Altium Designer vs. OpenRoads Designer

It is possible to draw excellent-looking schematic diagrams in any personal style and transfer these to the PCB editor without problems. The library editors are quite easy to use, and as there are many available STEP models for the majority of components, 3D views are also easy to generate. The built-in 3D editor is, however fairly limited and even when fully mastered can only produce rudimentary images.

Incentivized

ORD is really focused on modeling of roads infrastructure projects, but includes a few design workflows that are in other disciplines such as stormwater and drainage design and site modeling tools for developments. This is really handy because you don't need a third-party application that you have to transfer your design files over to to carry on with the project. Including LumenRT for free with ORD is by far the most helpful feature because of the visualisation capabilities which most software does not include. ORD is well-suited for what the name of the product says - designing roads. I wouldn't say there are any scenarios in road design that it is less appropriate for.

Incentivized

• Incredible integration between teams. I love using Altium 365 and how I can view, edit, and comment on my team members designs. It is an incredible platform and makes collaborations very easy.
• Makes it easy to move between different projects, either local or public. I love how I can move between the PCB and schematics of different projects with no downtime.
• The UI is clean and works well once someone has learned how to use it. Everything makes sense and the integrated shortcuts make it particularly simple and nice to work with.
• I really love how I can search for any part in Altium Designer. I can source any part and place it exactly onto my PCB, allowing me to use the 3D model feature to see precisely what my designs will look like in real life.

Incentivized

• Creating linear models, since the app is based on alignment models and templates to extrude along the alignment.
• Precise long section/profile along horizontal alignment. The app practically flatten the horizontal alignment for profile generation.
• Template control. Though the template creation takes a bit of effort to create due to the point rulings. However when done right allows the model to be specifically modified with use of functions like super-elevation, point control, widening, parametric etc.

Incentivized

• Schematic design has many problems with schematic design GUI
• Libraries are excessively complex, particularly for low use count
• Reduction in usability over time. I have been using for 20 years, and like it less and less overtime
• In my opinion, seemingly continuing efforts to push users to use Altium's cloud features is obnoxious
• In my opinion, poor menu implementation is frustrating, such as menu items not being in alphabetical order
• Ongoing stabilities issues
• Seeming focus on fancy features vs. core functionality
• In my opinion, lack of online support for simple issues is frustrating

Incentivized

• Buggy at times and crashes
• Requires a lot of training to use the tools effectively
• Model management requires some work

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

We would not use ORD if is was not for clients' contract requirement to use ORD.

Altium Designer is, by far, the easiest to use ECAD program in existence - and we’ve used a lot (OrCAD, PADS, Xpedition, EAGLE, etc.). Altium Designer has a very intuitive user interface and easy to understand and navigate. Even our project management team, who may not have technical backgrounds, can use Altium Viewer for the purposes of reviewing and handoff to our customers.

Incentivized

Not very stable. Sudden lack of functionality when the license expires is not indicated clearly and can lead to loss of work.

Incentivized

It is very difficult to find answers to basic functions.

Incentivized

Overly complex, not designed for small organizations, core functionality poorly implemented to focus on flashy features.

Incentivized

It is certainly easier to get designs up and running with great support and constant software updates. The ability to work with or without the cloud is a great feature. The only downside to Altium Designer is that it does have a cost to it that is not cheap. Overall I think it is worth the investment.

Incentivized

ORD is a lot faster and a lot more modern than Civil 3D even though they're essentially the same product under different names (in terms of workflows). I find that the DGN file format used by ORD is far better than the DWG file format used by C3D because DGNs can contain much more information and multiple models per file. C3D is very heavy on memorizing keyboard inputs while ORD is a much more modern interface that relies mostly on using the mouse for inputs.

Incentivized

Because, in my opinion, usage for small organization is poor, it is difficult to set up initial configuration to support scaling.

Incentivized

• Without a doubt, Altium Designer is a highly productive tool, which serves our company very well.
• We find the pricing structure at Altium Designer to be abhorrent. We are continually sent reminders telling us about price increases on an already expensive product. When looking at the markets, it can be seen that Altium is already an extremely wealthy company. We "only" have 3 licenses, and if we wish to retain a subscription, we must pay for three, at a cost of around 3,000 dollars each, just receive small updates and faster (in theory, but not always in practice) support.
• Altium has stopped offering upgrades. If we have purchased an older version (we have 2 licenses for earlier versions), Altium will not let us upgrade these for a reduced price but only sell new licenses. This practice was only introduced by Altium a few years ago, and we believe this to be a sign of an unethical company that is mainly interested in revenue and not the customer's pocket.

Incentivized

• Drawing creation from model have speed up drawing delivery by 80%
• Model creation for linear project based on simple design speed up model delivery by 80%
• Capturing model change due to alignment change have help speed up change capture by 80%

Incentivized