Compare DipTrace vs. Microwave Office

DipTrace is a professional PCB design suite from Novarm Ltd, in continuous development since 2004 and used by over 30,000 engineers across 50+ countries. Companies in aerospace, defense, medical devices, and industrial electronics rely on it for production work. The suite covers the full design flow in one environment. Schematic Capture handles multi-sheet hierarchical projects with electrical rule check, a Digital SPICE Simulator for analog and digital circuits, and cross-selection with the board. PCB Layout provides interactive push-and-shove editing, where moving or rotating a placed component displaces neighbouring traces and vias as you work, and dragged traces route themselves around pads, keepouts, and existing copper. Designers choose whether design rules are enforced at all times or violations are permitted deliberately. High-speed work is supported through differential pair routing, length matching, layer stackup management, and a PCB calculator. Manufacturing output covers Gerber X2, ODB++, IPC-2581, NC Drill, and STEP for mechanical CAD. Version 5.3 introduced a native XML project format that mirrors the binary format feature for feature, making designs practical to keep under Git or another version control system. Component sourcing runs through a database-powered search with Mouser integration and SnapEDA access to more than 10 million parts. Projects import from Altium, KiCad, Eagle, OrCAD, EasyEDA Pro, Pulsonix, and PADS. DipTrace runs natively on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Licensing is perpetual — bought once, with no subscription or maintenance fees — across five editions starting at $75. Technical support is provided to every user, including those on the free edition.

Microwave Office facilitates the design of various RF passive components, including filters, couplers, and attenuators, along with active devices functioning under small-signal (AC) conditions, such as low noise and buffer amplifiers. Its linear configuration allows for the simulation of S-parameters (Y/Z/H/ABCD), small-signal gain, linear stability, noise figure, return loss, and voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR), complemented by features like real-time tuning, optimization, and yield analysis. Each E-series Microwave Office portfolio encompasses synchronous schematic and layout editors, 2D and 3D viewers, and extensive libraries featuring high-frequency distributed transmission models, as well as surface-mount vendor component RF models complete with footprints. Additionally, it offers measurement-based simulations and RF plotting capabilities. Microwave Office PCB further enhances the design process by enabling both linear and nonlinear RF circuit design through the advanced APLAC HB simulator, which provides powerful multi-rate HB, transient-assisted HB, and time-variant simulation engines for comprehensive RF/microwave circuit analysis. This extensive toolset empowers engineers to push the boundaries of RF design and streamline their development workflows effectively.