Comparison of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software
Contents |
| Name | Architecture | License | Autorouter | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChipVault | GPL | Terminal based vi wrapper for HDL | ||
| Electric | *BSD, Java | GPL | Yes | VLSI circuit design tool with connectivity at all levels. Can also be used for schematic entry and PCB design. |
| FreePCB | w32 | GPL | Yes | A printed circuit board design program for Microsoft Windows. FreePCB allows for up to 16 copper layers, both metric and English units, and export of designs in Gerber format. Boards can be partially or fully autorouted with the FreeRouting autorouter by using the FpcROUTE Specctra DSN file translator. |
| Fritzing | w32, Mac, Linux | GPL | Yes | Integrated tool for breadboard, schematic, and PCB design. Targeted at non-engineers (designers, artists, researchers, hobbyists) and users of microcontroller platforms such as Arduino. |
| gEDA | *BSD, Mac, Linux | GPL | Yes | Suite of applications for schematic capture, PCB layout editing (with autorouting capability), Gerber viewing, analog circuit simulation, Verilog design, and GTK-based waveform viewing. |
| Icarus Verilog | *BSD, Linux, Mac | GPL | Verilog simulator | |
| Kicad | Linux, w32, Mac | GPLv2 | Yes | Unlike other free software alternatives, Kicad provides for all design stages through the same interface: Schematic capture, PCB layout, Gerber generation/visualization, and library editing are all standard features. It also has a "3D view" feature for PCBs.
It is available for all three major operating systems, and features a large selection of component libraries. Migration tools (for transferring files from other EDA packages) are also provided. The file format is plain text, and is well documented, which is a useful feature for content management systems. |
| KTechLab | Linux | GPL | n/a | KTechLab is a schematic capture and simulator. It is speciufically geared toward mixed signal simulation of analg components and small digital processors. |
| Magic | Linux | BSD license | no | a popular very-large-scale integration layout tool |
| Oregano | GPL | no | schematic capture + spice simulation | |
| OwlVision GDSII Viewer | GPL | GDSII IC layout viewer | ||
| Quite Universal Circuit Simulator | Linux, Solaris, Mac, NetBSD, FreeBSD, w32 | GPL | Schematic capture + Verilog + VHDL + simulation | |
| XCircuit | Unix | GPL | Used to produce netlists and publish high-quality drawings. | |
| Verilator | Posix | GPL | Verilator is the fastest free Verilog HDL simulator. It compiles synthesizable Verilog into cycle accurate C++ or SystemC code following 2-state synthesis (zero delay) semantics. Benchmarks reported on its website suggest it is several times faster than commercial event driven simulators such as ModelSim, NC-Verilog and VCS, while not quite as fast as commercial cycle accurate modeling tools such as Carbon ModelStudio and ARC VTOC. |
| Application | Vendor | Simulation Engine | Licence | Platform | Components | Netlist Format | Vector Output | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | POSIX | |||||||
| AutoTRAX EDA and DEX | Autotrax Software | Spice 3f5 | Proprietary | Yes | No | Schematic capture, Simulation Probe, PCB editor and Active3D | RS-274X Gerber format | |
| CircuitLogix | Logic Design Inc | Xspice variant | Proprietary | Yes | No | Schematic capture and editing, PCB design, Simulation Probe | ||
| Crocodile Clips | Crocodile Clips Ltd | Yes | No | |||||
| PCB123 | Sunstone Circuits | Proprietary | Yes | Create new PCB designs quickly, then edit layout and schematics. | ||||
| PCD Wizard | Yes | PCB editor | ||||||
| TARGET 3001! | Ing.-Buero FRIEDRICH | PSpice compatible | Proprietary, free versions available | Yes | No | Schematic entry, simulation, PCB design, autorouter, 3D live view, isolation milling, front panel design | Various | Extended Gerber format, PostScript, STEP-3D, HPGL, G-code |
| PCB Artist | 4pcb.com | - | free | Yes | No | Schematic capture, PCB design | Gerber (after 1st order), PDF | |
| Application and developer | Latest version/release + date | Schematic? | Simulation? | PCB editing? | Runs on POSIX style systems? | Runs on Windows? | Other platforms? | Open source? |
User Interface Language(s) | Stable? | Imports | Exports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Design System by Agilent EEsof EDA | 2011.05 2011-May |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | LINUX,SUN SOLARIS | No | en | Yes | HSPICE, SPICE, Spectre netlists; Gerber/drill , ODB++, artwork; more | HSPICE, SPICE, Spectre netlists; Gerber/drill , ODB++, artwork; more |
| Active-HDL by Aldec | 2011, October 9.1 |
Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | EDIF, Viewlogic, more | PDF, HTML, Verilog, VHDL, EDIF, Zuken, more |
| Altium Designer (former Protel) and PCAD by Altium | 2011, Feb 25 Release 10 |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | OrCAD, Allegro, PADs, P-CAD, Gerber, STEP, more | PDF, Gerber/drill, ODB++, DXF, STEP, OrCAD, more |
