Altium Develop

Pros: Altium Develop provides a very capable environment for managing the complete electronics design process, from initial requirements (using the Requirements Portal) and schematic capture through to PCB layout, design verification, and manufacturing documentation. The latter, delivered via the ActiveBOM feature is particularly useful for our use case.

Having these tools integrated into one platform makes it much easier to maintain consistency, manage design changes and keep control of the overall development process. I particularly appreciate the flexibility it offers when working on different types of hardware projects, whether those are production-ready designs or proof-of-concept prototypes, without compromising on the level of detail and control required for professional engineering.

Cons: As with such powerful pieces of software, there is a learning curve, particularly when working with some of the more advanced features. However, there are a myriad of learning resources online catering to multiple levels, from entry-level users to experienced designers who want to learn more about recent features.

Occasionally, certain workflows could be more intuitive, and the licensing cost is something companies need to consider. However, these are relatively minor points compared with the overall capabilities of the software.

Overall: I use Altium as part of my day-to-day work as a senior electronics engineer, with responsibilities covering the complete development process, from analysing technical requirements and defining the hardware architecture to schematic design, PCB layout and preparing designs for manufacturing. I consider it to be an industry-standard piece of EDA software that every electronics design engineer needs to be familiar with.

Altium provides a mature and comprehensive platform that supports this workflow very well. Its range of features, flexibility and level of control make it suitable for both straightforward designs and more demanding, production-level engineering projects.

There are always small areas where the user experience could be improved, but overall I find it reliable, productive and enjoyable to work with. It is a tool I would happily recommend to other electronics engineers and engineering teams regardless of industry.

Pros: Altium is still one of the better PCB design tools out there. The schematic editor and PCB layout tools are efficient and 3D visualization are powerful for working with the mechanical team. Overall workflow is pretty efficient once you're familiar with it.

Cons: The licensing tiers are frustrating and confusing. Features that used to be included or feel like they should be standard are locked behind more expensive subscriptions. It's annoying to pay a significant amount for professional software and still run into limitations based on your license tier.

Overall: Altium is a capable PCB design tool that I use regularly but the licensing structure makes it harder to recommend. The software itself is good but the constant push toward more expensive tiers takes away from an otherwise solid product.

Pros: Cost per seat for Altium 365 is much lower than it was for non-cloud Designer. The cloud storage makes it easy to work with contractors such as our PCB Layout contractor. It also is more convenient for our remote design engineers. I look forward to seeing how the version control helps us, especially showing visual differences in schematics.

Cons: Payment system made renewal with reduced number of seats very difficult. It took at least one month to complete the renewal process because of the number of snafus.
It is difficult to upload supporting documents that are not specific to one Altium project, for instance, if the document is related to prod family.

Overall: Good value and good customer service. Manny did his best to help me in the renewal process. I look forward to seeing how many of the new features we will take advantage of.

Pros: It's very powerful and does everything we need it to do
Altium 365 integration and commenting is a huge plus

Cons: Difficult software to learn
No clear current training path

Overall: It has so many features it's hard to wrap your head around it, Free training materials that exist are not always current

Pros: All the features of the earlier Altium Designer Professional version, but at a reduced cost. It is a great value.

Cons: offline installer is not available from downloads, A365 (cloud) is watered-down version of A365 Professional.

Overall: Overall, it is a great value. I'm still getting used to the subscription model. I still prefer a perpetual license approach instead.

Pros: The core feature set is complete: schematic capture, multilayer PCB layout, differential pair and length-tuned routing, design rule checking, 3D board view and MCAD/STEP export are all in one package. It handles complex, dense boards, including the 77 GHz radar boards we design, and the output files (Gerbers, ODB++, BOMs, pick-and-place) are accepted by every fab and assembly house we work with. It is an industry standard, so files and libraries are easy to share with partners.

Cons: The software is bloated: it is slow to start, heavy on resources, and sluggish on large designs even on a high-end workstation. The interface is hard to use, with important settings buried in nested dialogs and panels, and the learning curve is steep even after years of use. Worst of all, the product barely evolves. In five years, the same usability problems and long-standing bugs are still there, while new releases mostly add subscription and cloud features rather than improving the core design experience. Licensing is also expensive for a small company.

