KiCad AlternativesTop Electronic Design Automation Tools & Circuit Simulators like KiCad

KiCad is described as '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' and is a very popular circuit simulator in the education & reference category. There are more than 50 alternatives to KiCad for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Web-based and Flathub apps. The best KiCad alternative is Fritzing. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try LibrePCB or EasyEDA. Other great apps like KiCad are Autodesk EAGLE, Altium Designer, Square Sketch and Proteus PCB design.

filter to find the best alternatives

KiCad alternatives are mainly Circuit Simulators, but if you're looking for Electronic Design Automation Tools or Circuit Designers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Android, Mac, iPad and Open Source. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to KiCad.
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
KiCad alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Fritzing icon
     109 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

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • AppImageHub
    • Flathub
    • Haiku
     
    |
    14
  2. Autodesk EAGLE icon
     34 likes

    EDA software that enables PCB designers to connect schematics, position components, route PCBs, and access extensive libraries, with features like SPICE simulation, drag-and-drop functionality, alignment tools, 3D models for enclosure fit, and direct links to manufacturers for parts replacement.

    47 Autodesk EAGLE alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  3. LibrePCB icon
     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.

    52 LibrePCB alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
     
    |
    7
  4. Altium Designer icon
     18 likes

    Features a unified workflow for schematic capture, PCB layout, mixed analog/digital simulation, signal integrity analysis, real-time 3D editing, ECAD-MCAD collaboration, component libraries, collaborative design tools, BOM generation, routing, and manufacturing outputs.

    51 Altium Designer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  5. Square Sketch icon
     9 likes

    Digital graph paper for diagrams, technical sketches and geometric art.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
     
  6. EasyEDA icon
     20 likes

    Schematic capture, Ngspice based simulation, PCB layout, custom PCB manufacturing, for electronic engineers, educators, students and hobbyists.

    54 EasyEDA alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
  7. CR-8000 icon
     1 like

    CR-8000 is a comprehensive PCB design suite that enables the development of a product from concept to manufacturing. CR-8000’s fully integrated design flow ranges from initial system planning, where critical design decisions are made about design partitioning, component...

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  8. The industry-leading, high-productivity, PCB-centric design solution for independent engineers.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  9. eSim icon
     4 likes

    eSim (previously known as Oscad / FreeEDA) is an open source EDA tool for circuit design, simulation, analysis and PCB design.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  10. CircuitMaker icon
     1 like

    CircuitMaker is the best free PCB design software by Altium for Open Source Hardware Designers, Hackers, Makers, Students and Hobbyists. From the about page of the website:

    37 CircuitMaker alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
12 of 59 KiCad alternatives