| AutoTRAX EDA and DEX by Kovac Software | 2011, December 10 1.5.55 |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Various | Yes | Eagle, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD, Gerber, DXF | Gerber/drill, DXF, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD |
| CADSTAR, Board Designer, and Visula by Zuken | 2010, August 17 12.1 |
Yes | Yes, Spice | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | PADS, OrCAD, P-CAD, Protel, DXF, IDF | PDF, Gerber/drill, ODB++, DXF, IDF more |
| CircuitLogix by Logic Design Inc. | 2011, January Release 8.1 |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Mac | No | en | Yes | SPICE, Gerber, DXF | SPICE, PDF, Gerber, DXF, |
| CR-5000 by Zuken | 2011, May 17 13 |
Yes | Yes, SI & PI | Yes | Yes | Yes | UNIX, LINUX | No | en, jp | Yes | EDIF, DXF, IGES, IDF, BSDL, STEP, ACIS, Gerber/drill, more | PDF, Gerber/drill, ODB++ (must request[1]), DXF, STEP, IPC D-356, IPC-2581, EPS, ACIS |
| DipTrace by Novarm | 2011, Oct 17 2.2.0.3 |
Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mac, Wine | No | 18 languages | Yes | Eagle, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD, Gerber, DXF | Gerber/drill, DXF, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD |
| DesignSpark PCB from RS Components | 2011, April 26 2.0 |
Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Various | Yes | Eagle, DXF, EDIF | Gerber/drill, IDF, PDF, more |
| Eagle CadSoft | 2010, December 5.11 |
Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | de, en | Yes | Eagle, Cadence, | Gerber/drill, Eagle, Netlist, PDF, Images, Protel, HyperLynx, EPS |
| EDWinXP from Visionics | 2010, Feb 1.90 |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en, jp | Yes | ODB++ | ODB++ |
| Easy-PC by Number One Systems | 14 | Yes | No | Yes | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | No | en | Unknown | Unknown | DXF, BOM, Gerber/drill, IDF |
| Fritzing | 2011-02-18 0.5.2b |
Yes, + breadboard | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mac | Yes | en, de, nl, es, it, fr, pt, ru, zh, jp, ... | Yes | gEDA symbols, KiCAD symbols, SVG | Gerber, DIY etching, BOM, SVG, PDF, EPS |
| gEDA | 2011-01-15 1.6.2 |
Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Mac | Yes | en | Yes | ? | Gerber/drill |
| KiCad by the KiCad developers | 2011-04-29-BZR2986 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | de, en, es, fr, pt, ru | Yes | TinyCAD net lists, OrCAD EDIF | PDF, Gerber/drill, netlist |
| Various (Board Station, PADS, Expedition, DxDesigner, HyperLynx, ECAD Collaborator...), by Mentor Graphics | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | en | yes | ODB++ | GGerber/drill, BoM, IDF, ODB++ |
| Micro-Cap by Spectrum Software | 2010, Jun 26 10 |
Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | Unknown | SPICE text file, netlist, BOM |
| Osmond by J C Chavez |
1.1.8 March 6, 2011 |
No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Mac | No | en | Yes | Unknown | Gerber, netlist |
| Various Allegro and OrCAD products by Cadence Design Systems | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | No | en | Yes | Unknown | PDF, OrCAD netlist, ODB++ |
| Proteus by Labcenter Electronics | 7.7 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | Unknown | netlist, BoM, Gerber/drill |
| Pulsonix by Pulsonix | 7.0 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Yes | Unknown | No | en | Yes | Unknown | PDF, Gerber/drill, ODB++, DXF, more |
| PCB Investigator by easyLogix | 2010-09-09 3.31 |
No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | ODB++, Gerber/drill, Sieb&Meyer | ODB++, DXF, Catia-Script, X-File, BOM |
| SLASH by Dolphin Integration | 2011, February | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | EDIF, ASCII, Several netlist formats | EDIF, Several netlist formats, CSDF, SPI3, more |
| Symica DE by Symica | v1.4 Oct 2011 |
Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | HSPICE, SPICE, Spectre netlists, SKILL specs, more | SKILL, SPICE netlist |
| TARGET 3001! by Ing.-Buero FRIEDRICH | V15.5 2011-Dez. |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en, de, fr | Yes | Eagle, DXF, Gerber, XGerber, Excellon, BMP, CXF | XGerber, Excellon, HPGL, G-Code (Milling), CXF, STEP 3D, BOMs, Pick&Place, Testpoints, Netlists |
| TinyCAD by the developers of TinyCAD | 2.70 2010-Aug. |
Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | en | Yes | Unknown | Several net list formats, PNG, EMF |
| NI Ultiboard and Multisim by National Instruments | 11 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | en | Yes | MS*, MP*, EWB, Spice, OrCAD, UltiCap, Protel, Gerber, DXF, Ultiboard 4&5,Calay | BOM, Gerber/drill, IGES (3D), DXF (2D & 3D), SVG |
| Viewlogic by Synopsys | Unknown | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | No | en | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Note: ODB++ support is drawn partly from lists by Artwork Conversion Software[1] and Mentor Graphics[2]
Please check the latest information on the various web sites