Altium Develop vs. KiCad EDA

AD is perfectly suited for the company's needs. We design a few boards per year, and having one seat is enough for us. The software offers all the tools required to design, lay out, and send manufacturing files over to the PCB manufacturers. The version control feature is very useful for tracking changes, especially during the development and certification stages.

Incentivized

KiCad is great for learning and getting started with Hardware design because its open source and easy to work with. Besides this its interface is simple and easy to understand. I have used KiCad personally for simple projects as more complex projects are harder to do in KiCad. The simplicity allows to me to do my work quick

Incentivized

• Extremely straightforward and easy to use
• Easy to find all tools, including laying traces, adding net labels, etc.
• Great training documents and videos, very using friendly; especially for first time users
• 3D models of the PCB are excellent
• Easy to generate files; including schematics, BOMs, Gerber files, etc.

Incentivized

• User Interface
• Open source
• Component import

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.

• Design rules
• Limited libraries
• Large custom libraries
• Version control

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

The schematic editor is easy to use for simple designs within a couple weeks of training, but can also handle complex designs and multi-board designs with no formal training needed. The addition of the wire harness designer offers a great way to allow for the electrical engineers to control the designs without the need of additional CAD software.

Incentivized

KiCad is great for learning and getting started with Hardware design because its open source and easy to work with. Besides this its interface is simple and easy to understand. I have used KiCad personally for simple projects as more complex projects are harder to do in KiCad. The simplicity allows to me to do my work quick.

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

Long process for solving problems. Problem solved after multiple emails, but not explained what was the solution, just "it is solved now"

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

Some times it is slow down PC due to polygons

Incentivized

Altium Develop gave the most cohesive experience compared to other platforms. Most others feel like several pieces of software kludged together (and often are). Altium Develop was clearly a unified system and felt like a much more modern piece of software. At the time it was competitively priced while having features open-source alternatives couldn't match.

Incentivized

I use nowadays mainly ALTIUM because of its advanced features for complex projects. Altium has many more benefits but on the other hand it depends on the complexity. For simple project I recommend KiCad because its open-source, easy to learn and work with. Therefore I would recommend KiCad is more then sufficient for easy less complex projects

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

• Allowed our team to turn out PCB designs as early as 2 months before our deadlines
• Better team retention as Altium 365 is not frustrating to use
• Mitigated costs through reliably accurate DRC reports, avoiding bad PCB designs to be sent for fabrication

Incentivized

• PCB Client Projects
• More Electronic designers
• Open source
• Missing advanced features for complex projects

Incentivized