Editor Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published November 14, 2026 · Updated November 14, 2026
Engineers look past Altium Designer when each added author costs $995 a year, when growth beyond five authors means a quoted plan, or when they want a tool that is not tied to a cloud workspace. Most go to KiCad or DipTrace for cost, or to Pulsonix and PADS Professional for a desktop suite.
Short answer: The closest replacements for Altium Designer in our PCB design software ranking are KiCad, DipTrace and Pulsonix. Choose KiCad if you want to add designers without paying per seat and accept community-driven tooling. Everything below is drawn from the Best PCB Design Software in 2026 shortlist and judged only against Altium Designer, including when it is wiser to remain with Altium Designer.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. The first three alternatives go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the established names follow in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure · editorial process.
Altium Develop includes one Designer author. Each added author is $995 a year, up to four, which makes five ECAD authors in total. A small hardware team pays for every extra layout engineer.
Altium's pricing page says teams with more than five ECAD authors should look at Agile Teams. The Agile Teams page shows no prices, and the enterprise tier directs buyers to talk to the enterprise team.
Altium's own pages describe Designer inside Develop, Agile Teams and Agile Enterprise, with a cloud workspace for shared projects and libraries. Buyers who want a standalone desktop tool find the route to it less direct.
Listed from best to weakest fit for people moving off Altium Designer. The rightmost column shows where we rank each one out of 13.
| # | Alternative | Headquarters | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  KiCad | Switzerland | you want to add designers without paying per seat and accept community-driven tooling | #3 |
| 2 |  DipTrace | Ukraine | you prefer paying once for a perpetual license over a yearly subscription | #1 |
| 3 |  Pulsonix | United Kingdom | you want a conventional desktop seat license with managed revision history and no cloud dependence | #2 |
| 4 |  Flux | United States | you want browser-based collaboration and reviewers who need no installed software | #5 |
| 5 |  EasyEDA | Hong Kong | you build small boards and want a free browser tool linked to ordering | #8 |
| 6 |  LibrePCB | Switzerland | you want free software whose project files sit cleanly in version control | #9 |
| 7 |  Horizon EDA | Germany | you work on Linux or Windows and want a free tool with a structured part library | #12 |
| 8 |  PADS Professional | United States | you want a quoted desktop suite from a large EDA vendor with a path to Xpedition | #11 |
| 9 |  Fusion Electronics | United States | your mechanical team already uses Fusion and you want electronics in the same subscription | #10 |
| 10 |  OrCAD X | United States | you want a suite from a large EDA vendor and are prepared to work from a quote | #7 |
| 11 |  Proteus | United Kingdom | you design microcontroller boards and want circuit simulation built in alongside layout | #6 |
| 12 |  Zuken CR-8000 | Japan | you design complex multi-board systems and need an enterprise-scale tool | #13 |
Free open source software for Windows, macOS and Linux, with no per-author fee, so adding engineers costs nothing. It is a different workflow from Altium's workspace-based collaboration and does not include a vendor-run cloud platform. Professional support comes from outside providers listed on its site.
Switch from Altium Designer if you want to add designers without paying per seat and accept community-driven tooling.
Sold as one-time perpetual licenses with no recurring fees, in editions limited by pin count and signal layers. A free 300-pin Freeware version and a 30-day trial exist. This suits small teams that dislike yearly subscriptions but need to stay within an edition's limits.
Switch from Altium Designer if you prefer paying once for a perpetual license over a yearly subscription.
A UK-built desktop suite licensed by seat, with schematic-only seats available as add-ons. Its Vault feature offers access control and revision history. There is no list price, since it is sold by quotation, and the free trial is capped at 100 component pins.
Switch from Altium Designer if you want a conventional desktop seat license with managed revision history and no cloud dependence.
Runs in the browser with nothing to install and real-time collaboration built in, so reviewers join by link instead of needing a licensed seat. Teams are priced per editor and enterprise terms are on request. It is a newer and different working style from desktop layout.
Switch from Altium Designer if you want browser-based collaboration and reviewers who need no installed software.
Cloud-based editor with a free plan that allows commercial use and a paid Individuals tier. It is tied to its sister manufacturing service, with layout services priced per pin. Its Std and Pro editions suit lower-complexity boards rather than large multi-engineer programs.
Switch from Altium Designer if you build small boards and want a free browser tool linked to ordering.
