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ngspice vs Proteus Design Suite: catalog facts
ngspice	Proteus Design Suite
Best for: Engineers and students simulating circuits from netlists or through a schematic front end	Best for: Embedded engineers and students who want to simulate firmware and circuits before building a board
Free Free and open source.	Paid Commercial software sold by Labcenter Electronics.
Command line	Windows
Analog, digital and mixed-signal simulation Accepts PSPICE and LTSPICE device models All 3 strengths for ngspice Analog, digital and mixed-signal simulation Accepts PSPICE and LTSPICE device models Can be driven by third-party schematic tools	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
No built-in schematic entry Netlist and command-line workflow has a learning curve	Commercial licence required Pricing is not listed on the homepage
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
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 ngspice ngspice.sourceforge.io Catalog checked September 23, 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.