Best Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Software with a Free Trial of 2025

Altium Designer® offers a unified design environment backed by over 35 years of innovation and development. From schematic to PCB layout and interactive differential pair routing, to design documentation and a seamless ECAD/MCAD integration, Altium Designer empowers engineers with a single view of every aspect of the PCB design process. By accessing all design tools in one place, engineers can complete their entire design process within the same intuitive environment and deliver high-quality products quickly. Features of Altium Designer include stackup planning, anonymous sharing, data management, 3D visualization, multi-board assembly, documentation, output configuration, and more. With the addition of Altium 365, users can choose between accessing the program online and on-premises.

OrCAD® X is a unified PCB design software platform. It offers significant improvements to ease of use, performance and automation. Our product suite includes applications for schematic, PCB layout, simulation and data management. OrCAD X Capture, a schematic design solution for electrical circuit creation and documentation, is one of OrCAD's most popular products. PSpice®, our virtual SPICE simulation engine integrated into Capture, allows you to prototype and verify your designs using industry-leading native analog, mixed signal, and advanced analysis engines. OrCAD X Presto and OrCAD X PCB editor are two PCB layout tools that allow designers to easily collaborate between ECAD/MCAD teams and build better PCBs faster. OrCAD X Presto is our new, simplified interface for novice designers, electrical engineers and PCB designers focused on quick turn PCB designs.

Create, share, and produce within the same environment seamlessly, eliminating the need for any installation or setup. Access the platform directly through Altium Designer, maintaining your unique approach to electronic design. Altium 365 is automatically included in your subscription with no extra licensing fees. Accelerate your product launch timeline and enhance quality compared to your competitors, benefiting from open review processes and design sharing capabilities. Collaborate in real-time without leaving your design workspace, allowing team members, manufacturers, and clients to review and provide feedback on your projects. With just an internet connection, anyone can access, evaluate, and comment on your designs directly through their browser, all without needing additional Altium Designer licenses. Transform the challenges of mechanical and electronic collaboration into a strategic advantage by ensuring a fluid operation across various fields while remaining focused on your objectives and timelines. This integration not only boosts efficiency but also fosters a more innovative approach to product development.

CircuitMaker is more than an Altium EDA software tool. It's a community of creative people, sharing design content, and working together to create circuits and electronic products for a better tomorrow. You need tools that don't limit your creativity or hold you back from turning great ideas into products. CircuitMaker gives you all the power to create high-quality schematics and Printed Circuit Boards. There are no artificial limitations on board area or layer count. It's also free. CircuitMaker is a place where you can find great reference designs and promote and rate other projects. You can even create teams to collaborate on design projects. We believe you deserve better tools to help you turn your great ideas into reality. CircuitMaker was born. CircuitMaker is not only a community for electronic design content but also Schematic and PCB design software.

You can quickly design advanced board layouts using interactive routing and the intelligent SitusTM Autorouting technology. With Native 3D™, PCB editing and STEP support, you can collaborate effortlessly with your mechanical design team. Advanced electronics can be accurately simulated and shipped using integrated XSPICE digital and analog simulations. With hierarchical schematic capture and constraint-driven PCB layout technology, you can quickly transform your ideas into reality. With an intuitive interface and customizable workflow, you can instantly get started on your next design project. Altium designer and EAGLE compatibility allow you to access your entire design history. With real-time availability and pricing data from hundreds of suppliers, you will never miss another deadline. With the Circuitstudio content library, you can quickly create custom parts.

PCB Layout is an advanced engineering tool designed for creating printed circuit boards, incorporating intelligent manual routing for high-speed and differential signals, a shape-based autorouter, thorough verification processes, and extensive import/export functionalities. The design specifications are established through net classes, class-to-class regulations, and precise settings tailored to various object types within each class or layer. DipTrace enhances the design workflow with real-time design rule checks (DRC), instantly notifying users of errors before they can be committed. A 3D preview of the board is available, allowing for exportation to mechanical CAD systems for further modeling. The thorough design rule checks, net connectivity validations, and comparisons with the source schematic guarantee the highest quality output of the finished product. Operating within a unified environment, DipTrace allows seamless transitions from circuit designs to board layouts, with capabilities for updating from the schematic and performing back annotation. Nets are categorized into net classes that come with customizable settings, alongside class-to-class rules for enhanced organization. Additionally, vias are systematically arranged according to their styles, including through and blind/buried types, ensuring a structured and efficient design process. The comprehensive features of DipTrace make it an essential tool for engineers looking to streamline their PCB design efforts while maintaining high standards of quality.

The Cadence Allegro X Design Platform is the best solution to navigate modern electronic complexity and support any PCB needs. It is a full-stack platform that provides a highly integrated and scalable environment for advanced system design. The Allegro X Design Platform allows your global teams to collaborate effectively and simultaneously to reduce project risk, lower production costs and guarantee design compliance. With Allegro X, electrical engineers and PCB designers can make data-driven decisions using integrated analysis workflows and constraints to reduce turnaround time, ensure product reliability and first-time right manufacturing success.

