PCBEditor vs Altium Designer
Altium is the professional standard for production hardware teams. PCBEditor is the free AI on-ramp — different audiences, different price points, sometimes the same project.
Altium Designer is a paid desktop suite aimed at professional hardware teams shipping complex production boards. It has best-in-class signal integrity tools, MCAD integration, and lifecycle management — and a per-seat license to match.
PCBEditor isn't trying to compete on that ground. It's the free, browser-based, AI-first tool for getting to a working schematic fast. Many users prototype in PCBEditor and graduate to Altium (or KiCad) when the board enters production.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| FEATURE | PCBEDITOR | ALTIUM DESIGNER |
|---|---|---|
| AI circuit generation from plain English | ✓ | ✗ |
| Browser-based, no install | ✓ | ✗ |
| Free | ✓ | ✗ |
| Per-seat license | — | ✓ |
| High-speed routing tools | ~ | ✓ |
| Signal integrity analysis | ✗ | ✓ |
| MCAD / mechanical CAD integration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Schematic editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| PCB layout editor | ✓ | ✓ |
| Gerber export | ✓ | ✓ |
| KiCad export | ✓ | ~ |
| 3D viewer | ✓ | ✓ |
| Real-time AI copilot | ✓ | ✗ |
Comparison reflects publicly documented features at time of writing. Tool capabilities evolve — verify for your specific use case before committing.
Pick PCBEditor when
- ✓You're prototyping and don't want to pay for a license.
- ✓You want AI to generate the schematic instead of drawing it.
- ✓Your project doesn't yet need signal-integrity or high-speed tooling.
Pick Altium Designer when
- –You're shipping a production board with strict SI/EMC requirements.
- –Your team already runs Altium and your project needs lifecycle management.
- –You need deep MCAD integration with mechanical designers.
Not every board needs a licence
For prototypes and small runs, describe the board, review it in the browser and export fab files, then keep Altium for the boards that need it.
Try it free →