Audience
Enterprises and developers requiring a cross platform and open source electronics design automation suite solution for their data and design needs
About KiCad EDA
With the schematic editor you can create your design without limit, there are no paywalls to unlock features. An official library for schematic symbols and a built-in schematic symbol editor help you get started quickly with your designs. Make professional PCB layouts with up to 32 copper layers. KiCad now has a push and shove router which is capable of routing differential pairs and interactively tuning trace lengths. KiCad includes a 3D viewer which you can use to inspect your design in an interactive canvas. You can rotate and pan around to inspect details that are difficult to inspect on a 2D view. Multiple rendering options allow you to modify the aesthetic appearance of the board or to hide and show features for easier inspection. KiCad’s schematic capture is efficient, with all the tools you can expect for such a task. The interface focuses on productivity. There are no complexity limits, as large designs can be divided into hierarchical subsheets.
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KiCad EDA Reviews
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Pros: It’s free, and that is by far one of the biggest things it has going for it. It’s also fully customizable, and has a great user base with many user created tutorials. You can create many layered PCB designs with no board size limits which is why I use it over the free version of Eagle.
Cons: I have used Eagle, OpenCad, and many other cad softwares for PCB design over the years, and Kicad is a bit clunky. If you don’t have a mouse and are using a track pad on a laptop, it barely functions. The UI, has plenty of glitches, and there are many counterintuitive functions which should be simple as they are in other similar softwares
Overall: I recommend Kicad for novice PCB designers, or for those who are looking for an open source software. If you’re expecting a professional free flowing software this is not it. However, it checks many of the boxes and allows for general PCB design. If you are wanting a simple software for easy and pick and place that integrates with a PCB manufacturer look elsewhere. If you are content hand selecting sizes and parts, this is a good software with great flexibility.
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