# Compare Alibre Design vs Altium Develop 2026 | Capterra

> Unsure of what to choose? Check Capterra to compare Altium Develop and Alibre Design based on pricing, features, product details, and verified reviews.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/compare/172312-175058/Alibre-Design-vs-Altium-Designer

---

# Altium Develop vs Alibre Design Features and Cost Comparison

Last updated March 13th, 2026

Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews  
moderated by our Reviews Verification team.[Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/)

Your comparison:

Altium DevelopAlibre Design2/4 selected

[Altium Develop](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/)[4.6 (181)](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

[Alibre Design](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/)[4.7 (183)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

[## Altium Develop](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/)[4.6 (181)](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

Starting Price

Contact vendor

Value-for-Money

4.2

Functionality

4.6

Ease of Use

4.3

Customer Service

4.2

Reviews Sentiment

Based on [181 reviews](#user-reviews)

Positive

171

Neutral

7

Negative

3

[## Alibre Design](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/)[4.7 (183)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

Starting Price

$10.00/month

Value-for-Money

4.8

Functionality

4.6

Ease of Use

4.6

Customer Service

4.8

Reviews Sentiment

Based on [183 reviews](#user-reviews)

Positive

176

Neutral

5

Negative

2

## Send this comparison chart to my inbox

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## Summary

* * *

Key features rated by users

Features selected based on 2,499 reviews from engineering cad software users.  
about the Fit Score methodology.

Fit Score methodology

Our Fit Score reflects how reviewers rate a product’s performance against a set of features reviewers rate as most important. A higher score indicates the product is rated better in delivering what reviewers most care about.

  

If the Fit Score is not shown for a specific product, that only means there are currently not enough relevant data points to develop a meaningful score. It does not indicate that the product should be excluded from further evaluation. Best for Methodology

81%Fit

High performer

Feature ratings

CAD Tools

4.4

Document Generation

4.5

2D Drawing

4.3

Bills of Material

4.6

Data Import/Export

4.4

71%Fit

Missing features

Feature ratings

CAD Tools

4.5

Document Generation

NA

2D Drawing

4.3

Bills of Material

4.2

Data Import/Export

4.3

User satisfaction

User satisfaction

4.6

User reviews[181](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

Ease of use

4.3

Functionality

4.6

Value for money

4.2

Customer support

4.2

User satisfaction

4.7

User reviews[183](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

Ease of use

4.6

Functionality

4.6

Value for money

4.8

Customer support

4.8

Price starts from

Price starts from

\--

-   Free version
-   Free trial

Price starts from

$10Flat Rate, Per Month

-   Free version
-   Free trial

Best for

Best for

Altium Develop is built for developers, IT teams, and enterprises needing to integrate, customize, and extend product design and collaboration workflows.

Best for

From SMBs, startups, labs, educational institutions, and machine shops all the way to Sandia National Laboratories. Organizations of 1 to 1000 choose Alibre for economical, powerful 3D engineering.

## User reviews

Pros & cons

DM

Derese M.

Electronics Design Engineer

> "What I like the most is its interactive cloud based design showing feature, which avoids opening Altium Designer every time I want to..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6809628)

KA

Karl A.

PCB Designer, Embedded Hardware Engineer

> "The fact that some readily available extensions, like PDN and SI Analyzer by Keysight, are NOT available to standard (perpetual..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6628640)

SI

Stefano I.

Electronics engineer

> "It allows projects and component management, mechanical CAD integration and has useful sharing features, so that all designers in my..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6331967)

PM

Petros M.

Junior Technical Engineer

> "What I liked the least about Altium 365 is the learning curve, which is a little difficult for beginner designers"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6842337)

AA

Ashenafi A.

Technical Supervisor and Hardware Engineer

> "It allows me to access my designs anytime through web based interactive interface."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6828361)

KA

Kamal A.

Sales and Technical coordinator

> "The BOM files aren't updated according to the schematic, for instance by updating the BOM doc, you will face some troubles."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6628952)

BH

Binyam H.

Electromechanical Engineer

> "It allowed me to collaborate with my team in a single workspace while doing projects."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6814770)

Abel A.

Electrical and Computer Engineer

> "Its subscription pricing is somehow unaffordable, so beginner designers and academicians might not be able to use this incredible..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6401764)

JD

Jon D.

Configuration Systems Engineer

> "Altium Designer is an intelligent and user-friendly PCB design platform that has enhanced my company's design capabilities..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6618911)

MB

Maya B.

Design and Engineering

> "Lack of generic symbol libraries and having to build up your own libraries before you actually can get down to your design."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6618520)

Abdi M.

Hardware Designer

> "I like its cloud based collaboration and its support for import and export of documents in various formats."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6401745)

BD

Bethlehem D.

