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Altium Designer vs KiCad: catalog facts
Altium Designer	KiCad
Best for: Professional PCB design suite covering schematics, layout, and simulation	Best for: Designing a circuit board end to end without a commercial licence
Paid Commercial license; no free tier.	Free Free and open source under the GPL 3.0. Donations are handled through the Linux Foundation.
Windows	Windows, macOS, Linux
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	Schematic capture, PCB layout, 3D viewer and Gerber export in one suite No limits on board size, layer count or exports All 4 strengths for KiCad Schematic capture, PCB layout, 3D viewer and Gerber export in one suite No limits on board size, layer count or exports Large bundled symbol and footprint libraries, plus a plugin manager Windows, macOS, Linux AppImage and Flathub builds
Expensive commercial licensing aimed at professional teams, not hobbyists Windows-only, with a steep learning curve for newcomers to PCB design	A real learning curve; the workflow is unlike a drawing program Simulation is basic next to dedicated SPICE packages All 3 limitations for KiCad A real learning curve; the workflow is unlike a drawing program Simulation is basic next to dedicated SPICE packages Library management trips up most newcomers at least once
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Not open source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-3.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Offline features available
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 KiCad kicad.org kicad.org/download Catalog checked September 21, 2026

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