Altium Designer vs. Vectorworks Fundamentals

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

It is perfectly suited for residential work, and work where the project requires integrated 2d and 3d. It is terrible for integrated energy modeling. This needs to be fixed immediately.

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

• 3D modeling - no need to start in SketchUp or other more rudimentary programs.
• Seamless import/export with other programs - ideal communication with consultants.
• Superb customer service, training, and tech support.

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

• The program is getting a little 'fat', and needs to be slimmed down. It is starting to bog down a bit when doing certain functions. The program of late is more buggy then we are used to seeing.
• I like how smooth Sketchup is in 3D. It would be great to get VW's to be more responsive in 3D.
• The space tool is very clunky.
• I would be great if a texture map could be a video and not just a still image. We could really use that.
• PLEASE get the energy modeling capabilities up to speed. It needs to be much more intuitive and NOT based on Passive House standards. Please include a clear output for a projects Energy Use Intensity (EUI) and how a project is doing relative to the 2030 Commitment.

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

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

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.

Incentivized

easy to follow, Good technical materials. good videos The platform is easy to use.

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

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

• Subscription model ensures we always have the latest versions - per-seat license is very affordable.
• Training costs are low (i.e. new hires get up to speed quickly).

Incentivized