Comparison of EDA packages

Runs
Latest version/release+ on POSIX Runs on Open
Application and developer Schematic? Simulation? PCBediting? Other platforms? User Interface Language(s) Imports Exports Scripting support
date style Windows? source?
systems?

Active-HDL by Aldec 10.3 Yes Yes No No Yes No No en EDIF, Viewlogic, more PDF, HTML, Verilog, VHDL, EDIF, Zuken, more
16 March 2016

Proteus by Labcenter Electronics 8.11 PDF, Gerber, GerberX2, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF, PKP, testpoint file, metafile,
Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No en Gerber, BMP, DXF internal script
Ltd 1 September 2020 BMP.
Advanced Design System by 2019 Python, Application Extension Language
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
Keysight EEsof EDA 15 November 2018[1] (proprietary; "AEL")
Altium Designer (former Protel) 20.0.11 Yes Yes Yes No Yes Wine No Multilingual OrCAD, Allegro, PADS Logic, PADS PCB, Expedition, DxDesigner, EAGLE, P-CAD, Gerber, STEP, Solidworks, IDF, more 3D PDF, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, STEP, OrCAD, EAGLE, more Delphi, JS, VB
by Altium 28 January 2020

CADSTAR, Board Designer, and 2019.0.0.1 Yes Yes, SI & PI Yes No Yes No No en PADS, OrCAD, P-CAD, Protel, DXF, IDF PDF, Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF more COM, macros
Visula by Zuken 18 November 2019

CircuitLogix by Logic Design Inc. Release 10 Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No en SPICE, Gerber, DXF SPICE, PDF, Gerber, DXF
January 2019

CircuitMaker by Altium 1.3.0.119 Yes No Yes No Yes Wine No en AD09, AD10, AD12, PADS, P-CAD, OrCAD, Protel, EAGLE, DXF Gerber, Excellon, DXF, STEP, more
August 2016

CR-5000 by Zuken 13 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,
17 May 2011 EPS, ACIS
Yes, SI & PI,
2020 PDF, Gerber, Excellon, ODB++ (must request[3]), DXF, STEP, IPC D-356, IPC-2581,
CR-8000 by Zuken Yes IBIS- Yes Yes Yes Unix, Linux No en, jp EDIF, DXF, IGES, IDF, BSDL, STEP, ACIS, Gerber, Excellon, more
30 June 2020 EPS, ACIS
AMI/SERDES
DesignSpark PCB by RS 9.0.3 Yes Yes, Spice Yes No Yes No No en EAGLE, DXF, EDIF Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF, PDF, LPKF
Components 8 July 2020

DesignSpark PCB Pro by RS 9.0.3 Yes Yes, Spice Yes No Yes No No en EAGLE, OrCAD, Easy-PC, NI Ultiboard, BoardMaker, DXF, PNL, EDIF Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF, PDF, LPKF
Components 8 July 2020

External
4.0.0.5 Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD, IPC-D-356,
DipTrace by Novarm Yes (Spice netlist Yes Yes Yes Mac, Wine No 21 languages EAGLE, Altium, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD, Gerber, N/C Drill, DXF, BSDL Pinlist, Netlists
30 July 2020 STEP, VRML, Pick and Place, CSV, BOM
export)
EAGLE by Autodesk/CadSoft 9.6.2 EAGLE (XML), Protel, Netlists, Images, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, Sieb & Meyer, Proprietary User Language Programming
Yes Ngspice Yes Yes Yes Linux, Mac No de, en, zh, hu, ru EAGLE (XML), ACCEL (P-CAD, Altium, Protel), ULTIBOARD, Netlists, BMP, Custom
Computer 27 May 2020 HPGL, PostScript/EPS, PDF, Images, HyperLynx, IDF, Custom (ULP)
Linux, Mac, PDF, PNG, SVG, JSON, Gerber, Excellon, Pick and Place CSV file, CSV-formatted
EasyEDA 6.4.5 Yes Ngspice Yes Yes Yes and Chrome OS as No en, fr, de, pl, jp, ru, es, se, ua, zh... Altium, EAGLE, KiCad libraries, LTspice .asc/.asy files, JSON, Spice drill chart, Bill of Materials CSV file, Altium netlist, FreePCB netlist, PADS Layout JSON
19 August 2020
a Web application Netlist, Spice netlist.

