to the accounts department because, let's face it, it's still pretty spendy.
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ScreenShots

Altium Develop Screenshots

Screenshot of the 3D View Editor in Altium Develop that transforms the standard 2D PCB workspace into a fully interactive, three‑dimensional design environment. Users can toggle between 2D and 3D modes, then zoom, pan, and rotate the board freely using tools like a directional sphere for precise pivot control and adjust display settings (such as transparency or coloring) via the View Configuration panel to visually explore and inspect PCB layouts in realistic detail.Screenshot of Project History in Altium Develop, which provides a browser-based, visually chronological timeline of a project's key events such as: creation, commits, releases, clones, and MCAD exchanges offering version control transparency directly within workspace.Screenshot of Altium Develop's unified design environment built on a single data model. From schematic capture to PCB layout, routing, and assembly preparation, every step flows seamlessly. Smart placement and routing features make complex designs faster, easier, and more reliable.Screenshot of ActiveBOM, which is a dynamic, table-based Bill of Materials (BOM) editor integrated into Altium Develop that elevates component management to a real-time, design-aware process. It automatically aggregates supply chain data such as pricing, stock, lifecycle status, and lead times - from sources like Octopart and IHS Markit, enabling parts selection, alternates, cost calculation, rule-based verification, and traceability - within the same environment as the schematic and PCB design.Screenshot of BOM Portal, which is a cloud-native, procurement-focused tool within Altium Develop that transforms traditional Excel-like Bill of Materials (BOM) workflows by integrating live supply chain, compliance, and pricing data. It enables collaboration between engineering and procurement, helps identify supply risks like obsolescence or shortages, supports BOM consolidation and alternates, and ensures thorough version control and traceability bridging design to manufacturing with real-time visibility and control.Screenshot of Workspace Projects, which provide a cloud-native, version-controlled hub within Altium Develop that simplifies electronic project management with centralized storage, collaboration, and built-in Git-based version control. This interface enables real-time design navigation (including schematic, 2D/3D PCB, BOM, and Draftsman views), task tracking, release and manufacturing management, historical timeline review, and sharing.