# Altium Develop Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Altium Develop the right Engineering CAD solution for you? Explore 181 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews --- Altium Develop 4.6 (181) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Altium Develop Ease of use 4.3 Customer Service 4.2 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews DM Derese M Electronics Design EngineerElectrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “What I like the most is its interactive cloud based design showing feature, which avoids opening Altium Designer every time I want to open my designs.“ May 14, 2025 KA Karl A PCB Designer, Embedded Hardware EngineerComputer Hardware, Self-employedUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “The fact that some readily available extensions, like PDN and SI Analyzer by Keysight, are NOT available to standard (perpetual license) customers like me.“ December 18, 2024 JD Jon D Configuration Systems EngineerElectrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Altium Designer is an intelligent and user-friendly PCB design platform that has enhanced my company's design capabilities tremendously.“ December 10, 2024 PM Petros M Junior Technical EngineerTelecommunications, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: More than 2 years. “What I liked the least about Altium 365 is the learning curve, which is a little difficult for beginner designers“ June 25, 2025 Abdi M Hardware DesignerElectrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “I like its cloud based collaboration and its support for import and export of documents in various formats.“ July 21, 2024 KA Kamal A Sales and Technical coordinatorAutomotive, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “The BOM files aren't updated according to the schematic, for instance by updating the BOM doc, you will face some troubles.“ December 18, 2024 AC Abera C Maintenance EngineerElectrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “I liked the feature that allows my supervisors could see what I am doing and they give me a real time feedbacks and assistances.“ July 22, 2024 Abel A Electrical and Computer EngineerElectrical/Electronic Manufacturing, 201 - 500 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Its subscription pricing is somehow unaffordable, so beginner designers and academicians might not be able to use this incredible tool.“ July 21, 2024 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 181 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Abdi M. Hardware Designer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Altium 365, a must to use tool " July 21, 2024 4.0 I am happy about my overall experience using Altium 365.It made my academic and professional journey quite easy. It helped me a lot and I recommend everyone in the field of electronics to use Altium 365. Pros I like its cloud based collaboration and its support for import and export of documents in various formats. Its automatic generation of Bill of Material is also a great feature of Altium 365. Cons For beginners some of its features might not be user friendly, it is hard to start with as there are not much online resources to learn the tool. It would be great if more documentations and online videos made available. Review Source FN Fatih N. Embedded hardware engineer Aviation & Aerospace Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Altium 365: A tool every hardware designer should know" June 5, 2025 5.0 Overall Altium 365 is a great tool and everyone in the field of hardware design should use it. It helped me starting from my academics projects and now for professional projects. Pros What I liked the most is that its feature of being able to share design files instantly with team members, view changes live, and comment on specific parts of the PCB layout saved us a lot of time and eliminated version control issues. It brought true cloud-based hardware design to our workflow. Cons What I liked the least about Altium 365 is that it is hard to learn the full functionalities. While the platform is powerful, setting up permissions and navigating between design, BOM, and documentation tools could feel overwhelming at first without proper training. Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) Since Altium 365 has a great web based collaboration feature, I shifted from KiCad EDA to Altium 365 for my designs. Review Source DM Doug M. Director of Engineering Industrial Automation Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "If they can solve tech support responsiveness issues, this is a great tool" December 10, 2024 3.0 All good except tech support is slower than I've ever experienced. Pros Industry acceptance, good integration, active BOM feature Cons Tech support responsiveness has been abysmal Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) Hoping to get something more industry-accepted, more capability for complex boards. Review Source MÇ Mahmut Ç. Senior electronic hardware design engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "What a great design tool: Altium 365" June 15, 2025 5.0 Overall Altium 365 is a greate cloud based collaborative design platform and it helped me throughout my career. I love this tool. Pros The thing I liked the most about Altium 365 is that its