Pcb Design Software reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 280 Reddit reviews across 14 subreddits and 43 posts to rank the best Pcb Design Software brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/AskElectronics, r/ElectricalEngineering, r/PCB, r/PrintedCircuitBoard, r/diypedals. Top-rated brands include KiCad (4.3/5), EAGLE (3.3/5), Altium Designer (4.1/5).
Stats
Reviews280
Subreddits14
Posts43
Brands35
Products7
280 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
KiCad
4.3
(117)
"Kicad. Bit of a learning curve but absolutely worth the effort."
"I've been using Kicad professionally for a decade plus now. Free, fully featured with design rule checks, even an auto router."
"Kicad it is free and open source."
"Absolutely, 100% Kicad."
"+1 KiCad."
"It's pretty specific to KiCad, which is the program I recommend."
"Kicad has gotten VERY good in the last few years."
"It's really very very good, and easy to use."
"Again....KiCad."
"Made a design with kicad and had good results."
#2
EAGLE
3.3
(41)
"This is for using EagleCAD with PCB Gcode. Great combo."
"EAGLE. Easy to learn, lots of tutorials available."
"Eagle or KiCad. Both are good, free programs, but my preference is strongly toward Eagle, but KiCad is completely free/OSS."
"Eagle is a lot more beginner-friendly, but Altium is much more in-depth/professional level."
"A good free PCB design software is Autodesk Eagle, and I think Altium Designer has a free student license now too."
"I'm using Kicad and Eagle now, and leaning more towards Eagle because of the Fusion360 integration"
"Eagle is a great starting point since you can use it for free."
"For free home use I enjoy using Eagle. It's improved significantly over the last 3 years."
"For starting to learn PCB design, Eagle or KiCAD or Circuit Maker will all suit you fine."
"Seconded! Eagle is great, alongside Fusion360 for custom enclosures/ parts :)"
#3
Altium Designer
4.1
(26)
"In paid: Altium Designer is the best."
"Payware : Altium Designer, Eagle. Altium Designer is the most complete one and widely used in the industry"
"I can highly recommend Altium if you have the access to it."
"Altium is amazing-- see if your school has licenses, or if you could get a license from an engineering club."
"If you wish to use money, and lots of them I'd go with Altium Designer."
"Simple stuff like automatic routing around obstacles and loop removal of wires are a bliss!"
"Schematic capture and board layout: KiCad or Altium"
"If you actually want to do real stuff, and do it well, Altium is so much better."
"Altium Designer is my favorite"
"If you still have access to a .edu email, hop on Altium for free. Otherwise KiCad and Eagle are super good for fee software."
#4
DipTrace
3.9
(24)
"I've tried just about every eda system and diptrace was the only one that made sense."
"DipTrace is "Lit". Best PCB software in the price range of "free for hobbyists, cheap for professionals"."
"DipTrace. It's very easy to use and works well for beginners."
"Just made a couple of small boards in Diptrace and for me it was much smoother than Kicad."
"Schematic/PCB hobbyist software (sorted by first letter): DipTrace, request free upgrade"
"I found diptrace to be really easy to pick up."
"DipTrace - the free version supports up to 300 pads and 2 signal layers."
"DipTrace is very close in functionality."
"I like DIPTrace but I do not usually do super complex drawings."
"I had a positive experience with DipTrace. There is a lite version for non-profit purposes with some limitations."
#5
EasyEDA
4.1
(17)
"EasyEDA all the way"
"EasyEDA is a pretty convenient tool if you are planning on ordering PCB/PCBA from JLCPCB."
"I personally use EasyEDA; there is a free online version, and it is very convenient."
"EasyEda is also free bit closed source but there is free online version."
"Easy eda"
"Easy Eda."
"I’d vote for Easy EDA it is pretty user friendly and free."
"EasyEDA is great for beginners."
"Easyeda is very convenient for ordering parts from jlcpcb, but kicad is another great choice"
"EasyEDA :)"
#6
Altium
4.1
(12)
"Altium. simply the best."
"If you have $5000 a year burning a hole in your pocket Altium can probably do it."
"Altuim (there is a free version for students), or KiCAD."
"Altium for work."
"For work, altium."
"I'm with Altium now, I switched over a few years back, but I rather have original and supported software..."
"Altium and OrCAD are the most commonly used for PCB design in consumer electronics."
"Industry will use Altium Designer or the newer Altium Nexus."
