Comparison of EDA software

Short description: Electronic Device automation

This page is a comparison of electronic design automation (EDA) software which is used today to design the near totality of electronic devices. Modern electronic devices are too complex to be designed without the help of a computer. Electronic devices may consist of integrated circuits (ICs), integrated circuit substrates, printed circuit boards (PCBs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or a combination of them. Integrated circuits may consist of a combination of digital and analog circuits. These circuits can contain a combination of transistors, resistors, capacitors or specialized components such as analog neural networks, antennas or fuses.

The design of each of these electronic devices generally proceeds from a high- to a low-level of abstraction. For FPGAs the low-level description consists of a binary file to be flashed into the gate array, while for an integrated circuit or printed circuit board the low-level description consists of a layout file which describes the masks to be used for lithography inside a foundry.

Each design step requires specialized tools, and many of these tools can be used for designing multiple types of electronic circuits. For example, a program for high-level digital synthesis can usually be used both for IC digital design as well as for programming an FPGA. Similarly, a tool for schematic-capture and analog simulation can generally be used both for analog IC design and for PCB design.

In the case of integrated circuits (ICs) for example, a single chip may contain today more than 20 billion transistors and, as a general rule, every single transistor in a chip must work as intended. Since a single VLSI mask set can cost up to 10-100 millions, trial and error approaches are not economically viable. To minimize the risk of any design mistakes, the design flow is heavily automated. EDA software assists the designer in every step of the design process and every design step is accompanied by heavy test phases. Errors may be present in the high-level code already, such as for the Pentium FDIV floating-point unit bug, or it can be inserted all the way down to physical synthesis, such as a missing wire, or a timing violation.

## Contents

* 1 Comparison of proprietary EDA software
* 1.1 Mainstream EDA software bundles for ICs design
* 1.2 Proprietary software for electrical simulation (analog/mixed-signal/electromagnetic)
* 1.3 Comparison of proprietary software for PCB design
* 2 Comparison of free and open source software EDA tools
* 2.1 Free and open source software EDA bundles for IC design
* 2.2 Free and open source software for high-level synthesis
* 3 List by developer
* 4 Open source software for IC physical synthesis and layout
* 5 Open source software for schematic editing and analog/mixed-signal simulation
* 5.1 Open source software for PCB design
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Comparison of proprietary EDA software

### Mainstream EDA software bundles for ICs design

The world of electronic design automation (EDA) software for integrated circuit (IC) design is dominated by the three vendors Synopsys, Cadence Design Systems and Siemens EDA (Formerly Mentor Graphics, acquired in 2017 by Siemens) which have a revenue respectively of 4,2 billion US$, 3 billion US$ and 1,3 billion US$.

These vendors offer software bundles which allow to cover the full spectrum of IC design, from HDL synthesis to physical synthesis and verification.

The development of EDA software for IC design is tightly connected with the development of technology nodes. The properties of a specific semiconductor foundry, such as the transistor models, the physical characteristics and the design rules, are usually encoded in file formats which are proprietary to one or more EDA vendors. This set of files constitutes the process design kit (PDK) and it is usually developed as a joint effort between the foundry and an EDA vendor. Foundries therefore usually release PDKs which are compatible only for one specific EDA bundle. The information contained inside PDKs is usually considered confidential. PDKs are therefore usually protected by non disclosure agreements (NDAs) and may be shipped in an incomplete or in an encrypted form to the designers.