feature of online accessibility of designs and design collaboration features. Cons The thing I liked the least is that availability of free resources to learn the tool is not abundant Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) Because Altium 365 provides all in one features that are critical for designers Review Source BD Bethlehem D. Electronic Engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Design together with Altium 365" May 29, 2025 5.0 Overall I'm good using Altium 365, starting from day one it helped me a lot through my professional projects. Pros I like its seamless cloud-based collaboration. Unlike traditional design environments that rely on file-based sharing and manual version control, Altium 365 allows real-time access and editing of PCB projects from anywhere. Cons The thing I don't like about Altium 365 is that the pricing for subscription is a little expensive. It could make it unaffordable to beginner designers. Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) To use Altium 365's feature of collaborative design. Review Source KA Karl A. PCB Designer, Embedded Hardware Engineer Computer Hardware Used the software for: 2+ years ### "KKR75's review" December 18, 2024 5.0 Using it every day, and would never consider any other alternative Pros The GUI ease of use, the software depth, breadth, and features Cons The fact that some readily available extensions, like PDN and SI Analyzer by Keysight, are NOT available to standard (perpetual license) customers like me. This should be DEFAULT !!!!! Alternatives considered [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/)[OrCAD X](https://www.capterra.com/p/10015795/OrCAD-X/) Reason for choosing Altium Develop Altium looked MUCH more polished than any other design software out there, from free to commercial. I tried OrCad and absolutely hated their GUI and installation Review Source MB Maya B. Design and Engineering Renewables & Environment Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "After my first six months of AD" December 10, 2024 4.0 Once over the learning curve, it's not bad. Everyone will have their opinions but at the end of the schematic and PCB tools are straightforward (usually) and nothing out of the ordinary from other tools out there. Pros Variants and document generators. They just save so much headache of different versions and the documentation that goes with it. To have it all spit out at the click of a button is great. Cons Lack of generic symbol libraries and having to build up your own libraries before you actually can get down to your design. For projects that don't have strict validation and supply chains, this forces a lot of up front decisions that aren't really necessary, like choosing which of 15 (or more) completely suitable capacitors you're going to commit to, and hope doesn't have supply issues or you get to choose again. The inconsistent mouse and keyboard shortcuts between the application and the Altium 365 web interface are occasionally infuriating. Make it the same please. Alternatives considered [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) Reason for choosing Altium Develop I was a project requirement from new client. Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) New client wanted to keep using Altium so AD it was. Review Source LT LIDYA T. Lead Electrical and Computer Engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Altium 365 and its great features" March 13, 2025 5.0 I'm quite happy using it and hope it would be like this in the future too Pros The features are really great. Its collaboration feature along with being cloud based, it makes the tool very useful. Cons I like everything about this great tool , and there's nothing I could hate Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) This Altium 365 has all in one features that makes a project management easier Review Source BH Binyam H. Electromechanical Engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Altium 365 and its use" May 20, 2025 5.0 I am good using it, I mean it helped me a lot since day one. It allowed me to collaborate with my team in a single workspace while doing projects. Pros I like Altium 365 feature of automatic Bill of Materials (BOM) generation, I also liked the interactive web based design viewing and storage capability of Altium 365 Cons Some of the features are hard to learn at first glance since there aren't plenty of free resourses to learn about it. So it might be hard to understand for beginners Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) Since Altium has great features to manage my projects well Review Source GG Greg G. Sr. EE Aviation & Aerospace Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Greenwood, G" December 13, 2024 4.0 Learning curve is steep due so many features but the support is very good. I hope Altium continues to invest in the quality support. Pros Cloud availability. Feature rich. Flexibility. Support. Cons Learning curve. There is a lot to know about the layout of the tool, where things are, and how to find and use. Many items are not intuitively placed. The paid training is a ripoff. After, going through the courses I later found much of the same videos online. Altium should just make the training freely available to compensate for lack of intuitiveness. In a sense, the tutorials