Open Source Altium Designer AlternativesTop CAD Software and other similar apps like Altium Designer

The best open source alternative to Altium Designer is KiCad. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Altium Designer and 16 is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Altium Designer are Fritzing, QUCS, LibrePCB and gEDA Project.

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Alternatives list

  1. KiCad icon

    KiCad

     126 likes

    KiCad is an open source software suite for electronic design automation (EDA) - designing schematics of electronic circuits and printed circuit boards (PCB). KiCad is developed by Jean-Pierre Charras. And features an integrated environment between schematic capture, bill of...

    59 KiCad alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Docker
    PcbNew - Editor
     
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    2
    KiCad vs Altium Designer Comments
    Michal D.
    Positive
    0

    It's free and provide very good possibilities for circuit and PCB boards design

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Ease of schematic and pcb creating. BOM creation is not very good as excel templates cannot be used so this becomes a largely manual process. Most of the add-on tools cannot be added regardless of what the instructions say. Following the instructions usually ends in some sort of crash. Import/translation tools never install regardless of the instructions. But, with all of that said KiCad is still the best free alternative to Altium Designer.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • KiCad is Free and Open SourceAltium Designer is Paid and Proprietary
    • KiCad is LightweightAltium Designer is not according to our users
  2. Fritzing icon

    Fritzing

     112 likes

    Open-source initiative aiding designers, artists, and researchers in transforming prototypes to actual products, documenting circuits, sharing, teaching, and PCB manufacturing.

    57 Fritzing alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • AppImageHub
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
    Fritzing screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Fritzing vs Altium Designer Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    1

    That's a good scheme creator for arduino developpement, but it's not an alternative for professional designer software.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    fritzinf doesnt allow simulation

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Fritzing is Paid and Open SourceAltium Designer is Paid and Proprietary
  4. QUCS icon

    QUCS

     38 likes

    The Quite Universal Circuit Simulator (QUCS) is an integrated circuit simulator allowing the simulation and graphical presentation of results of large-signal, small-signal and noise behavior in circuits.

    36 QUCS alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    QUCS screenshot 1
     
  5. LibrePCB icon

    LibrePCB

     22 likes

    LibrePCB is a free EDA software to develop printed circuit boards. It’s currently under heavy development to bring out first stable releases as soon as possible.

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    LibrePCB screenshot 1
     
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    1
    LibrePCB vs Altium Designer Comments
    dbrgn
    Positive
    0

    The project is still fresh, but very promising. The developers have spent a lot of time thinking about proper a library file format that avoids problems of current open source EDA suites and will make creating and sharing comprehensive parts libraries easier. It is also much better regarding usability than current alternatives like KiCAD.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • LibrePCB is Free and Open SourceAltium Designer is Paid and Proprietary
    • LibrePCB is LightweightAltium Designer is not according to our users
  6. gEDA Project icon

    gEDA Project

     26 likes

    The gEDA project has produced and continues working on a full GPL'd suite and toolkit of Electronic Design Automation tools. These tools are used for electrical circuit design, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping, and production.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    gschem
     
  9. Coulomb icon

    Coulomb

     2 likes

    Coulomb is a simple and elegant circuit simulator written using Java, Gtk4 and libadwaita.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Coulomb screenshot 1
     
  10. Ngspice icon

    Ngspice

     8 likes

    Ngspice is a mixed-level/mixed-signal circuit simulator. Its code is based on three open source software packages: Spice3f5, Cider1b1 and Xspice. Ngspice is part of gEDA project, a full GPL'd suite of Electronic Design Automation tools.

    38 Ngspice alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    ngspice on KDE (Linux) with gschem in background
     
  11. Horizon EDA icon

    Horizon EDA

     3 likes

    Horizon is a free EDA package. Contribute to carrotIndustries/horizon development by creating an account on GitHub.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Horizon EDA screenshot 1
     
  12. Circuit Diagram icon

    Circuit Diagram

     4 likes

    Circuit Diagram is a free application for making electronic circuit diagrams and exporting them as images. Design circuits online in your browser or using the desktop application.

    36 Circuit Diagram alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Online
    Circuit Diagram screenshot 1
     
  13. tscircuit icon

    tscircuit

     1 like

    tscircuit is a framework for designing real electronics with Typescript and React. Your tscircuit code compiles into real-time previews for PCBs, schematics, 3D models and can be exported to fabrication files for manufacturing.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    tscircuit screenshot 1
     
12 of 16 Altium Designer alternatives