### Proprietary software for electrical simulation (analog/mixed-signal/electromagnetic)

Application and developer  | Platform  | Latest release  | Schematic?  | Simulation?  | PCB editing?  | User Interface Language(s)  | Imports  | Exports  | Scripting support

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Version | Date
Advanced Design System by Keysight EEsof EDA  | POSIX[1] | 2019[2] | 2018-11-15  | No  | Yes, full-wave electromagnetic simulation and netlist simulation  | Yes  | en | HSPICE, SPICE, Spectre netlists; Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, artwork; more  | HSPICE, SPICE, Spectre netlists; Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, artwork; more  | Python, Application Extension Language (proprietary; "AEL")
Windows[1]
SuSE[1]
RHEL[1]
CircuitLogix by Logic Design  | Windows  | 10  | 2019-01  | No  | Yes, netlist simulation (analog and digital)  | Yes  | en | SPICE netlist and model formats  | SPICE, PDF, Gerber, DXF  |
LTspice by Analog Devices
(free)  | Windows, macOS, Wine  | 26.0.1  | 2026-01-14  | Yes  | Yes, netlist simulation (analog)  | No  | en | netlist  | netlist  |
Micro-Cap
(free, end-of-life)  | Windows  | 12.2.0.5  | 2021-06-17
(end-of-life)  | Yes  | Yes, netlist simulation (analog and digital)  | No  | en, jp | HSPICE, PSPICE, SPICE3, netlists, Images, IBIS, Touchstone  | SPICE text file, netlist, BOM, Protel, Accel, OrCad, PADS netlists, Schematic and Analysis Plots Images, Numeric Output Text, Excel  |
Wine
TINA-TI
(free)  | Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android  | 12.0  | 2019-12  | Yes  | Yes  | No  | 23 languages (en, de, fr, es, and 19 other languages)  | XML, PSpice netlist, (.CIR)  | XML, PSpice netlist, (.CIR)  |

Of these, LTSpice, TINA-TI, Micro-cap are free proprietary applications based on SPICE. Micro-Cap was released as freeware in July 2019, when its parent company Spectrum Software closed down while LTSpice has been free for a long time.

### Comparison of proprietary software for PCB design

Application and developer  | Platform  | Latest release  | Schematic?  | Simulation?  | PCB editing?  | User Interface Language(s)  | Imports  | Exports  | Scripting support

