Circuit Board Design Software
Posted on
Comparison of electronic design automation (EDA) software
That’s why it needs to be perfect. You need to balance creativity, productivity, and old fashioned getting things done. As an engineer, designing printed circuit boards is a core function of your job. You need the best PCB design tool to get it right, and the best PCB design software to get you from PCB prototype to PCB manufacturing.
Comparison of EDA packages[edit]
Circuit Board Design Software Free
| Application and developer | Latest version/release + date | Schematic? | Simulation? | PCB editing? | Runs on POSIX style systems? | Runs on Windows? | Other platforms? | Open source? | User Interface Language(s) | Imports | Exports | Scripting support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Design System by Keysight EEsof EDA | 2019 15 November 2018 (6 months ago)[1] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[2] | Yes[2] | SuSE, RHEL[2] | No | en | HSPICE, SPICE, Spectre netlists; Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, artwork; more | HSPICE, SPICE, Spectre netlists; Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, artwork; more | Python, Application Extension Language (proprietary; 'AEL') |
| Active-HDL by Aldec | 10.3 16 March 2016 (3 years ago) | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | en | EDIF, Viewlogic, more | PDF, HTML, Verilog, VHDL, EDIF, Zuken, more | |
| Altium Designer (former Protel) by Altium | 19.0.15 18 April 2019 (41 days ago) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Wine | No | Multilingual | OrCAD, Allegro, PADS Logic, PADS PCB, Expedition, DxDesigner, EAGLE, Gerber, STEP, Solidworks, IDF, more | 3D PDF, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, STEP, OrCAD, EAGLE, more | Delphi, JS, VB |
| CADSTAR, Board Designer, and Visula by Zuken | 18 30 June 2017 (22 months ago) | Yes | Yes, Spice | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en | PADS, OrCAD, P-CAD, Protel, DXF, IDF | PDF, Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF more | |
| CircuitLogix by Logic Design Inc. | Release 9.1 January 2013 (6 years ago) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en | SPICE, Gerber, DXF | SPICE, PDF, Gerber, DXF | |
| CircuitMaker by Altium | 1.3.0.119 August 2016 (2 years ago) | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Wine | No | en | AD09, AD10, AD12, PADS, P-CAD, OrCAD, Protel, EAGLE, DXF | Gerber, Excellon, DXF, STEP, more | |
| CircuitStudio by Altium | 1.5.1.13 25 May 2018 (12 months ago) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Wine | No | en | AD09, AD10, AD12, PADS, P-CAD, OrCAD, Protel, EAGLE, DXF | Gerber, Excellon, SPICE, DXF, STEP, more | |
| CR-5000 by Zuken | 13 17 May 2011 (8 years ago) | Yes | Yes, SI & PI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unix, Linux | No | en, jp | EDIF, DXF, IGES, IDF, BSDL, STEP, ACIS, Gerber, Excellon, more | PDF, Gerber, Excellon, ODB++ (must request[3]), DXF, STEP, IPC D-356, IPC-2581, EPS, ACIS | |
| DipTrace by Novarm | 3.3.1.0 29 November 2018 (6 months ago) | Yes | External (Spice netlist export) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mac, Wine | No | 21 languages | EAGLE, Altium, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD, Gerber, N/C Drill, DXF, BSDL Pinlist, Netlists | Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD, IPC-D-356, STEP, VRML, Pick and Place, CSV, BOM | |
| DesignSpark PCB from RS Components | 8 16 June 2016 (2 years ago) | Yes | Yes, Spice | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Various | EAGLE, DXF, EDIF | Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF, PDF, LPKF | |
| EAGLE by Autodesk/CadSoft Computer | 9.3.2 21 March 2019 (2 months ago) | Yes | Ngspice | Yes | Yes | Yes | Linux, Mac | No | de, en, zh, hu, ru | EAGLE (XML), ACCEL (P-CAD, Altium, Protel), ULTIBOARD, Netlists, BMP, Custom | EAGLE (XML), Protel, Netlists, Images, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, Sieb & Meyer, HPGL, PostScript/EPS, PDF, Images, HyperLynx, IDF, Custom | Proprietary User Language Programming (ULP) |