Fritzing 0.9.3b[4] Yes, +

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
3 June 2016 breadboard

gEDA 1.10.1[5] 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
16 December 2020

Internal:
5.1.8[6]
Ngspice
KiCad Yes External: 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
5 November 2020
SPICE netlist
export
Micro-Cap 12.0.2.3 SPICE text file, netlist, BOM, Protel, Accel, OrCad, PADS netlists, Schematic and
Yes Yes No No Yes Wine No en, jp HSPICE, PSPICE, SPICE3, netlists, Images, IBIS, Touchstone
(end-of-life) 18 November 2019 Analysis Plots Images, Numeric Output Text, Excel
NI 14.2
Ultiboard and Multisimby National Yes Yes Yes No Yes Web application [8] No en MS*, MP*, EWB, Spice, OrCAD, UltiCap, Protel, Gerber, DXF, Ultiboard 4&5, Calay BOM, Gerber, Excellon, IGES (3D), DXF (2D & 3D), SVG
19 May 2019 [7]
Instruments
17.2 PDF, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon drill/route, netlist, ODB++, DXF, IDF, IDX,
OrCAD Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No en EAGLE, PADS, Altium, STEP, DXF, IDF, IDX, OrCAD SDT, OrCAD Layout,OrCAD Tcl/TK, SKILL (Lisp)
October 2016 STEP,3D PDF, IPC2581
gschem netlists, Protel Autotrax, KiCad (legacy & s-expr layouts), EAGLE (XML & v3,4,5 binary layouts), eeschema netlists, Gerber/[Excellon format|drill],SVG, PDF, EPS, PNG, GIF, JPEG, Specctra, Protel Python, lua, perl, tcl, AWK (multiple dialects),
2.2.4[9] external:
pcb-rnd No Yes Yes Yes Linux, Mac Yes en mentor netlists, TinyCad netlists, Calay netlist, FreePCB/easyEDA netlist, LT-Spice, MUCS, Specctra, Mentor Graphics Hyperlynx, Autotrax, KiCad (legacy & s-expr), DXF, FidocadJ, Mentor Graphics Hyperlynx, lisp & scheme (multiple dialects), javascript,
9 September 2020 OpenEMS
image (BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG), HPGL, BXL template configurable XYRS/BOM ruby, pascal, BASIC

Pulsonix by WestDev Ltd 10.0 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
1 October 2018

Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, EAGLE, HPGL, G-Code (Milling), CXF, STEP 3D,
TARGET 3001! 20.3.0.64 Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No en, de, fr EAGLE, DXF, Gerber, Gerber, Excellon, BMP, CXF, STEP 3D Excel BOMs, Pick&Place, GenCAD, FABmaster, IPC D-356, Test points,
29 April 2019
Netlists, OBJ, POV-Ray, PDF
PDF, Gerber, Excellon, netlist, PADS Layout Netlist, Tempo Automation, Pick and
Upverter Yes No Yes Yes Yes Web application No en Altium, OrCad, PDF, OpenJSON, EAGLE Place CSV, High-Res PNG, STL, CSV-formatted drill chart, CSV-formatted list of all
10 May 2019
parts
Yes, +
123D Circuits by Autodesk N/A Yes Yes Yes Yes Web application No en EAGLE Gerber
breadboard
Runs
Latest version/release + Runs on Open
Application and developer Schematic? Simulation? PCBediting? on POSIX style Other platforms? User Interface Language(s) Imports Exports Scripting support
date Windows? source?
systems?

Free 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[10] 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 No Mixed-signal circuit simulator
Icarus Verilog *BSD, Linux, Mac GPL No Verilog simulator
KiCad Linux, Mac, Windows GNU GPL 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 No KTechLab is a schematic capture and simulator. It is specifically geared toward mixed signal simulation of analog components and small digital processors.
BSD
Magic Linux No A very-large-scale integration layout tool
license
Ngspice Linux, Solaris, Mac, NetBSD, FreeBSD, w32 BSD No SPICE + XSPICE + Cider
Oregano GPL No Schematic capture + spice simulation
Quite Universal Circuit
Linux, Solaris, Mac, NetBSD, FreeBSD, w32 GPL No Schematic capture + Verilog + VHDL + simulation
Simulator(QUCS)
pcb-rnd *BSD, Linux, Mac, w32 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 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
Verilator Posix GPL No
as Carbon ModelStudio and ARC VTOC.
XCircuit Unix GPL No Used to produce netlists and publish high-quality drawings.

See also
Electronic Design Automation (EDA)
List of EDA companies
List of free electronics circuit simulators
Schematic editor
SPICE, a general purpose analog circuit simulator.
TopoR

References
1. "PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) Software | Keysight" . www.keysight.com.
 2. "ADS Supported Platforms" . Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
3. "PCB tools supporting ODB++" . Artwork.com. Artwork Conversion Software Inc. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
4. "Fritzing Fab now powered by AISLER | Fritzing Blog" . blog.fritzing.org.
5. "geda:download [gEDA Project Wiki]" . wiki.geda-project.org.
6. "KiCad 5.1.8 Release" . KiCad 5.1.8 Release.
7. "Upgrade Multisim™ - National Instruments" . www.ni.com.
8. "Multisim Web App" . Archived from the original on 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
9. "pcb-rnd - news" . repo.hu.
10. Wirtz, Alfons (2014-03-08) [2004]. "FreeRouting - Printed Circuit Board Routing Software from FreeRouting.net" . Archived from the original on 2017-09-23. Retrieved 2017-09-24.