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Version | Date
Altium Designer (former Protel) by Altium (included in Altium Develop and Altium Agile)  | Windows  | 24.10.1[3] | 2024-10-10  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | Multilingual  | OrCAD, Allegro, PADS Logic, PADS PCB, Expedition, DxDesigner, EAGLE, P-CAD, Gerber, STEP, Solidworks, IDF, Zuken, more  | 3D PDF, Gerber, Gerber X2, pick-and-place CSV, Excellon, ODB++, IPC-2581, D356, DXF, STEP, Parasolid, EDB, more  | Delphi, JS, VB
Wine
CADSTAR, Board Designer, and Visula by Zuken | Windows  | 2022.0  | 2022-08-31  | Yes  | Yes, SI & PI  | Yes  | en | PADS, OrCAD, P-CAD, Protel, DXF, IDF  | PDF, Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF more  | COM, macros
CircuitMaker by Altium | Windows  | 2  | 2021-07  | Yes  | No  | Yes  | en | Importer Removed since Last Version (1.3)  | Gerber, Excellon, DXF, STEP, PDF  | None
Wine
CR-5000 by Zuken | POSIX | 13  | 2011-05-17  | Yes  | Yes, SI & PI  | Yes  | en, jp | EDIF, DXF, IGES, IDF, BSDL, STEP, ACIS, Gerber, Excellon, more  | PDF, Gerber, Excellon, ODB++ (must request[4]), DXF, STEP, IPC D-356, IPC-2581, EPS, ACIS  |
Windows
Unix
Linux
CR-8000 by Zuken | POSIX | 2020  | 2020-06-30  | Yes  | Yes, SI & PI, IBIS-AMI/SERDES  | Yes  | en, jp | EDIF, DXF, IGES, IDF, BSDL, STEP, ACIS, Gerber, Excellon, more  | PDF, Gerber, Excellon, ODB++ (must request[4]), DXF, STEP, IPC D-356, IPC-2581, EPS, ACIS  |
Windows
Unix
Linux
DesignSpark PCB by RS Components  | Windows  | 9.0.3  | 2020-07-08  | Yes  | Yes, Spice  | Yes  | en | EAGLE, DXF, EDIF  | Gerber, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF, PDF, LPKF  |
DipTrace by Novarm  | POSIX | 5.2.0.4  | 2025-12-02  | Yes  | External
(Spice netlist export)  | Yes  | 21 languages  | Altium, Eagle, KiCad, OrCAD, P-CAD, PADS, Gerber, N/C Drill, DXF, BSDL Pinlist, Netlists  | Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, Eagle, P-CAD, PADS, OrCAD, IPC-D-356, STEP, VRML, Pick and Place, CSV, BOM  |
Windows
Mac
Wine
EAGLE by Autodesk/CadSoft Computer
(discontinued)  | POSIX | 9.6.2  | 2020-05-27  | Yes  | Ngspice | Yes  | de, en, zh, hu, ru | EAGLE (XML), ACCEL (P-CAD, Altium, Protel), ULTIBOARD, Netlists, BMP, Custom  | EAGLE (XML), Protel, Netlists, Images, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, Sieb & Meyer, HPGL, PostScript/EPS, PDF, Images, HyperLynx, IDF, Custom  | Proprietary User Language Programming (ULP)
Windows
Linux
Mac
EasyEDA | POSIX | 6.4.5  | 2020-08-19  | Yes  | Ngspice | Yes  | en, fr, de, pl, jp, ru, es, se, ua, zh ...  | Altium, EAGLE, KiCad libraries, DipTrace, LTspice .asc/.asy files, JSON, Spice  | PDF, PNG, SVG, JSON, Gerber, Excellon, Pick and Place CSV file, CSV-formatted drill chart, Bill of Materials CSV file, Altium netlist, FreePCB netlist, PADS Layout Netlist, Spice netlist.  | JSON
Windows
Linux
Mac
ChromeOS as a Web application
Flux.ai  |  | N/A  | 2025  | Yes  | Ngspice | Yes  | en | EAGLE/KiCad libraries, Altium/Allegro Schematics, DXF, SVG, STEP, etc.  | Gerber, IPC-2581C, ODB++, EDIF netlists, D356 netlists, JEP30, Pick and Place CSV file, CSV-formatted drill chart, Bill of Materials CSV file.  | TypeScript
ChromeOS as a Web application
NI Ultiboard and Multisim by National Instruments | Windows  | 14.2 [5] | 2019-05-19  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | en | MS*, MP*, EWB, Spice, OrCAD, UltiCap, Protel, Gerber, DXF, Ultiboard 4&5, Calay  | BOM, Gerber, Excellon, IGES (3D), DXF (2D & 3D), SVG  |
Web application[6]
OrCAD | Windows  | 17.4 - 22.1  | 2022-10-20  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | en | EAGLE, PADS, Altium, STEP, DXF, IDF, IDX, OrCAD SDT, OrCAD Layout,OrCAD  | PDF, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon drill/route, netlist, ODB++, DXF, IDF, IDX, STEP,3D PDF, IPC2581  | Tcl/TK, SKILL (Lisp)
Proteus by Labcenter Electronics Ltd  | Windows  | 8.17  | 2023-12-11  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | en | Gerber, BMP, DXF  | PDF, Gerber, GerberX2, Excellon, ODB++, DXF, IDF, PKP, testpoint file, metafile, BMP.  | internal script
Pulsonix by WestDev Ltd  | Windows  | 12.5  | 2023  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | en | Allegro, Altium, CadStar, EAGLE, OrCAD, PADS, P-CAD, Protel, Gerber, STEP, DXF, IDF, more  | Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, ODB++, IPC-2581, PDF, DXF, STEP, IDF, BOM, more  | Proprietary language, ActiveX
Wine
TARGET 3001!  | Windows  | 33.4  | 2025-04-09  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | en, de, fr | EAGLE, DXF, Gerber, Gerber, Excellon, BMP, CXF, STEP 3D  | ODB++, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, EAGLE, HPGL, G-Code (Milling), CXF, STEP 3D, Excel BOMs, Pick&Place, GenCAD, FABmaster, IPC D-356, Test points, Netlists, OBJ, POV-Ray, PDF  | Package generator scripts, BOM scripts, printing and PDF generator scripts, 3D scripts
Wine
TINA  | Windows  | 12.0  | 2019-12  | Yes  | Yes  | Yes  | 23 languages (en, de, fr, es and 19 other languages)  | VHDL, Verilog, Verilog-A, and Verilog-AMS | VHDL, Verilog, Verilog-A, and Verilog-AMS |
Linux
MacOS
Android
Upverter | POSIX | N/A  | 2019-05-10  | Yes  | No  | Yes  | en | Altium, PDF, OpenJSON, EAGLE  | PDF, Gerber, Excellon, netlist, PADS Layout Netlist, Pick and Place CSV, High-Res PNG, CSV-formatted drill chart, CSV-formatted list of all parts  |
Windows
Web application
123D Circuits by Autodesk | POSIX | N/A  |  | Yes, + breadboard  | Yes  | Yes  | en | EAGLE  | Gerber  |
Windows
Web application
Application and developer  | Platform  | Latest release  | Schematic?  | Simulation?  | PCB editing?  | User Interface Language(s)  | Imports  | Exports  | Scripting support
Version | Date