Overall: I have used Altium for about five years to design hardware at our startup, including high-frequency radar boards. It gets the job done and its output is trusted by manufacturers, but every session feels like fighting the tool rather than designing. It is bloated, the UI is unintuitive, and the core experience has hardly improved over the years despite the high subscription cost. We keep using it mainly because it is the industry standard and switching has a real cost, not because we enjoy it. Teams starting fresh should seriously evaluate lighter and faster-moving alternatives before committing.

Pros: - Can import designs from many different other EDA software
- Fully integrated
- Works well with Flexible circuit boards
- License solutions have improved

Cons: - Can take time to find where everything is
- Can be tricky to sync the BOM

Overall: A great experience overall! It provides the full suite of PCB development all in one place under a project file, from schematic to layout to drawings to gerber files

Pros: The library tool is great as it is one of the few things I can say is superior to KiCAD or any other open-source alternative.

Cons: Not everything works, locking of various customizations onto high tier subscriptions. No clear distinction between some 365-only features and Develop SW client features. Paying to have access to offline tutorials is really dumb.

Overall: A step over the 90s CAD software we've been using, but I'd like all of the features opened on the standard license to help justify the cost.

Pros: End-to-End Reliability: It delivers a highly robust solution covering the entire process of PCB design from start to finish.
Seamless Cloud Integration: The cloud ecosystem works flawlessly for real-time collaboration and sharing data with both teammates and production facilities.
Flawless Version Control: The Git-based version control is a massive plus, practically eliminating any misunderstandings or mix-ups regarding design revisions.
Rewarding Learning Curve: While getting up to speed is medium to hard, mastering the system pays off significantly in long-term productivity.

Cons: Strictly Windows-Bound: This is my primary issue. For professional users on Linux, there is basically no way around a dual-boot setup, which is frankly a shame.
Finicky License Management: If you are a mobile user who frequently swaps locations or networks, the system often drops the seat login, which frustratingly prevents you from saving your work.

Overall: I recommend it to every windows user, as Linux user I am a bit underwhelmed, since it actively hurts my productivity to maintain both OS just for one Software. Solve that and create a more sophisticated Licencing-Structure and we are at full five stars.

Pros: I have been a regular user of Altium since 2013 when I first used it in my course. Altium is by far one of the best PCB design tools available, especially for RF and high-speed designs. The layout tools, impedance-controlled routing and design rule system handle demanding boards very well. Altium 365 is a strong addition for cloud collaboration, making it easy to share projects and keep a team working from the same data. For anyone who has outgrown KiCad and needs proper collaboration features, it is a very capable step up.

Cons: The software still feels stuck in the past when it comes to platform support: there is no native Linux or macOS version, which is frustrating for teams that don’t run Windows. Manufacturer Part Search is missing a lot of components, and other library sources cover parts much more completely. Design sharing in Altium 365 works, but could be smoother. I would also like to see more advanced simulation built in for the price we pay, for example power integrity analysis comparable to Keysight Power Analyzer tools. Support can be better in Germany - took me a while to get a proper quote.

Overall: Altium remains one of the strongest professional PCB design packages on the market, and it shines on RF and high-speed projects. Altium 365 makes team collaboration genuinely useful, even if sharing still has room to improve. The lack of Linux and macOS support, gaps in the component search and limited integrated simulation keep it from being perfect. If you want something more powerful than KiCad with real collaboration features, it is definitely a good replacement and worth the investment.

Pros: Real-time collaboration is the biggest strength — our team can work in one cloud workspace with version history and comments instead of passing design files around. Sharing a design for review takes a link rather than an export, which saves time on every design review.

Cons: Automation is the weak point. Driving Altium Develop through MCP or scripts is difficult, so repetitive tasks still have to be done manually, which slows things down on larger projects.

Overall: I've used Altium Develop weekly since May for R&D hardware work. It covers schematic and PCB layout well for a small team, and collaboration is noticeably easier than a file-based workflow. I rate it 4 out of 5 — the design experience is solid, but the limited automation, especially via MCP, is a real drawback.

Pros: We are a small team of electrical engineers and have been using Altium Develop since January, it has been a great tool, and highly recommend.

Cons: None, tool has been great to use, and I have had no complaints from my team.

