Proteus Design Suite

Proteus Design Suite is an integrated electronic design automation (EDA) tool for printed circuit board design, developed in the UK by Labcenter Electronics since 1988. It combines schematic capture, PCB layout, and simulation in a single environment, and is used by independent design engineers, hardware consultancies, electronics manufacturers, and higher education institutions internationally.

Core Design Capabilities

• Schematic capture module with hierarchical, multi-sheet design environment, electrical rule checking, and direct import of over 15 million parts through integrated web component vendors. A formal managed-library system supports controlled, organisation-wide component governance.
• PCB layout module with polygonal power planes, shape-based autorouting, scalable and hierarchical design rule checking, and high-speed design features including differential pair routing, length matching, and net tuning.
• 3D viewer (3DV) for integrated visualisation and inspection of the assembled (or bare) board, with STEP and IGES export for mechanical CAD interchange.
• Manufacturing output in Gerber X2, RS-274X, ODB++, and IDF formats, plus BOM generation, Pick and Place Output and Pre-Production Check. Output files are all controlled from the Output Job Manager for easy batch generation and revision or date folder structuring on disk.
• Project Notes module providing dedicated reporting and auditing — single-pin net reports, length matching and differential pair reports, PCB manufacturing reports, component placement reports, and others.
• ProPilot integrated AI chatbot provides emerging AI capabilities placing Proteus among the early movers in AI integration with mainstream EDA. ProPilot acts as a design assistant and firmware author/editor and can also generate new component library parts and footprints directly from datasheet screenshots.

Simulation Tools
In addition to mainstream professional PCB design, Proteus includes both mixed-mode and embedded simulation tools:

• Mixed-mode SPICE simulation covers analogue, digital, and mixed-signal analysis, with over a dozen graph analysis types (transient, frequency, DC sweep, AC sweep, noise, distortion, Fourier, and others) and interactive measurement instruments including oscilloscope, logic analyser, signal generator, voltmeter, and current probe.
• Virtual System Modelling (VSM) co-simulates microcontroller firmware running on a virtual device alongside the surrounding analogue and digital circuitry. Supported families include Arduino, PIC, AVR, ARM Cortex-M, STM32, MicroPython-based ESP32, and Raspberry Pi.
• Peripheral models include keypads, TFT displays, a wide range of sensors, motors, and communications bus controllers (SPI, I²C, USB, UART).

Licensing and Purchasing

Proteus is typically sold under a perpetual licence:

• One-off purchase; the licensed version is permanently owned and can be used indefinitely.
• For single users and smaller commercial teams (typically up to five users), licensing is local to each machine via a licence key. In territories where software piracy is a heightened risk, this can be coupled with a USB hardware dongle.
• For larger multi-user deployments, including educational labs and enterprise teams, server-based floating licensing options are available, including LAN-based deployment, WAN-distributed licensing for entire campus coverage, and a fully managed Cloud Licence Server hosted by Labcenter. Where these options use a network connection, it is for licence verification only. The perpetual licence model still applies.
• An optional annual maintenance contract is available for a modest fee. Maintenance provides software updates and ongoing technical assistance. If maintenance is not renewed, the software is simply frozen at the last valid build and can continue to be used in perpetuity at that version.
• Multi-year maintenance can be purchased in advance at the current price for any number of years. This suits organisations needing to lock in multi-year budget allocations, or where capital allowance is available but ongoing maintenance budget is constrained.

Design files remain on the user's local machine at all times. Cloud and server-based options govern licence access, not design data.

Product Editions

Proteus is available in tiered configurations to match project complexity:

• Entry-level configurations for hobbyists, individual engineers and small consultancies.
• Professional editions for commercial product development and design houses.
• Site-licensed and educational programmes for universities and technical training organisations.

Support

Primary technical support is provided directly from the UK head office by the development team. This is backed by a network of expert international distributors offering local-language and local-timezone support across the regions they serve.

About Labcenter Electronics

Labcenter Electronics is a privately held UK software company specialising in PCB design and embedded simulation. The company has developed Proteus continuously since 1988 and serves customers in higher education and industry internationally.