SOLIDWORKS PCB streamlines the process of designing Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) efficiently while fostering exceptional collaboration between electrical engineers and 3D mechanical design teams. This integration provides a significant benefit in scenarios where close ECAD-MCAD cooperation is vital for the successful development of electronic products. Users can define rigid-flex areas, layers, and stack thicknesses, facilitating the design of single board rigid-flex PCBs. Additionally, the regions of the rigid-flex layer stack can be specified with bend lines and angles, which can then be validated through 3D folding and component clearance checks to ensure the accuracy of the layout. Project management, design files, and documentation are seamlessly handled with the SOLIDWORKS PCB-PDM Connector, which enhances the PDM-based design and data management workflow. This system securely stores and organizes design data for quick access, alleviates worries related to version control and potential data loss, and allows for collaborative work on design data from various locations. The unmatched integration and collaboration between ECAD and MCAD offered by SOLIDWORKS ensures that all design data is unified, promoting efficiency and innovation in the product development process. This powerful synergy ultimately leads to improved product quality and faster time-to-market.

Examine RF and microwave circuits and systems using rapid simulation and robust optimization tools that enhance your design process. Delve into performance trade-offs through the integration of automatic circuit synthesis technology. PathWave RF Synthesis (Genesys) offers foundational features that cater to all designers of RF and microwave circuit boards and subsystems. With PathWave Circuit Design, you can uncover RF design mistakes that conventional spreadsheet analyses often overlook. This introductory design platform, which encompasses circuit, system, and electromagnetic simulators, enables you to approach design reviews with greater assurance prior to the realization of hardware. With just a few clicks, you can observe the automatic synthesis and optimization of your matching network. After that, easily transfer your design to PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) to incorporate it into more intricate designs, ensuring seamless integration and enhanced functionality. By leveraging these tools, you can streamline the design process and enhance the overall efficiency of your RF and microwave projects.

Synopsys Saber offers a high-precision virtual prototyping suite tailored for multi-domain power electronics design, which comprises SaberEXP, SaberRD, and SaberES Designer. This innovative platform enables engineers to conduct complex simulations that account for various component tolerances, allowing for the generation of both best and worst-case scenarios while facilitating “what-if” analyses. The unparalleled accuracy of Saber helps minimize development costs by decreasing the number of prototypes necessary for effective validation. SaberEXP serves as a rapid converging simulator for power electronics, featuring a piecewise linear (PWL) approach and seamless integration with SaberRD. SaberRD enhances this experience by providing a comprehensive design and simulation environment specifically for mechatronic systems, offering top-tier analysis capabilities for validating power electronics. Meanwhile, SaberES Designer acts as a sophisticated tool for optimizing wiring harness layouts, materials, and costs, ensuring compatibility with leading industry CAD systems. By employing systematic robust design methodologies, engineers can achieve stringent performance and reliability targets even within tight timelines, ultimately streamlining the overall design process. This comprehensive solution not only improves efficiency but also empowers teams to innovate more effectively in the rapidly evolving landscape of power electronics.

Utilizing the Ansys Electronics solution suite significantly reduces testing expenses, guarantees adherence to regulations, enhances product reliability, and substantially shortens development timelines. This approach enables you to create advanced and superior products that stand out in the market. By harnessing Ansys' simulation capabilities, you can address the most vital elements of your designs effectively. Our solutions empower you to tackle critical issues in product design through comprehensive simulation. Whether you're involved in antenna, RF, microwave, PCB, package, IC design, or even electromechanical devices, we offer industry-leading simulators that serve as the gold standard. These tools assist you in overcoming various challenges related to electromagnetic forces, temperature variations, signal integrity, power integrity, parasitic effects, cabling, and vibrations in your designs. Furthermore, we enhance this process with thorough product simulation, which facilitates achieving first-pass success in designing complex systems such as airplanes, automobiles, smartphones, laptops, wireless chargers, and more. By integrating our solutions, you position yourself to excel in innovation and engineering excellence.

Seamlessly repair damaged copper regions during interactive editing sessions, allowing for easy refinement of user-defined design selections. Components and enclosures can be moved within the 3D space while enjoying real-time clash detection for any violations. When faced with specific technological demands, you can take advantage of cutting-edge features like flexi-rigid design, embedded components, and chip-on-board technology to fulfill your functional needs. Pulsonix simplifies the process of generating a comprehensive Bill of Materials (BOM), pick and place lists, PCB acceptance reports, and netlists in various formats, whether you choose to use our pre-defined options or design your own. A standout feature of Pulsonix is the use of construction lines, which allow users to define guiding lines within their design, facilitating the creation of complex board outlines and aligning unconventional shapes or items. Additionally, you can establish rules for the automatic generation of naming conventions for both new and existing styles, enhancing organization and consistency in your design process. This comprehensive approach ensures that users can achieve a high level of precision and efficiency in their design workflows.