Altium Develop vs. OrCAD X Comparison


Altium Develop Altium	OrCAD X Cadence Design Systems	+	+
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About Altium Develop is a collaborative electronics product development platform that connects requirements management, PCB design, engineering collaboration, supply chain visibility, and manufacturing workflows in a single environment. Built on Altium Designer®, Altium 365®, and Requirements Portal, Altium Develop helps electronics teams manage the entire hardware development lifecycle—from requirements definition and design reviews to BOM management, sourcing, and production readiness. Designed for organizations developing complex electronic products, Altium Develop enables engineering, systems, manufacturing, and product teams to collaborate in real time while maintaining end-to-end visibility and traceability across projects. Key Capabilities: • Real-time collaboration for PCB and hardware development teams • ECAD-MCAD collaboration and design review workflows • Component, BOM, and supply chain management • Change management and project coordination • Centralized design data and product lifecycle visibility • Cloud-based collaboration for distributed engineering teams • Requirements management and traceability through Requirements Portal Ideal for: • Electronics manufacturers • PCB design teams • Systems engineering organizations • Product development teams • Enterprise hardware development programs Organizations evaluating alternatives to Autodesk Fusion Electronics, KiCad, Cadence OrCAD, Xpedition, Allegro X, and SOLIDWORKS PCB use Altium Develop to improve collaboration, reduce rework, accelerate product development, and strengthen requirements-driven hardware development processes.		About OrCAD® X is a unified PCB design software platform that offers significant improvements in ease of use, performance, automation, data management, and collaboration. Our cloud-enabled product suite contains applications for schematic, simulation, and PCB layout. OrCAD X Capture is one of the most widely used schematic design solutions for the creation and documentation of electrical circuits. PSpice® is our virtual SPICE simulation environment integrated within Capture that allows you to prototype your designs using the industry-leading, native analog, mixed-signal, and advanced analysis engines to deliver a complete circuit simulation and verification solution. Our two PCB layout environments, OrCAD X PCB Editor and OrCAD X Presto, allow designers to easily collaborate between ECAD/MCAD teams and build better PCBs faster. OrCAD X Presto is a new user-friendly option offering a simpler interface for quick-turn PCB design.
Why Altium Develop is Better than OrCAD X Altium Develop is a better fit for small hardware teams that need advanced PCB work and structured collaboration in one subscription: it combines Altium Designer with Altium 365, supports high-speed, multi-board, harness, and wire-bonding designs, and lets electrical and mechanical teams synchronize PCB and enclosure changes directly in 3D CAD tools. Its browser-based reviews, version comparisons, release management, and unlimited workspace users for commenting, task management, and BOM access make it easier to involve non-author stakeholders without adding author seats. While OrCAD X is positioned for quick-turn, medium-complexity PCB development, Altium Develop provides a clearer path from complex design through shared review and manufacturing release. See more
Platforms Supported Windows Mac Linux Cloud On-Premises iPhone iPad Android Chromebook		Platforms Supported Windows Mac Linux Cloud On-Premises iPhone iPad Android Chromebook
Audience Altium Develop is designed for electronics engineers, PCB designers, engineering managers, and product development teams responsible for designing, reviewing, and delivering electronic products. Built on Altium Designer and Altium 365, the platform combines PCB design, engineering collaboration, BOM management, requirements traceability, and design data management in a shared cloud workspace. Organizations use Altium Develop to improve cross-functional collaboration, manage electronics product development workflows, maintain product traceability, and accelerate PCB development from concept through manufacturing.		Audience Ideal for electrical engineers and PCB designers who may be individuals or part of small businesses or teams
Support Phone Support 24/7 Live Support Online		Support Phone Support 24/7 Live Support Online
API Offers API		API Offers API
Screenshots and Videos View more images or videos		Screenshots and Videos View more images or videos