Overall: Everything we need in an ECAD tool. Everything a small team needs from Altium without the big team cost.

Pros: The core functionality for 90% of Altium features are present in Altium Develop. It has the main schematic capture, layout, etc features and the additional things like cloud storage and sharing with 365 which is convenient to share designs with non EEs.

Cons: The free trial of develop provided codesigner functionality that was removed after purchasing the license. The documentation and information from our Altium rep was very unclear when purchasing so we tested everything in the free trial before making our decision. After signing up, the workflows that we tested and documented as working fine, suddenly stopped working.

Overall: The Altium Develop experience is simple and affordable but it is frustrating now being able to trust the free trial experience

Pros: a. versatile user-interface, rich set of tools.
b. built-in PCB 3d realtime illustration.
c. powerful quote function, lot easier to make customized selections.
d. harness and customized net color makes schematic design more efficient.
e. PCB Panel is extreme helpful.
f. very easy-to-use and handful draftsman.

Cons: a. graphics sometimes crash when the Layout design is large in size.
b. documentation for API-usage in Altium script is extremely poorly organized/written.
c. License purchasing+pricing+configuration and the whole SaaS business model is a pain in the axx.
d. Uncertainty of for how long can the project files still be opened correctly, thank to point c.

Overall: At the moment, it is still OK for us to do the custom specified electronics design, especially when the Layout is large and complex. But still, the current business model, licensing pricing and so on brings many uncertainties to us. If other competitors like KiCad is dramatically improved over the next years, we will certainly consider other options.

Pros: The 365 integration with suppliers who are working on developing some boards for us is very useful, and it is very simple and helpful to be able to validate in real time the modifications that are being carried out.

Cons: It would be very interesting to be able to have direct thermal simulation tools integrated, and that electronic simulation processes could be simpler.

Overall: Our experience with Altium is magnificent. For us it is an irreplaceable product.

We have used other development environments in the past, but Altium beats them all.

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.

Cons: The main drawback is the cost. Altium Develop is a professional solution and its price can be relatively high, especially when compared with some free or much less expensive PCB design tools that can cover many of the requirements for less complex projects. For individual users, students, hobbyists or small teams with limited budgets, the cost may therefore be difficult to justify. That said, for professional users who work with PCB design on a daily basis, I believe the additional features, integration and overall capabilities can make the investment worthwhile.

Overall: I have been using Altium Develop for about a year now, on a daily basis, for schematic design and PCB layout in an industrial environment. With around 20 years of experience as an electronics engineer, I have had the opportunity to work with different PCB design tools over the years. Altium Develop has proven to be a very complete and professional solution that fits well with my daily engineering activities. I use it extensively for both schematic capture and PCB routing, including relatively complex industrial designs. After one year of regular use, my overall experience has been very positive, and the software has become an important part of my design workflow.

Pros: 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.

Cons: When working with complex PCBs Altium Develop can hang or crash. It is recommended to save often.

Overall: Overall Altium Develop is a cost effective tool that is the industry standard for good reasons. It has all the functionality we need to develop advanced electronics.

Pros: It works fine and has fixed some of bugs that previously existed. Better collaboration tools for cross discipline reviewing.

Cons: Altium is trying to phase out the perpetual licenses and once you make this jump you're going to be paying annually FOREVER. Licenses and projects are not shareable outside of your geographic area so international coordination is not well supported.

Overall: It was very difficult to even get Developer working. Altium had many snafus trying to migrate our workspace. In the end it became a one year stalemate.

Pros: 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.

Cons: The price, subscription renewals have gone up every cycle and its hard to justify for a small team when the competition is free or a few hundred dollars.

Overall: If you do PCB design professionally and boards are how you make money, its still the most complete package out there and the time it saves justifies the cost. If you're a hobbyist, a student, or a two person shop, the price is going to hurt and KiCad has closed a lot of the gap.

Pros: 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

Cons: There were some issues with licensing when we first moved to Altium Designer Develop (2 year license expired after only 1 month), but this was corrected quickly and I don't think it's a systemic issue with the platform.

Overall: Overall I think Altium is headed in the right direction with Altium Designer Develop. I know many in the industry were upset to see the Altium move to a subscription model vs. permanent license ownership, but I think this improves the user experience since the Altium user base will all be working with the latest versions of the product.