## Comparison of free and open source software EDA tools

### Free and open source software EDA bundles for IC design

Free and open-source (FOSS) EDA software bundles are currently under fast development mainly thanks to the DARPA and Google's openROAD project. The OpenROAD project offers a complete stack of tools from high-level synthesis down to layout generation[7] The flow includes Yosys for logic synthesis, OpenLane for physical synthesis and targets the SkyWater 130 nm PDK. The flow is currently utilized to submit design for free fabrication at Google.[8][9]

### Free and open source software for high-level synthesis

High-level synthesis software can generally be used for the design of both application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Most high-level synthesis software is used to edit and verify code written in one of the mainstream hardware description languages (HDL) like VHDL or Verilog. Other tools instead operate at a higher level of abstraction and allow to synthesize HDL code starting from languages like Chisel or SpinalHDL. The higher abstraction of such languages enables formal verification of HDL code.[10][11]

Name | Architecture | License | Comment

|
|
|

GHDL | Linux, Mac | GPL-2.0-or-later | VHDL analyzer, compiler, and simulator.[12]
Icarus Verilog | *BSD, Linux, Mac | GPL-2.0-or-later | Verilog simulator
Verilator | Posix | LGPL-3.0-only or Artistic-2.0 | 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.

## List by developer

List of electrical engineering software[13][14]

Software | Developer | Operating System/License
Advanced Design System (ADS) | Keysight Technologies | Windows, Linux
Altium Designer (included in Altium Develop and Altium Agile) | Altium Limited | Windows
ANSYS Electronics | ANSYS | Windows, Linux
ANSYS HFSS | ANSYS | Windows
ANSYS Maxwell | ANSYS | Windows, Linux
AutoCAD – Electrical | Autodesk | Windows
CST Studio Suite | Simulia | Windows, Linux
Eagle | Autodesk | Windows, macOS, Linux
EMTP-RV | ATPDraw | Windows
EMTPWorks | EMTPWorks | Windows
Electrical Transient Analyzer Program | ETAP/Operation Technology Inc. | Windows
FreeCAD | FreeCAD Community | Windows, macOS, Linux
FreePCB | FreePCB community | Windows
gEDA | gEDA Project | Windows, macOS, Linux
KTechLab | KTechLab Developers | Windows, macOS, Linux
LibrePCB | LibrePCB Team | Windows, macOS, Linux
Quite Universal Circuit Simulator (QUCS) | Qucs Developers | Windows, macOS, Linux
KiCad | KiCad Developers | Windows, macOS, Linux
LabVIEW | National Instruments | Windows, macOS, Linux
LTspice | Linear Technology | Windows
NI Multisim | National Instruments Electronics Workbench Group | Windows
NL5 circuit simulator | New Wave Instruments | Windows
OrCAD | Cadence Design Systems | Windows
PowerEsim | Power Integrations | Web application
PSIM | Powersim Inc. | Windows
PSpice | Cadence Design Systems | Windows
Power system simulator for engineering | Siemens Energy | Windows
SaberRD | Synopsys | Windows
Simulink | MathWorks | Windows, macOS, Linux
SynchroTrace | Rosh Engineering LLC | Windows
TINA | DesignSoft | Windows
XCircuit | Tim Edwards | Windows, macOS, Linux