Open source under GPLv3, free to use, with files described as human-readable and suitable for version control. That makes it easy to keep designs in Git. Its scope is narrower than Altium's, so check it handles your board complexity before committing.
Switch from Altium Designer if you want free software whose project files sit cleanly in version control.
Free and open source, built around a managed part pool that keeps library content consistent across projects. It runs on Linux and Windows only, so macOS users are excluded. There is no paid tier and no vendor-run support plan described on its site.
Switch from Altium Designer if you work on Linux or Windows and want a free tool with a structured part library.
Siemens' desktop line, sold by quote through Siemens and resellers across several tiers. PADS is compatible with Xpedition technology, which gives an upward path if programs outgrow it. It steers new enterprise buyers toward Xpedition, so confirm which tier you would actually be sold.
Switch from Altium Designer if you want a quoted desktop suite from a large EDA vendor with a path to Xpedition.
PCB design delivered inside Autodesk's Fusion subscription, billed per seat per year or monthly, rather than as a separate electronics product. A free personal-use plan limits schematics to two sheets and four signal layers. It suits teams already doing mechanical design there.
Switch from Altium Designer if your mechanical team already uses Fusion and you want electronics in the same subscription.
Cadence's PCB suite aimed at mid-size teams, sold by Cadence and its channel partners. No public price was readable on the vendor pages we could reach, so budget requires a quote. A free-trial page exists. It comes from a large EDA vendor, not a platform tied to one cloud workspace.
Switch from Altium Designer if you want a suite from a large EDA vendor and are prepared to work from a quote.
Combines PCB layout with embedded circuit simulation, which matters if your boards carry microcontrollers you want to test in software. Perpetual licenses come in Enterprise, Platinum and Custom packages. The vendor's price page renders client-side, so figures were not readable.
Switch from Altium Designer if you design microcontroller boards and want circuit simulation built in alongside layout.
Aimed at complex multi-board and IC package design, described by Zuken as advanced 3D design. No price is published and the page directs buyers to contact Zuken. It is a heavier enterprise tool than most alternatives here and is overkill for simple boards.
Switch from Altium Designer if you design complex multi-board systems and need an enterprise-scale tool.
Altium Designer is still the right choice when a team already works in its cloud workspace, needs shared libraries and review by unlimited workspace users, or wants one vendor from design through release packages. Develop includes unlimited workspace users for review and comments, so reviewers do not add to the author count. The cost argument weakens for a one- or two-author team.
We could not verify from Altium's pages which native project formats Designer exports. Its documentation covers Gerber output, including Gerber X2, with release to a workspace, folder or zip. Confirm your needed formats on a trial before you plan the move.
Libraries, shared projects and review history live in the Altium 365 workspace. Rebuilding symbols and footprints in a new tool is usually the slowest part. Run one finished board through the new tool end to end before leaving.
Run Altium and the new tool side by side until one board has gone through manufacture. We found no renewal or notice rule on Altium's terms page, so ask your reseller or the master services agreement what the term is.
An added author on Altium Develop is $995 a year, up to four added authors, which gives five ECAD authors in total. The pricing page shows the base Develop price without an amount we could read, so we do not quote it.
Altium's pricing page says teams with more than five ECAD authors should explore Agile Teams. The Agile Teams page lists no prices, so you will need a quote from Altium.
Yes, Develop is offered as free 30-day access, and the pricing page says no credit card is required. Use that period to test exports against the formats your manufacturer and the new tool need.
Altium's press room carries an item titled Renesas Completes Acquisition of Altium, with no date shown on the page. The legal notice reads Altium LLC, and its terms are governed by California law.
We found no on-premises or self-hosted deployment on the pages we opened. Altium describes its Altium 365 workspace as the cloud platform. Ask Altium directly if self-hosting is a requirement.
Altium's terms of service state no renewal rule or notice period. They say purchases fall under a master services agreement or other written agreement, and that notices must be in writing, so check your own contract.
We opened the vendors' own pages on November 14, 2026 to confirm each price and limit quoted for Altium Designer and its rivals. Those pages move without warning, so the numbers describe that day only.
Sebastiaan Smits, Founder, wrote, edited and fact-checked this page.
Founder of The Interregnum and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page here; research and drafting are AI-assisted. Last reviewed November 14, 2026.
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