Pricing $1990/year Altium Develop is offered as an annual subscription starting at $1,990 per year, which includes one Altium Designer ECAD Design Author and a shared workspace for projects, libraries, and collaboration. The subscription provides unlimited workspace users at no additional cost, enabling broad participation in reviews, commenting, task management, BOM access, and change workflows. Teams can add up to four additional Altium Designer ECAD Design Authors for $995 per Author per year, allowing organizations to scale active design capacity while keeping contributors and collaborators included at no extra charge. Free Version Free Trial		Pricing $107 USD/month OrCAD X is offered in both term and perpetual licensing. Term licensing is based on a 12 month period and reduces the upfront product cost while providing access to all services. It includes support, software updates, and OrCAD X Cloud subscription. Perpetual licensing has a higher upfront cost, but allows indefinite use of the purchased version. It includes the first year of maintenance which covers support, software updates, and OrCAD X Cloud subscription. Unlike a term license maintenance must be maintained to provide continual access to support, software updates, and access to new product versions. Additional features and license options will affect the price. Free Version Free Trial
Reviews/Ratings Overall 4.7 / 5 ease 4.3 / 5 features 4.6 / 5 design 4.7 / 5 support 4.4 / 5 Read all reviews		Reviews/Ratings Overall 5.0 / 5 ease 5.0 / 5 features 5.0 / 5 design 4.5 / 5 support 5.0 / 5 Read all reviews
Pros from Real Users Pros The main advantage of Altium Develop is its completeness. It provides a very wide range of tools for schematic design, PCB layout, routing, design rules and overall project management, all within the same environment. The integration between the different stages of the design process makes the workflow efficient and helps reduce the need to switch between different tools. I also appreciate the depth of the features available, which makes the software suitable not only for simple boards but also for more complex professional and industrial projects. For an engineer working with PCB design on a daily basis, having such a comprehensive toolset available is a significant benefit. Altium Develop is the next generation of Altium PCB design software. The integration with Altium 365 makes version control and collaboration easy. New pricing structure is transparent and makes it easy for smaller teams to get started and scale up. It works fine and has fixed some of bugs that previously existed. Better collaboration tools for cross discipline reviewing. Everything is in one program. Schematic, board layout, parts library, BOM. I'm not jumping between three tools and hoping nothing gets lost in between. Drawing traces feels good once you learn the shortcuts, and the tool pushes other traces out of the way instead of just blocking you. It also warns me when a part is going out of production before I send the board out, which has saved me from having to redo a design. The 3D view makes it easy to check the board fits the enclosure. The price of the Altium Designer Develop seat is better than an Altium Designer seat alone and includes a wealth of useful features. The BOM health assessment and adaptive cost estimator has been particularly useful to our org. The integration with Altium 365 cloud infrastructure has also been really nice when moving between workstations There are a lot of features that really help with design built-in cross probing hierarchy design cost for add ons like PDN and SI are not expensive differential pair analyses It has many useful features, like the manufacturing part database, the harness design, and the variation. It improves my work and documentation significantly. The best thing about this software is its all in one quality, like you do not have to go to 10 different apps just to build one PCB its all in one and that the reason its famous in industry level manufacturing or in other areas as well. really liked it. As a beginner, this is great to learn because of the course Altium provides with this. The cloud support is genuinely great to use and having version control is amazing as well. Component libraries and manufacturer parts search means we can find the components we need with manufacturer approved footprints and have them in our design in seconds. ActiveBOM is also an excellent tool for helping us pinpoint which components are facing obsolescence or shortages so we can plan accordingly		Pros & Cons from Real Users Pros Crypted simulation models (PSpice). Integrated pre-layout signal integrity analysis. Integrated impedance and coupling analysis. Quick and dynamic updates of copper under placement and routing. Support for multi-board systems and assemblies. Version control, templates, and component libraries stored in cloud. Finally we get an easy to use GUI with the powerful Allegro engine under the hood. The cool features like constraint manager, DRC and DFM checks are still included. I like the new Shaddow mode. Cons Mastering a new software tool can feel like learning a new language – it takes time and effort. However, these investments in learning can impact project timelines and overall productivity. Unfortunately Artificial Intelligence is a cost option. We could really use this automatic place and route for several easy designs, too have more time for the critical ones.