and training should be an investment Altium makes in its products. Also the tutorials need to be brought up to date. Alternatives considered [OrCAD X](https://www.capterra.com/p/10015795/OrCAD-X/) Reason for choosing Altium Develop Support, Flexibility, Features, Library Management Could not find the other products in your drop down Mentor Graphics Switched from [CADENCE](https://www.capterra.com/p/119044/CADENCE/)[Allegro X AI](https://www.capterra.com/p/10015860/Allegro-X-AI/) Lack of connectivity between work flow items and use of central library The drop down for finding our particular solution sucks. We were using Orcad / PADS. Review Source NE Natnael E. Electrical and Electronics Engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "A great cooperative workspace, Altium 365" June 26, 2024 5.0 I am very happy with its features, as a student I found it greate when my professors could review my projects Pros I like the most its feature of cooperative workspace, where coworkers can engage in. Cons Its price of subscription, as it may not be affordable for some users Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) Due to the greate features Altium and Altium 365 provides Review Source PS Paul S. Electrical Engineering Manager Consumer Electronics Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Altium Designer" December 19, 2023 5.0 Easy to use and create designs. From concept to manufacturer with add much or add little detail wanted. Pros Ease of use with top notch abilities. 3D CAD abilities were easy to use also. Cons Extra cost for additional analysis add ons. Alternatives considered [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/)[OrCAD X](https://www.capterra.com/p/10015795/OrCAD-X/) Reason for choosing Altium Develop Ease of use and great overall package. My engineers picked it up fast and created designs quickly. Switched from [OrCAD X](https://www.capterra.com/p/10015795/OrCAD-X/) Ease of getting up and running with all my engineers and me. Review Source SB Sisay B. Hardware Engineer Computer Hardware Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "What a great tool, Altium 365" March 6, 2025 5.0 I have a good experience of using Altium 365 and it helped me a lot on my projects. Pros It has a great future on cloud based interactive interface for our designs. Cons Its interactive future and allowing team members on a project to collaborate joining the workspace. Review Source BD Beer D. Electrical Engineering Student Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Altium PCB Design " October 23, 2024 5.0 Easy to use app to design, work on & review designs of PCBs Pros Amazing way to design PCBs, Everything is really clear on how it works. Inspecting the designs is also really well made. Cons I can't seem to find, (maybe it already exists), a standardized list of components with all information about them. Review Source AA Abdulhahim A. Hardware Engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Altium 365, A great cloud based collaboration tool" August 2, 2024 5.0 Overall I am happy using Altium 365. As an electrical engineer it helped me a lot in my projects and it let me collaborate with professionals in the field. Pros I like Altium 365 as it is a great industry standard collaboration tool. As an electrical engineering professional I liked its user friendly and cloud based real time collaboration feature for designers like me. Cons I think some of its features are hard to understand and learn as a beginner, and it would be great if there are more online resources to learn the tool. Review Source TM Tigist M. Electrical engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "The Game Changer real time collaboration tool, Altium 365" July 21, 2024 5.0 Overall I am having a great experience using Altium 365. It's helping me in my academic projects and also in some industry level projects I do for my clients. It's making my professional journey as an electronics engineer really great. Pros What I like the most about Altium 365 is its real time collaboration features. As I am an electronics engineering student, I could make my projects in collaboration with my colleagues and then my professor could give me a real time feedbacks. And this makes my designs more efficient. Cons What makes me disappointed about Altium 365 is that its pricing isn't fair for beginner designers and academicians. So it would be great if it has some subscription plans with reduced pricing. Review Source AD Abraham D. Electronics Engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Altium 365, a great tool for collaboration " July 22, 2024 4.0 Overall I am happy using Altium 365, it helped me a lot in my career. Pros I like the most its automatic generation of BOM, which makes our design process easier. Also its collaboration feature helps designers to collaborate in real time. Cons The pricing for subscription is too high to afford. Review Source DK Dev K. Engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 2+ years ### "The Industry Gold Standard." December 26, 2023 4.0 I have been using Altium professionally for a long time and I trust it to help me get the projects complete and correct. Pros Altium is a full featured, industry standard tool to design electronics for product design, R&D, and academic environments. It has