Altium Develop vs. AutoCAD

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
AutoCAD
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
AutoCAD is a CAD product from Autodesk. It allows designers to work in 2D and 3D, and is available on Windows and Mac, but with extensive online collaboration tools.
$245
per month
Pricing
Altium DevelopAutoCAD
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Monthly Subscription
$245
per month per user
Yearly Subscription
$1975
per year per user
3-Year Subscription
$5925
3 years per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Altium DevelopAutoCAD
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Altium DevelopAutoCAD
Considered Both Products
Altium Develop
Chose Altium Develop
Other tools are open source and free to use, which often means its easier to use but has limited abilities. With using Altium Designer compared to the other tools I have found the review process a lot better and its workspace environment a big plus because I can find …
Chose Altium Develop
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 …
Chose Altium Develop
Due to coworker use the same software, it's easier to work with.
Chose Altium Develop
Altium Designer is far easier to use and has a simplified pricing model for use to forecast project costs. Altium Designer also has many value-added features such as Altium 365 and MCAD integration which we can use for no additional costs. Other vendors charge by feature. …
Chose Altium Develop
I prefer Altium Designer because it makes collaboration easy, and I have had a more enjoyable time using it. Altium Designer runs better on my computer than other software, and I have never run into a problem while using it. It allows me to really get into my work and focus on …
AutoCAD

No answer on this topic

Features
Altium DevelopAutoCAD
Computer-Aided Design Software
Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Product A and Product B
Altium Develop
-
Ratings
AutoCAD
6.5
6 Ratings
13% below category average
3D Modeling00 Ratings5.26 Ratings
2D Drafting00 Ratings9.06 Ratings
Rendering and Visualization00 Ratings5.56 Ratings
Parametric Design00 Ratings6.76 Ratings
Collaboration and Sharing00 Ratings7.36 Ratings
Compatibility with other software and formats00 Ratings8.16 Ratings
Assembly Design00 Ratings5.96 Ratings
Simulation and Analysis00 Ratings3.85 Ratings
Documentation and Annotation00 Ratings7.56 Ratings
Customization and Extensions00 Ratings5.96 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Altium DevelopAutoCAD
Small Businesses
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.5 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 7.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SOLIDWORKS
SOLIDWORKS
Score 8.5 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 7.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Autodesk Fusion
Autodesk Fusion
Score 8.0 out of 10
Rhino
Rhino
Score 8.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Altium DevelopAutoCAD
Likelihood to Recommend
9.5
(54 ratings)
7.6
(87 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(4 ratings)
10.0
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.4
(51 ratings)
8.4
(8 ratings)
Availability
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.2
(3 ratings)
6.9
(13 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.3
(2 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
2.7
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Altium DevelopAutoCAD
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.
Read full review
Autodesk
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.
Read full review
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
Read full review
Autodesk
  • 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.
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
Autodesk
  • 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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Autodesk
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.
Read full review
Usability
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.
Read full review
Autodesk
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.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Autodesk
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.
Read full review
Online Training
Altium
easy to follow, Good technical materials. good videos The platform is easy to use.
Read full review
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Altium
Some times it is slow down PC due to polygons
Read full review
Autodesk
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.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
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
Read full review
Autodesk
I use Revit far more than I use AutoCAD. AutoCAD is great for simple linework, but even then I will often create the lines in Revit and then export to AutoCAD for final touches and printing. AutoCAD is a bit easier for large-format prints, which is why I almost always end up using it after starting in Revit.
Read full review
Scalability
Altium
Because, in my opinion, usage for small organization is poor, it is difficult to set up initial configuration to support scaling.
Read full review
Autodesk
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
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.
Read full review
Autodesk
  • AutoCAD has helped our smaller firm produce lots of finished products matching that of a much larger size firm. With its many features, we have been able to do so much more and meet deadlines that much faster.
  • Since we do use AutoCAD, we're able to work with many other engineering firms to collaborate together to complete various building projects.
  • We have many clients now who expect us to provide for them at the end of a project not just printed construction drawings but also the digital AutoCAD drawing so they can in turn use it for future modifications themselves.
Read full review
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.