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DesignSpark PCB vs Horizon EDA: catalog facts
DesignSpark PCB	Horizon EDA
Best for: Hobbyists and engineers designing circuit boards on a budget	Best for: Design circuit boards from schematics through manufacturing files
Free + paid options Free plan available, with paid Creator and Engineer plans that add advanced features.	Free The open-source software is available without a license fee. Hosting, hardware and external services are separate.
Windows	Windows, Linux
Free plan without limits on layers, connections or schematic size Schematic capture and PCB layout in one program All 3 strengths for DesignSpark PCB Free plan without limits on layers, connections or schematic size Schematic capture and PCB layout in one program Interactive HTML BOM export and length-matching routing in higher plans	Includes parts management, interactive routing and design-rule checks.
Several newer features are limited to paid plans Not open source	Desktop builds target Windows and Linux.
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Not open source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-3.0
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 DesignSpark PCB rs-online.com/designspark/pcb-software Catalog checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Horizon EDA github.com/horizon-eda/horizon github.com/horizon-eda/horizon/blob/master/LICENSE Catalog checked September 22, 2026

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