Alternatives to Proteus Design Suite
Electronics design software combining schematic capture, circuit and microcontroller simulation, and PCB layout. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Proteus Design Suite
Electronics design software combining schematic capture, circuit and microcontroller simulation, and PCB layout.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Proteus Design Suite.
KiCad
A full electronics design suite: draw the schematic, lay out the board, view it in 3D, send it to a fab.
KiCad is a free, open-source suite for schematics, PCB layout, 3D viewing and Gerber export on Windows, macOS and Linux, though its simulation is basic compared with Proteus.
Altium Designer
Professional PCB design suite covering schematics, layout, and simulation.
Altium Designer covers schematic, simulation, layout and manufacturing files for professional teams, but it is expensive, Windows-only and lacks Proteus's microcontroller firmware simulation.
OrCAD X
Cadence's commercial PCB design suite for schematic capture, simulation and board layout.
OrCAD X is Cadence's commercial Windows suite for schematic capture, simulation and PCB layout, with SPICE and mixed-signal analysis in higher editions and a free viewer.
EasyEDA
Design electronic schematics and printed circuit boards in a browser.
EasyEDA moves schematic and PCB design into a freemium browser tool with component libraries, while manufacturing orders and some services cost extra and firmware simulation is absent.
DipTrace
Schematic capture and PCB layout software with constraint-driven design and interactive push-and-shove routing.
DipTrace offers schematic capture and PCB layout with push-and-shove routing on a perpetual Windows licence, but it does not simulate circuits or microcontroller firmware.
DesignSpark PCB
Schematic capture and printed circuit board layout software with a free plan and paid tiers.
DesignSpark PCB provides schematic capture and PCB layout on Windows with a free plan that has no layer or size limits, though newer features need paid plans.
CircuitMaker
Free schematic and PCB design software from Altium with a community component library.
CircuitMaker is free Altium-based schematic and PCB software for Windows with a community library and commercial use allowed, but only five projects can stay private.
LibrePCB
A free, open-source electronics design suite for drawing schematics and laying out printed circuit boards.
LibrePCB is free, open-source schematic and PCB software with a Git-friendly file format across Windows, Linux and macOS, but it has no circuit simulation built in.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Proteus Design Suite as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
LTspice
A free SPICE circuit simulator with schematic capture and a waveform viewer, from Analog Devices.
Proteus Design Suite adds microcontroller firmware simulation and PCB layout to circuit simulation, but it needs a commercial licence with pricing not listed on its homepage.
ngspice
An open-source SPICE simulator for analog, digital and mixed-signal electronic circuits described as netlists.
Proteus Design Suite simulates circuits and microcontroller firmware with graphical schematic capture and PCB layout, but it is commercial, closed source and runs only on Windows.
Qucs-S
An open-source circuit simulator interface that drives SPICE engines such as Ngspice.
Proteus Design Suite adds microcontroller firmware simulation and PCB layout to schematic capture, but it is commercial, closed source and runs only on Windows.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