Training Documentation Webinars Live Online In Person		Training Documentation Webinars Live Online In Person
Company Information Altium Founded: 1985 Australia altium.com		Company Information Cadence Design Systems Founded: 1988 United States www.cadence.com/en_US/home/tools/pcb-design-and-analysis/orcad.html
Alternatives OrCAD X Cadence Design Systems		Alternatives Altium Develop Altium
Allegro X Design Platform Cadence Design Systems		BQR BQR Reliability Engineering
DipTrace Novarm Ltd		DipTrace Novarm Ltd
Requirements Portal Altium		PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) Keysight Technologies
Onshape PTC View All		KiCad EDA View All
Categories CAD Altium Develop is a cloud-connected CAD platform for electronics product development, built on Altium Designer and Altium 365. It combines PCB design, design data management, BOM management, requirements traceability, and engineering collaboration in a unified environment. Teams can manage schematics, PCB layouts, component libraries, project history, and manufacturing data from a secure shared workspace. By connecting design, sourcing, manufacturing, and quality teams around a single source of truth, Altium Develop helps organizations improve visibility, reduce rework, and accelerate product development from concept through production. Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Altium Develop is an Electronic Design Automation (EDA) platform that combines advanced PCB design capabilities with cloud-based collaboration and design data management. Built on Altium Designer and Altium 365, it provides schematic capture, PCB layout, component library management, BOM management, requirements traceability, and version control in a single environment. Engineering teams can collaborate on designs, track revisions, manage product data, and access supply chain intelligence while maintaining traceability throughout the development process. The platform streamlines electronics development from design through manufacturing. Engineering Altium Develop helps engineering teams collaborate across the entire electronics development lifecycle. Built on Altium Designer and Altium 365, the platform combines PCB design, requirements management, BOM management, version control, and engineering collaboration in a shared cloud workspace. Teams can connect design decisions, project history, component data, supply chain insights, and manufacturing information to improve traceability and decision-making. Altium Develop enables engineers to design, review, manage, and release products more efficiently while maintaining visibility across cross-functional development processes. PCB Design Altium Develop is a cloud-based PCB design platform that enables electronics teams to design, review, and manage printed circuit boards in a connected development environment. Built on Altium Designer and Altium 365, it combines schematic capture, PCB layout, 3D visualization, BOM management, component library management, and engineering collaboration. Real-time design reviews, version control, requirements traceability, and supply chain visibility help teams reduce design iterations, improve product quality, and accelerate PCB development from concept through manufacturing. Product Design Altium Develop supports product design by connecting engineering, sourcing, manufacturing, and quality teams throughout the electronics development lifecycle. The platform combines PCB design, design data management, requirements traceability, BOM management, and collaboration within a unified cloud workspace. Teams can manage product requirements, track decisions, review designs, monitor component availability, and prepare products for manufacturing while maintaining complete visibility into project information. Altium Develop helps organizations bring electronic products to market faster with greater alignment across disciplines.		Categories CAD Circuit Simulation Electrical Design Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Engineering PCB Design Simulation
CAD Features 2 1/2-Axis Milling 2D Drawing 3-Axis Milling 3D Modeling 4-Axis Milling 5-Axis Milling Civil Collaboration Database Connectivity Design Analysis Design Export Document Management Electrical Hole Making Mechanical Mechatronics Presentation Tools Simulate Cycles Spiral Output Structural Engineering Toolpath Simulation User Defined Cycles Engineering Features 2D Drawing 3D Modeling Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering Collaboration Design Analysis Design Export Document Management Electrical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Presentation Tools Structural Engineering PCB Design Features 3D Visualization Autorouting Collaboration Tools Component Library Design Rule Check Differential Pair Routing Schematic Editor		CAD Features 2 1/2-Axis Milling 2D Drawing 3-Axis Milling 3D Modeling 4-Axis Milling 5-Axis Milling Civil Collaboration Database Connectivity Design Analysis Design Export Document Management Electrical Hole Making Mechanical Mechatronics Presentation Tools Simulate Cycles Spiral Output Structural Engineering Toolpath Simulation User Defined Cycles Engineering Features 2D Drawing 3D Modeling Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering Collaboration Design Analysis Design Export Document Management Electrical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Mechatronics Presentation Tools Structural Engineering PCB Design Features 3D Visualization Autorouting Collaboration Tools Component Library Design Rule Check Differential Pair Routing Schematic Editor Show More Features Electrical Design Features CAD Tools Change Management Collaboration Compliance Management Document Generation Drag & Drop Electrical Parts Catalog Functions / Calculations One Line Diagram PLC Tools Reusable Designs Symbol Library Simulation Features 1D Simulation 3D Modeling 3D Simulation Agent-Based Modeling Continuous Modeling Design Analysis Direct Manipulation Discrete Event Modeling Dynamic Modeling Graphical Modeling Industry Specific Database Monte Carlo Simulation Motion Modeling Presentation Tools Stochastic Modeling Turbulence Modeling
Integrations Arena PLM BQR GoSaaS Integrator JTAG Maps Keysight Power Analyzer PDN Analyzer Propel Pulsonix Requirements Portal XJTAG DFT Assistant Xilinx Show More Integrations View All 3 Integrations		Integrations Arena PLM BQR GoSaaS Integrator JTAG Maps Keysight Power Analyzer PDN Analyzer Propel Pulsonix Requirements Portal XJTAG DFT Assistant Xilinx Show More Integrations View All 8 Integrations
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