Alternatives to Horizon EDA
Design circuit boards from schematics through manufacturing files. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Horizon EDA
Design circuit boards from schematics through manufacturing files.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Horizon EDA.
KiCad
A full electronics design suite: draw the schematic, lay out the board, view it in 3D, send it to a fab.
KiCad adds macOS support, a 3D viewer and large bundled libraries with a plugin manager, and is also free GPL-3.0 software.
EasyEDA
Design electronic schematics and printed circuit boards in a browser.
EasyEDA runs in a browser on a freemium model with component libraries, with separate costs for manufacturing orders.
Altium Designer
Professional PCB design suite covering schematics, layout, and simulation.
Altium Designer is expensive Windows-only professional PCB software that adds simulation and wide industry training resources.
Fritzing
Document electronics projects with breadboard, schematic and PCB views.
Fritzing adds breadboard views for project documentation, runs on macOS too, and charges for official compiled downloads.
LibrePCB
A free, open-source electronics design suite for drawing schematics and laying out printed circuit boards.
LibrePCB is free and open source on Windows, Linux and macOS, with a Git-friendly file format but a smaller parts ecosystem.
DipTrace
Schematic capture and PCB layout software with constraint-driven design and interactive push-and-shove routing.
DipTrace is commercial Windows software with push-and-shove and differential pair routing, sold under a perpetual licence.
Proteus Design Suite
Electronics design software combining schematic capture, circuit and microcontroller simulation, and PCB layout.
Proteus Design Suite is paid Windows software that adds microcontroller and circuit simulation to schematic capture and PCB layout.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Horizon EDA as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
CircuitMaker
Free schematic and PCB design software from Altium with a community component library.
Horizon EDA is free, open-source board design for Windows and Linux with parts management, interactive routing and design-rule checks, and no requirement to share projects publicly.
DesignSpark PCB
Schematic capture and printed circuit board layout software with a free plan and paid tiers.
Horizon EDA is free, open-source board design from schematic to manufacturing files on Windows and Linux, including parts management and interactive routing.
Lepton EDA
An open-source electronic design automation suite for schematic capture and netlisting, forked from gEDA.
Horizon EDA is free and open source for Windows and Linux, taking designs from schematic through PCB routing to manufacturing files.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
FreeCAD
A parametric 3D modeller for real objects: design by sketching constrained 2D shapes, then change the parameters later.
ngspice
An open-source SPICE simulator for analog, digital and mixed-signal electronic circuits described as netlists.
Qucs-S
An open-source circuit simulator interface that drives SPICE engines such as Ngspice.