| EasyEDA | 5.4.12 7 May 2018 (12 months ago) | Yes | Ngspice | Yes | Yes | Yes | Linux, Mac | No | en, fr, de, pl, jp, ru, es, se, ua, zh .. | Altium, EAGLE, KiCad libraries, LTspice .asc/.asy files, JSON, Spice | PDF, PNG, SVG, JSON, Gerber, Excellon, Pick and Place CSV file, CSV-formatted drill chart, Bill of Materials CSV file, Altium netlist, FreePCB netlist, PADS Layout Netlist, Spice netlist. | JSON |
| Fritzing | 0.9.3b[4] 3 June 2016 (2 years ago) | Yes, + breadboard | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Linux, Mac | Yes | en, de, nl, es, it, fr, pt, ru, zh, jp, .. | gEDA symbols, KiCad symbols, SVG | Gerber, DIY etching, BOM, SVG, PDF, EPS | |
| gEDA | 1.8.2[5] 25 September 2013 (5 years ago) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Linux, Mac | Yes | en | gschem netlists, image as background | Gerber, Excellon, SVG, PDF, EPS, PNG, GIF, JPEG, Specctra, XYRS | yes |
| KiCad | 5.0.2[6]
| Yes | Internal: Ngspice External: SPICE netlist export | Yes | Yes | Yes | Linux, Mac | Yes | zh_CN, de, en, es, fr, it, pt, ru, ja, pl, cz | TinyCAD net lists, OrCAD EDIF, EAGLE (XML) | PDF, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, netlist, VRML2, STEP, IDFv3 | Python |
| OrCAD | 17.2 October 2016 (2 years ago) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en | EAGLE, PADS, Altium, STEP, DXF, IDF, IDX, OrCAD SDT, OrCAD Layout,OrCAD | PDF, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon drill/route, netlist, ODB++, DXF, IDF, IDX, STEP,3D PDF, IPC2581 | Tcl/TK, SKILL (Lisp) |
| pcb-rnd | 2.0.0[7] 6 June 2018 (11 months ago) | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Linux, Mac | Yes | en | gschem netlists, Protel Autotrax, KiCad (legacy & s-expr layouts), EAGLE (XML & v3,4,5 binary layouts), eeschema netlists, mentor netlists, TinyCad netlists, LT-Spice, MUCS, Specctra, Mentor Graphics Hyperlynx, BMP, JPG, GIF, HPGL, image as background | Gerber/[Excellon format drill],SVG, PDF, EPS, PNG, GIF, JPEG, Specctra, Protel Autotrax, KiCad (legacy & s-expr), DXF, FidocadJ, Mentor Graphics Hyperlynx, template configurable XYRS/BOM | Multiple languages |
| Upverter | 10 May 2019 (19 days ago) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Web application | No | en | Altium, OrCad, PDF, OpenJSON, EAGLE | PDF, Gerber, Excellon, netlist, PADS Layout Netlist, Tempo Automation, Pick and Place CSV, High-Res PNG, STL, CSV-formatted drill chart, CSV-formatted list of all parts | |
| Micro-Cap by Spectrum Software | 11.0.2.0 3 September 2016 (2 years ago) | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Wine | No | en, jp | HSPICE, PSPICE, SPICE3, netlists, Images, IBIS, Touchstone | SPICE text file, netlist, BOM, Protel, Accel, OrCad, PADS netlists, Schematic and Analysis Plots Images, Numeric Output Text, Excel | |
| Pulsonix by WestDev Ltd | 10.0 1 October 2018 (7 months ago) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Wine | No | en | Allegro, Altium, CadStar, EAGLE, OrCAD, PADS, P-CAD, Protel, Gerber, STEP, DXF, IDF, more | Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, ODB++, IPC-2581, PDF, DXF, STEP, IDF, BOM, more | Proprietary language, ActiveX |
| TARGET 3001! | 20.3.0.64 29 April 2019 (30 days ago) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en, de, fr | EAGLE, DXF, Gerber, XGerber, Excellon, BMP, CXF, STEP 3D | XGerber, Excellon, EAGLE, HPGL, G-Code (Milling), CXF, STEP 3D, Excel BOMs, Pick&Place, GenCAD, FABmaster, IPC D-356, Test points, Netlists, OBJ, POV-Ray, PDF | |
| NI Ultiboard and Multisim by National Instruments | 14.1 1 March 2017 (2 years ago)[8] | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Web application[9] | No | en | MS*, MP*, EWB, Spice, OrCAD, UltiCap, Protel, Gerber, DXF, Ultiboard 4&5, Calay | BOM, Gerber, Excellon, IGES (3D), DXF (2D & 3D), SVG | |
| 123D Circuits by Autodesk | N/A | Yes, + breadboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Web application | No | en | EAGLE | Gerber | |
