Altium Develop vs. AutoCAD

Altium is my 4th PCBA layout tool used and was very easy to learn how to use and more powerful than the others (except for MentorGraphics Expedition). it is well suited for schematics and layouts for simple to complex boards handling multi-hundred element schematics and placements while easily keeping track of items.

Incentivized

AutoCAD is the Industry best and standardized software used industry wide. This comes with support of some free to use plugins which can be downloaded form AutoDesk Store. AutoDesk has already nurtured a strong community of Developers, Students and Architects this helps any one new with Forms which help them get integrated with the commiunity very quickly.

Incentivized

• 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

Incentivized

• The tools are easy to use and the learning curve is fairly minimal to be able to create blueprints.
• The 3D application is very fun to use and it is nice to be able to see your product instead of having to imagine what it will look like.
• The speed and accuracy in which students can create plans is a huge bonus. Students can plan their industrial art projects out and use their own set of plans to build them.

Incentivized

• The move to constraint management vs. design rules is half-baked. requiring saving separate constraints to schematics vs. PCBs results in constraints being overwritten constantly when pushing updates.
• Forcing subscriptions - removing the option for perpetual licenses.
• Integrated simulation is still un-intuitive and difficult to use.
• Requirements management feels completely separate, and I forget it's even part of Altium.
• No easy way to manage or layout schematics with "generic components" - every item is forced to be a manufacturer part at design time, slowing down initial schematic capture.

• User Interface Customisation: AutoCAD's user interface could benefit from more robust customisation options. Allowing users to rearrange toolbars, menus, and panels according to their specific workflows and preferences would enhance productivity.
• Enhanced 3D Modeling Tools: While AutoCAD is capable of 3D modeling, it's not as intuitive or feature-rich as dedicated 3D modeling software. Streamlining the process and adding more advanced modeling tools would be a welcome improvement.
• Enhanced Collaboration and Version Control: AutoCAD could improve its collaboration tools, such as real-time editing and version tracking, to facilitate smoother teamwork, especially in multi-disciplinary projects.
• Intelligent Object Libraries: AutoCAD could benefit from an expanded and more intelligent library of standard objects and components. This would save time for designers who often have to create custom components from scratch.

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

Because rarely we [would] rather wait for a whole year to update, sometimes the new updates don't bring many new features and we are still ok with the current version. Also the change of interface is always something that takes time for every partner in the company to get comfortable with. So those are the main reasons we may want to keep the same version.

Incentivized

I originally chose Altium Develop for its superior usability. All operations being handled in one cohesive platform greatly improves efficiency. When handling many different designs, project setup and component creation eat into every project's productivity. Templates, defaults and design reuse all speed up design. I hold back from a higher rating because development focus on those usability features seems to have stagnated a bit. Simple missing features requested seem to remain missing. New collaboration features, simulation and sourcing features are released, but I just want to be able to draw dashed lines! I think this reflects a general focus on the 10% of datacenter/AI/smartphone customers over the 90% of 2-4 layer designs. The lack of information available during the platform transition gave me significant pause before buying in as well.

Incentivized

It is very usable once you understand the program. I believe there is room for improvement in the 2D to 3D modeling capability. We have to use other apps to 3D model and that can be time consuming and sometimes AutoCAD doesn't transfer work that well between apps. They can improve there.

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

AutoCAD has the issue of crashing or slowing down the design procedure once a heavy design that includes several disciplines or multiple families/blocks is involved. Customer services gets the feedback from the crash reports but this issue seems like it has never been addressed in the software updates past several years.

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

the implementation was realy easy , to set up our workstation we pay for the licenses we are about to use , there was a little bit of delay to get the payment processed to receive the serial but after that the install runs without any problem , so you can fell secure there will be not issue with the implementation.

Incentivized

Altium Develop is a lot better than the PADS version the company had. The PCB view interface is a lot better in AD; PADS seemed very old (although we did not have the latest version). There was not 3d viewer with actual components in PADS; Altium has this feature, which means that we can share 3d images of the PCB with customers before manufacturing.

Incentivized

I think software like SOLIDWORKS dominates complex machinery simulation; however, for us, this was not needed. It almost felt like too much and would be more suited for massive refineries that have 10s of jobs going on at one time! We selected AutoCAD because our focus is on compact, custom work, it delivers the ideal balance of native file compatibility across external vendors, rapid 2D/3D flexibility and significantly lower overhead without forcing us into high cost very rigid setups.

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

Incentivized

• Quick PCB design allows for quick sales, thus generating a large ROI for a company
• Altium Designer's built in BOM price tracker allows the user to have a general idea of the cost of their PCB, so they can plan accordingly when budgeting
• In addition to the BOM, Altium Designer provides different manufacturers and their part numbers for different components so the user can choose the cheapest option to move forward with

Incentivized

• AutoCAD is cost effective when you get the Autodesk suite, so it makes sense to have it for many of our workflows.
• AutoCAD is like a hammer. It's simple and is very good at certain things. No matter how advanced tools get, you will not soon get rid of hammers.
• AutoCAD is really useful when models do not line up correctly in Revit.

Incentivized