* Proprietary

* Open source

* Freeware/Trialware

## Open source software for IC physical synthesis and layout

This list does not include schematic editors or simulators since these can generally be used both for Integrated Circuits (ICs) and for Printed Circuit Board (PCB) as long as device models are available.

Name | Architecture | License | Autorouter | Comment

|
|
|
|

Magic | Linux | BSD license | No | A very-large-scale integration layout tool

## Open source software for schematic editing and analog/mixed-signal simulation

Name | Architecture | License | Comment

|
|
|

Gnucap | any (C++11) | GPL-3.0-or-later | Mixed-signal circuit simulator
KTechLab | Linux | GPL | KTechLab is a schematic capture and simulator. It is specifically geared toward mixed signal simulation of analog components and small digital processors.
Ngspice | Linux, Solaris, Mac, NetBSD, FreeBSD, Windows | BSD-3-Clause | SPICE \+ XSPICE + Cider
Oregano |  | GPL-2.0-or-later | Schematic capture + spice simulation
Quite Universal Circuit Simulator (QUCS) | Linux, Solaris, Mac, NetBSD, FreeBSD, Windows | GPL-2.0-or-later | Schematic capture \+ Verilog + VHDL + simulation. Qucs-S fork supports SPICE backends Ngspice, Xyce, & SpiceOpus.
XCircuit | Unix | GPL | Used to produce netlists and publish high-quality drawings.

### Open source software for PCB design

Name | Architecture | License | Autorouter | Imports | Exports | Scripting support | Comment

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

atopile | Linux, Mac, Windows | MIT License | No | - | Gerber, BOM | Python | Code-based EDA tool that allows hardware engineers to design electronic circuits and PCBs using a programming-like environment. It integrates hardware design specifications directly into code, enabling intelligent design capture, version control, and continuous integration practices.[15]
FreePCB | Windows | GPL | Yes | - | Gerber | No | A printed circuit board design program for Microsoft Windows. FreePCB allows for up to 16 copper layers, both metric and US customary units, and export of designs in Gerber format. Boards can be partially or fully autorouted with the FreeRouting[16] autorouter by using the FpcROUTE Specctra DSN design file translator.
Fritzing | Windows, Mac, Linux | GPL-3.0-or-later | Yes | gEDA symbols, KiCad symbols, SVG | Gerber, DIY etching, BOM, SVG, PDF, EPS | No | Protoboard view, schematic view, PCB view, Code (firmware) view. Includes customizable design rule checker. Includes common shaped boards like Arduino and Raspberry Pi shields. Allows spline curve traces. Only two layers (top and bottom). Outputs gerbers.
gEDA | *BSD, Linux, Mac | GPL-2.0-or-later | Yes | gschem netlists, image as background | Gerber, Excellon, SVG, PDF, EPS, PNG, GIF, JPEG, Specctra, XYRS | Guile (Scheme) | Schematic, simulation, PCB editor, gerber view
KiCad | Linux, Mac, Windows | GPL-3.0-or-later | FreeRouting | Altium, CadStar, EAGLE (XML), P-CAD, Fabmaster, TinyCAD net lists, OrCAD EDIF | PDF, Gerber, Gerber X2, Excellon, netlist, VRML2, STEP, IDFv3 | Python | Full package for schematic and board design, etc. Design rule checking. User-defined symbols and footprints. Gerber/drill file creation. Graphic interface. Active user community.
pcb-rnd | *BSD, Linux, Mac, Windows | GPL-2.0-or-later | Yes | gschem netlists, Protel Autotrax, KiCad (legacy & s-expr layouts), EAGLE (XML & v3,4,5 binary layouts), eeschema netlists, mentor netlists, TinyCad netlists, Calay netlist, FreePCB/easyEDA netlist, LT-Spice, MUCS, Mentor Graphics Hyperlynx, image (BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG), HPGL, BXL, Specctra (DSN), PADS | Gerber/drill, SVG, PDF, EPS, PNG, GIF, JPEG, Specctra (DSN), PADS, Protel Autotrax, KiCad (legacy & s-expr), DXF, FidocadJ, Mentor Graphics Hyperlynx, template configurable XYRS/BOM | Python, Lua, Perl, Tcl, AWK (multiple dialects), Lisp & Scheme (multiple dialects), JavaScript, Ruby, Pascal, BASIC | Circuit layout program with extended file format support, DRC, parametric footprints, query language, and GUI and command line operation for batch processing and automation