| Application and developer | Latest version/release + date | Schematic? | Simulation? | PCB editing? | Runs on POSIX style systems? | Runs on Windows? | Other platforms? | Open source? | User Interface Language(s) | Imports | Exports | Scripting support |
Note: ODB++ support is drawn partly from lists by Artwork Conversion Software[3] and Mentor Graphics[10]
Free software[edit]
Open Source Circuit Board Design Software
| Name | Architecture | License | Autorouter | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric | *BSD, Java | GPL | Yes | VLSI circuit design tool with connectivity at all levels. Can also be used for schematic entry and PCB design. |
| FreePCB | w32 | GPL | Yes | A printed circuit board design program for Microsoft Windows. FreePCB allows for up to 16 copper layers, both metric and US customary units, and export of designs in Gerber format. Boards can be partially or fully autorouted with the FreeRouting[11] autorouter by using the FpcROUTE Specctra DSN design file translator. |
| Fritzing | Windows, Mac, Linux | GPL | Yes | Protoboard view, schematic view, PCB view, Code (firmware) view. Includes customizable design rule checker. Includes common shaped boards like Arduino and Raspberry Pi shields. Allows spline curve traces. Only two layers (top and bottom). Outputs gerbers. |
| gEDA | *BSD, Linux, Mac | GPL | Yes | schematic, simulation, PCB editor, gerber view |
| Gnucap | any (C++98) | GPL3 | Mixed-signal circuit simulator | |
| Icarus Verilog | *BSD, Linux, Mac | GPL | Verilog simulator | |
| KiCad | Linux, Mac, Windows | GNU GPL | Built-in, or FreeRouting | Full package for schematic and board design, etc. Design rule checking. User-defined symbols and footprints. Gerber/ drill file creation. Graphic interface. Active user community. |
| KTechLab | Linux | GPL | n/a | KTechLab is a schematic capture and simulator. It is specifically geared toward mixed signal simulation of analog components and small digital processors. |
| Magic | Linux | BSD license | no | A popular very-large-scale integration layout tool |
| Ngspice | Linux, Solaris, Mac, NetBSD, FreeBSD, w32 | BSD | SPICE + XSPICE + Cider | |
| Oregano | GPL | no | Schematic capture + spice simulation | |
| Quite Universal Circuit Simulator (QUCS) | Linux, Solaris, Mac, NetBSD, FreeBSD, w32 | GPL | Schematic capture + Verilog + VHDL + simulation | |
| pcb-rnd | *BSD, Linux, Mac | GPL | yes | Circuit layout program with extended file format support, DRC, parametric footprints, query language, and GUI and command line operation for batch processing and automation |
| Verilator | Posix | GPL | Verilator is the fastest free Verilog HDL simulator. It compiles synthesizable Verilog into cycle accurate C++ or SystemC code following 2-state synthesis (zero delay) semantics. Benchmarks reported on its website suggest it is several times faster than commercial event driven simulators such as ModelSim, NC-Verilog and VCS, while not quite as fast as commercial cycle accurate modeling tools such as Carbon ModelStudio and ARC VTOC. | |
| XCircuit | Unix | GPL | Used to produce netlists and publish high-quality drawings. |
See also[edit]
- SPICE, a general purpose analog circuitsimulator.
References[edit]
- ^Advanced Design System – ADS Software - Current Version
- ^ abcADS Supported Platforms
- ^ ab'PCB tools supporting ODB++'. Artwork.com. Artwork Conversion Software Inc. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
- ^http://blog.fritzing.org/2016/06/03/new-fritzing-release-0-9-3b/
- ^http://wiki.geda-project.org/geda:download
- ^'KiCad 5 - a new generation'. 2018-10-14. Archived from the original on 2018-07-29. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
- ^http://repo.hu/projects/pcb-rnd/news.html
- ^'Latest Multisim Release'.
- ^'Multisim Web App'.
- ^'ODB++ Data Exchange'. Mentor.com. Mentor Graphics. Archived from the original on 2012-10-06. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
- ^Wirtz, Alfons (2014-03-08) [2004]. 'FreeRouting - Printed Circuit Board Routing Software from FreeRouting.net'. Archived from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comparison_of_EDA_software&oldid=898270723'