Altium Designer vs. DraftSight

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Altium Designer
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Altium Designer is PCB design software for a variety of industries.
$355
per month per seat
DraftSight
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
DraftSight is a 2D and 3D CAD solution for architects, engineers and construction service providers, as well as professional CAD users, designers, educators and hobbyists. DraftSight lets users create, edit, view, and markup any kind of 2D and 3D DWG file with greater ease, speed, and efficiency. Its familiar user interface helps to facilitate a quick transition from other CAD applications. DraftSight Offerings: DraftSight Professional: the advanced 2D CAD drafting…
$249
per year
Pricing
Altium DesignerDraftSight
Editions & Modules
Standard - Monthly
$355
per month per seat
Pro - Monthly
$460
per month per seat
Standard - Single Payment
$4,235
one-time fee per seat
Pro - Single Payment
$5,495
per year per seat
Enterprise
Contact Sales
DraftSight Professional
$249
per year
DraftSight Premium (3D)
$549
per year
DraftSight Enterprise
Contact sales team
DraftSight Enterprise Plus
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Altium DesignerDraftSight
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsAltium Designer® term-based licensing allows use of the licensed software for a specified period, for example, a 12-month term. Term-based licenses include a Standard subscription for the latest Altium Designer, and Altium 365®. Additional features and license options will affect price.DraftSight Professional, and Premium are available to purchase online directly. DraftSight Enterprise and Enterprise Plus are available to purchase through local resellers.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Altium DesignerDraftSight
Considered Both Products
Altium Designer

No answer on this topic

DraftSight
Chose DraftSight
I don't like the aggressive policy of Autodesk.
Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons
Features
Altium DesignerDraftSight
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Altium Designer
-
Ratings
DraftSight
6.6
4 Ratings
7% below category average
3D Modeling00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
2D Drafting00 Ratings8.64 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization00 Ratings5.52 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing00 Ratings7.13 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats00 Ratings7.94 Ratings
Assembly Design00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation00 Ratings6.24 Ratings
Customization and Extensions00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Altium DesignerDraftSight
Small Businesses
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.4 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.4 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Autodesk Fusion
Autodesk Fusion
Score 7.9 out of 10
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Altium DesignerDraftSight
Likelihood to Recommend
7.8
(27 ratings)
8.9
(416 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(3 ratings)
9.1
(23 ratings)
Usability
7.1
(25 ratings)
7.6
(22 ratings)
Availability
6.4
(1 ratings)
8.4
(7 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
8.3
(6 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(2 ratings)
3.5
(15 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.7
(1 ratings)
8.8
(16 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(6 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.3
(4 ratings)
Product Scalability
2.7
(1 ratings)
7.5
(7 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
Altium DesignerDraftSight
Likelihood to Recommend
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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Dassault Systemes
2D design work
3D design work
Large area (500m²+) analysis and assessment
From product design, including production drawings to lay out of large (10m x 1m footprint) layouts DraftSight is a cost effective solution providing all appropriate interfaces for BIM.
The level of detail during rendering (while it can be slow) is good for visualization and for use in installation and training materials
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Pros
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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Dassault Systemes
  • You can easily bring in a dwg format drawing into the programme and it will display the information just as well as AutoCAD.
  • The programme supports shortcut features or one-click buttons for the most commonly used operations.
  • Script files can be used which is a bonus.
Read full review
Cons
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).
Read full review
Dassault Systemes
  • The text search and replace is very crude and barely works. Needs a major revamping.
  • The layout tabs are very clunky and hard to use. Needs to be fixed.
  • DraftSight will fix a problem in one version, mess it up in another version, then fix it again later on. And so forth, and so forth, and so forth. Very poor software update control.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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Dassault Systemes
It has given us, a small startup, the ability to compete effectively with far larger competitors by evening the playing field at a low cost.
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Usability
Altium
Like any complicated program, it will always need some room for improvement. For example, it would be nicer to have other shortcuts than just the numpad Asterisk as the layer shift shortcut, or easy to shift layers via other ways. Some programs use a space bar instead, or similar. It would also be nice to manipulate or make 3D items better
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Dassault Systemes
Easy if you know how to use CAD software. But is not very difficult to learn using DraftSight if this is your first CAD software. As soon as you get in to it the work flow will save you a lot of time and its simple interface is very nice.
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Reliability and Availability
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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Dassault Systemes
Other than a bug created by a VAR tech support that didn't get resolved until I installed the next version, DraftSight has worked fine.
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Performance
Altium
No answers on this topic
Dassault Systemes
In general it's very quick to load drawings...now it depends a lot on the file we're opening or working on.
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Support Rating
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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Dassault Systemes
Technical support seems to be overseas with broken English and difficulty to read English. I asked for a trial license to try the fix but it was declined. Ask pratiksha.dahotre and gayatri.keskar for details. In summary, they released a broken version, I helped to fix by providing feedback and error logs. They claimed it is fixed but I can't test it.
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In-Person Training
Altium
No answers on this topic
Dassault Systemes
Based on some knowledge of AutoCad, using Draftsight took a short time before I felt comfortable using it.
Read full review
Online Training
Altium
easy to follow, Good technical materials. good videos The platform is easy to use.
Read full review
Dassault Systemes
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Altium
Overly complex, not designed for small organizations, core functionality poorly implemented to focus on flashy features.
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Dassault Systemes
Take time to get used to where commands are and how the interface can be customized to suit your needs and work style. The keyboard commands are very helpful and can make work more efficient if time is taken to learn them.
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Alternatives Considered
Altium
We had two licenses, purchased at a time when Altium Designer products were affordably priced. I can't remember how much they were, but they were not at a price where we even had to think about it at all. We wished to purchase a 3rd license a couple of years ago, actually, because we wanted more, but the price had risen so considerably that we were asked to test some less expensive alternatives, which we did. Suddenly, the pricing structure skyrocketed, and when more than one license and more than one subscription are wished, then it becomes serious money. However, we decided to continue with Altium Designer, as none of the alternatives matched up to it.
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Dassault Systemes
While SketchUp is free, DraftSights cost is minimal and its abilities are much greater. It is so much easier to layout and modifies a system design. Since DraftSight is compatible with all versions of CAD, it makes it easy to collaborate with customers on their specific system design. We spend less time and see greater sales on our projects.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Altium
No answers on this topic
Dassault Systemes
It's a typical contract for cad software. It was inexpensive at the time I started. But now the more useful features are on the more premium (priced) version.
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Scalability
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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Dassault Systemes
As a startup, we really appreciate scalable software or tools, and because we use it for diverse types of projects, flexibility is key.
Read full review
Return on Investment
Altium
  • It has enabled us to turnaround customer designs quicker. Because of this, our gross profit grew 79% YoY.
  • We can identify and mitigate supply chain risks with unified component management and sourcing views.
  • We can closely estimate total BOM and solution costs.
Read full review
Dassault Systemes
  • Draftsight has been very cost effective, it was free a few years ago then £79 a year, which it still is if you have the standard version. Now the minium level is Profession edition at £159+ VAT per year. Which is still very good value for money, just more that what we currently pay with the standard licences we have.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Altium Designer Screenshots

