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Altium Designer vs CircuitMaker: catalog facts
Altium Designer	CircuitMaker
Best for: Professional PCB design suite covering schematics, layout, and simulation	Best for: Hobbyists and makers designing circuit boards for free
Paid Commercial license; no free tier.	Free Free to use, including for commercial designs.
Windows	Windows
Covers the full workflow from schematic and simulation to layout and manufacturing files Widely used in professional electronics teams, so training and library resources are plentiful	Built on Altium Designer technology Up to 16 signal and 16 plane layers with no board size limit All 4 strengths for CircuitMaker Built on Altium Designer technology Up to 16 signal and 16 plane layers with no board size limit Commercial use allowed Large community library backed by Octopart
Expensive commercial licensing aimed at professional teams, not hobbyists Windows-only, with a steep learning curve for newcomers to PCB design	Only five private projects; others are shared with the community Proprietary, unlike KiCad
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Not open source	Not open source
License not stated	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Altium Designer altium.com/altium-designer Catalog checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for CircuitMaker altium.com/circuitmaker Catalog checked September 24, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.