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CircuitMaker vs Proteus Design Suite: catalog facts
CircuitMaker	Proteus Design Suite
Best for: Hobbyists and makers designing circuit boards for free	Best for: Embedded engineers and students who want to simulate firmware and circuits before building a board
Free Free to use, including for commercial designs.	Paid Commercial software sold by Labcenter Electronics.
Windows	Windows
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	Simulates microcontroller firmware together with the circuit Schematic capture and PCB layout in one suite All 4 strengths for Proteus Design Suite Simulates microcontroller firmware together with the circuit Schematic capture and PCB layout in one suite IoT Builder for Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects Actively developed, with version 9.2 recently released
Only five private projects; others are shared with the community Proprietary, unlike KiCad	Commercial licence required Pricing is not listed on the homepage
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 CircuitMaker altium.com/circuitmaker Catalog checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Proteus Design Suite labcenter.com Catalog checked September 23, 2026

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