Screenshot of 3D Collision - Altium Designer's 3D PCB editor offers the ability to perform 3D collision testing as well as catching general component-to-component collisions. The user can position one component under another, or test if the loaded board fits correctly into the enclosure.Screenshot of ActiveBOM - A Bill of Materials management editor that brings BOM management tools together with Altium Designer's part information aggregation technologies, helping to manage the component selection challenge.Screenshot of PCB Layout - Altium Designer presents a unified data model to make circuit board design and layout easier. The user can design schematics, use schematic capture to create a new PCB, route printed circuit traces, and prepare for PCB assembly in the program. The PCB layout design features also make component placement and routing easier.Screenshot of Schematic with Properties Panel - The Interactive Properties panel for schematics includes several functional improvements as well as productivity enhancements. The layout focuses on efficiency, icons and graphical previews have been improved over previous versions, and there is now a smart parameters filter both for schematic lists and components.Screenshot of Routing Differential Pairs - Differential pair PCB routing is a design technique employed to create a balanced transmission system able to carry differential (equal and opposite) signals across a printed circuit board. Typically this differential routing will interface to an external differential transmission system, such as a connector and cable. Altium Designer ensures that differential pairs are coupled together whether entering or leaving a pad or just navigating around obstacles on a board.Screenshot of Cross Probe - Cross-probing allows users to jump between and select objects in both the logical schematic and physical layout domains.

DraftSight Screenshots

Screenshot of Plate InsertScreenshot of Image TraceScreenshot of 2D and 3D DWG filesScreenshot of HomeByMe Integration