everything you need for rigid, flex, and other complex electronics assemblies, for design, layout, analysis, etc. Cons Altium is an industrial-strength tool and there is a learning curve. There are annoying quirks you have to learn to understand and work with or work around. Once you know about its internal structure most of these things make a certain sense. Reason for choosing Altium Develop I know Altium the best and I think it's the industry winner these days. Review Source VR Valentina R. Electronic Engineer Education Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "a little review" July 4, 2024 5.0 Pros I can design not only on my workstation, but on every computer Cons Nothing yet. It's a bit complicated because I'm still learning how to use Altium, but everything is going well Review Source ML Mickael L. Emmbedded hardware engineer Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "the best Electronic design tool i ever used" May 29, 2024 5.0 I use Altium every day on very simple PCB and also very complicated ones, and for me it is really the best CAD tool. Pros Altium is a must have regarding electronic design. Easy to search parts and create BOM from them. Simulation tools are really good and natural to use. Altium also have a big community and lots of online resources to solve all issues that you could have. Cons A little bit hard to understand how to create component library, but once you get used to it, it works really fine. Some difference in the component drawings and foot print when you search component directly on the manufacturers database, but this is due to the fact that all manufacturers do not use the same standards to draw schematics symbols and foot prints. Review Source LG Lou G. Senior Electronics Engineer Industrial Automation Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Altium Designer-It is the best I've used so far." October 18, 2023 5.0 We recently solved high voltage clearance issues, differential signal routing issues, and 22 layers. Wow! Pros Everything works. Most of it is self explanatory, and easy to find. Since I have only been using it for a few years, I've recently had to learn it. Given that I have used three of its competitors, I know a little about these platforms. Altium is far and away the best and most comprehensive. Cons I would have to say that the complexity of the software, and its integration with schematics, BOMs, CAD, etc, make it more difficult to learn initially. Alternatives considered [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/)[Event Cadence](https://www.capterra.com/p/215564/Cadence/) Reason for choosing Altium Develop Reliability and comprehensive. Switched from [KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/) New JOb Review Source JD Josh D. Principal Electrical Engineer Research Used the software for: 2+ years ### "My Preferred Design Tool" January 2, 2024 5.0 Pros I like the efficiency that I get from AD. Having been a Cadence user for several years with a previous company, the component library and parts creation was incredibly inefficient and error-prone. Altium has streamlined my workflow tremendously. The seamless integration from schematic to layout is also a huge advantage for AD, as well as the mechanical design workflow with MCAD CoDesigner. Cons There have been occasional buggy issues with the software and extensions. I sometime feel like releases happen too often and the user becomes a Beta tester. Paying customers should only get a fully vetted release and the frequency of new versions suggests otherwise to me. Review Source BB Bobby B. Systems Engineer Medical Devices Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Altium365 Review" January 3, 2024 4.0 Love being able to effortlessly save and manage components to 365 that can be later used on any device or project instead of having to manage local libraries that must be shared between many projects and have to manage directories and file links to import correct parts when switching between workspaces. Pros Free add on to our current Altium Designer suite and accounts so managing and maintaining is much more efficient than a standalone solution. Cons Can be difficult managing between local and 365 content and syncing between the two to ensure the latest version is being saved to 365 for later use and revisioning. Review Source ML Mahesh L. Sr. Electrical Engg Medical Devices Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Altium 365" June 25, 2024 5.0 Pros One shop for your CAD use including schematics board file and BOM Cons Sometimes little complicated to use. Need to take help from support. Review Source JA Javier A. Senior PCB Designer Consumer Electronics Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Altium 365 - The Lord of EDA tools " September 26, 2023 5.0 Pros Because make easier and faster my PCB Designer job. Cons The point I think should be improved is the 2D CAD edition tools in PCB Editor. It should be more similar to nanoCAD, AutoCAD, or something like that. Reason for choosing Altium Develop We prefer Altium because is easier to use and it is easier for us to find engineering that work with Altium Review Source ## Send me user reviews about this product ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Talk to a Capterra advisor for free and get results within 15 minutes.