## See also

* Comparison of instruction set architectures
* Electronic design automation (EDA)
* List of EDA companies
* List of computer-aided engineering software
* List of finite element software packages
* List of free electronics circuit simulators
* List of numerical analysis software
* List of software engineering topics
* OpenRISC \- open source microprocessor development
* Power engineering software
* Schematic editor
* SPICE, a general purpose analog circuit simulator.
* TopoR

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "ADS Supported Platforms". http://edadocs.software.keysight.com/display/engdocads/ADS+Supported+Platforms.
2. ↑ "PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) Software | Keysight". https://www.keysight.com/main/software.jspx?cc=US&lc=eng&ckey=2212036&nid=-34333.804574.02&id=2212036.
3. ↑ "ALTIUM DESIGNER". https://www.altium.com/de/products/downloads.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "PCB tools supporting ODB++". Artwork.com. Artwork Conversion Software Inc.. http://www.artwork.com/odb++/pcb_tools_supporting_odb.htm.
5. ↑ "Upgrade Multisim™ - National Instruments". https://www.ni.com/en-us/shop/electronic-test-instrumentation/application-software-for-electronic-test-and-instrumentation-category/what-is-multisim/upgrade.html.
6. ↑ "Multisim Web App". https://beta.multisim.com/.
7. ↑ "The OpenROAD Project, OpenROAD seeks to develop and foster an autonomous, 24-hour, open-source layout generation flow (RTL-to-GDS).". https://github.com/The-OpenROAD-Project.
8. ↑ "Make Your Own Chips for Free. Design and fabricate your own open-source design for free with the Open MPW Program". https://efabless.com/open_shuttle_program.
9. ↑ "Build Open Silicon with Google". https://opensource.googleblog.com/2022/05/Build Open Silicon with Google.html.
10. ↑ "Open-Source Formal Verification for Chisel". https://woset-workshop.github.io/PDFs/2021/a03-slides.pdf.
11. ↑ "Formal verification". https://spinalhdl.github.io/SpinalDoc-RTD/master/SpinalHDL/Formal verification/index.html.
12. ↑ "4.0.0-dev". https://ghdl.github.io/ghdl/index.html.
13. ↑ "Most Important Softwares For Electrical Engineers". https://www.aryacollege.in/most-important-softwares-for-electrical-engineers.
14. ↑ "The 50 Best Electrical Engineering Software Tools". https://www.pannam.com/blog/top-tools-for-an-electrical-engineers-toolbox/.
15. ↑ "atopile". https://github.com/atopile/atopile.
16. ↑ "FreeRouting - Printed Circuit Board Routing Software from FreeRouting.net". 2014-03-08. https://github.com/nikropht/FreeRouting.

## External links

Historical

* PCB Design Industry Timeline \- Printed Circuit Design & Fab magazine
* A Short History of Electronic Data Formats \- Printed Circuit Design & Fab magazine

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison of EDA software. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Comparison_of_EDA_software&oldid=4219630"