"You can get the student version of Altium for fairly cheap."
"Altium makes 3 levels of products: CircuitMaker (free) is probably the best one for you to learn."
#7
CircuitMaker
3.8
(8)
"If you like Altium then CircuitMaker is a good free version."
"I am using Circuitmaker, so far quite happy with it."
"CircuitMaker is free and made by Altium."
"I really like CircuitMaker, it never gets any love though."
"Cirtcuit maker, made by Altium and does various level of pcb design and circuit schematic layout."
"Altium's free Circuitmaker... looks very promising."
"For starting to learn PCB design, Eagle or KiCAD or Circuit Maker will all suit you fine."
"You might want to check out Circuit Maker. It’s similar to Altium Designer which is used a lot in industry."
#8
Fritzing
3.7
(3)
"Fritzing"
"Fritzing, Eagle or Kicad are probably your best choices."
"If you just want to have a taste of having a very simple PCB made, and you don't want to invest much time to learn proper PCB design tools, consider Fritzing."
#9
ExpressPCB
3.7
(3)
"ExpressPCB operates in a niche - it's super simple software to use and the PCB fab has quick turnaround."
"Eagle is great, but I've done most of my successful boards with ExpressPCB. Free and very intuitive."
"Express PCB has a freebie schematic and layout tool. It is geared to their proprietary build scheme, but it is fast cheap and good for very basic things."
#10
LTSpice
4.0
(2)
"Analog simulation: LTSpice"
"Then for testing circuits I use LTSpice."
#11
OrCAD
3.5
(2)
"OrCad/Allegro is another software popular in industry, alongside altium."
"Do you want to buy a software of many thousand dollars ? yes -> Mentro, Orcad, Altium ect...."
#12
Cadence
3.0
(2)
"Cadance."
"Even the more expensive packages like Cadence or Altium tools will have limited 2D canine drawing features."
#13
Inkscape
4.0
(1)
"Check out the svg2shenzhen plugin for Inkscape."
#14
PCBWeb
4.0
(1)
"PCBWeb lets you build schematics, footprints, and PCB layouts in the same application."
#15
Eagle
4.0
(1)
"I'm a ninja in Eagle-7, know it like the back of my hand."
#16
Gecko
4.0
(1)
"Gecko 550 is a popular choice, and even something as basic as the hobbycnc boards."
#17
LPKF
4.0
(1)
"Try the LPKF website, the PC that drove the CNC had software that did the translation."
#18
OrCAD/Allegro
4.0
(1)
"OrCAD/Allegro is really stepping up their game."
#19
FreePCB
4.0
(1)
"I use FreePCB and find it easy and intuitive to quickly create circuit layouts."
#20
Horizon EDA
4.0
(1)
"Good Kicad alternative"
#21
LibrePCB
4.0
(1)
"Could be something nice."
#22
DesignSpark PCB
4.0
(1)
"I am very surprised that more people here don't use DesignSpark PCB. It is also free."
#23
Proteus
4.0
(1)
"Proteus is really great I find, though some people don’t like it."
#24
PCB123
4.0
(1)
"One of the most powerful free softwares I've used is PCB123. Full free tech support included."
#25
HyperLynx
4.0
(1)
"SI/PI simulation: Hyperlynx"
#26
HFSS
4.0
(1)
"RF simulation: HFSS"
#27
Fusion 360
4.0
(1)
"I do really like the idea of easy integration to fusion 360 I’ll check it out"
#28
Autotrax DEX
4.0
(1)
"For my own work I use Autotrax DEX."
#29
DesignSpark
3.0
(1)
"I have also used the free Designspark package from RS components, which is fine, and constantly improving."
#30
gEDA
3.0
(1)
"I have tried it and it seems serviceable but very clunky."
#31
National Instruments
3.0
(1)
"They are OK but besides the expensive AF PXI mini rack mountable hardware stuff for things like VNAs, I generally don't see them much in industry."
#32
Pulsonix
3.0
(1)
"Pulsonix - the demo version - if you are happy with the pin-count limit."
#33
Flux AI
3.0
(1)
"You could use Flux_AI for the basics, then kicad, then altium designer if you'd want to level up the game a little bit more"
#34
Mentor
3.0
(1)
"Do you want to buy a software of many thousand dollars ? yes -> Mentro, Orcad, Altium ect...."
#35
Allegro
3.0
(1)
"I've heard Allegro is great for beginners"
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