Electronic Engineer

> "The thing I don't like about Altium 365 is that the pricing for subscription is a little expensive."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6822374)

GH

Gebregziabher H.

Electrical and Electronics divisions Head

> "Over Altium 365 is a very helpful tool for professional in the field of electronics design."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6818299)

BH

Binyam H.

Electromechanical Engineer

> "Some of the features are hard to learn at first glance since there aren't plenty of free resourses to learn about it."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6814770)

AC

Abera C.

Maintenance Engineer

> "I liked the feature that allows my supervisors could see what I am doing and they give me a real time feedbacks and assistances."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6402715)

DF

Derese F.

Electronics Engineer

> "The thing I don't like is it hasn't many resources online to learn its full features."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6824237)

SC

Stephan C.

Student

> "I am somewhat new to PCB design so I don’t need all this power yet but it definitely gives you control over any part you want and is..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6369268)

AC

Abera C.

Maintenance Engineer

> "It requires a lot of money to use this great tool, and this is not affordable by beginner designers like me and my coworkers."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6402715)

FN

Fatih N.

Embedded hardware engineer

> "It brought true cloud-based hardware design to our workflow."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6827772)

OS

Owen S.

Electrical Engineer

> "Cost and sometimes performance issues with very large assemblies and models."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6362119)

NA

Nick A.

Founder

> "As a small tech startup we don't have the resources and man power that a large company may have, yet Altium Designer has enabled us..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6628261)

AD

Abrham D.

Electrical and computer Engineer

> "Additionally, the subscription price might be viewed as relatively expensive compared to other PCB design software."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6421005)

MS

Matiwos S.

Electronics Engineeer

> "I could do projects in collaboration with my colleagues and then my professor could provide me feedbacks. And that makes my learning..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6379526)

DM

Derese M.

Electronics Design Engineer

> "The subscription price is somehow unaffordable for some beginner designers like me"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6809628)

BB

Bobby B.

Systems Engineer

> "Love being able to effortlessly save and manage components to 365 that can be later used on any device or project instead of having..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6111602)

MS

Matiwos S.

Electronics Engineeer

> "Some of its features may not be beginner friendly and I found it a little complex to learn at first."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6379526)

AA

Abdulhahim A.

Hardware Engineer

> "As an electrical engineering professional I liked its user friendly and cloud based real time collaboration feature for designers..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6420954)

IM

Ivan M.

Electronics Manufacturing and Qualification Manager

> "This was a single case for us when a user began making random changes on components without notification to the team, causing layout..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6094731)

Sven S.

Hardware Developer

> "It's a good tool to develop electronics and create reliable and complete manufacturing data."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6328569)

DF

Derese F.

Electronics Engineer

> "So first I wasn't able to use all the features efficiently."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6824237)

M

Mahmut Ç.

Senior electronic hardware design engineer

> "Overall Altium 365 is a greate cloud based collaborative design platform and it helped me throughout my career."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6834663)

AO

Andre O.

PCB Layout Engineer

> "One of the few things that still leaves something to be desired is the fact that Active BOM shows stocks of components from American..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5047505)

JL

Jonatan L.

R and D Engineer Antennas

> "The shared workspace with my colleagues all around the world and the possibility to share designs with folks that do not have Altium..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6213722)

HM

Hossein M.

Electronics Engineer

> "So it’s hard to get started and be familiar with its features."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6831596)

JR

Jeff R.

Electrical Engineer

> "The integration of mechanical and electrical design, in conjunction with the streamlining of efforts between members of teams greatly..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5046404)

NE

Natnael E.

Electrical and Electronics Engineer

> "Its price of subscription, as it may not be affordable for some users"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6359747)

Abdi M.

Hardware Designer

> "Its automatic generation of Bill of Material is also a great feature of Altium 365."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6401745)

PH

Peter H.

EE Manager

> "The features are not intuitive enough for users to quickly adopt and use it."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6618979)

ES

Ed S.

Electrical Engineer

> "The ability to view show others the assembled PCB in 3D is also quite nice, as well as easily being able to create unique instances..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6095961)

AT

Andrew T.

Staff Design Engineer

> "Takes a long time to load the program from startup"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6619451)

ML

Mickael L.

Emmbedded hardware engineer

> "Altium also have a big community and lots of online resources to solve all issues that you could have."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6321914)

RK

Riku K.

Senior RF Engineer

> "There is lot of bugs especially in component importing from file based libarires to A365 cloud."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6206184)

AA

Ashenafi A.

Technical Supervisor and Hardware Engineer

> "Overall Altium 365 is a great tool and it helped my organizations design team a lot."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6828361)

KN

Kenneth N.

Hardware Engineer

> "I think something very difficult is trying to import footprints and libraries from online sources such as snapeda or ultra librarian."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5084367)

PO

Pelin O.

Hardware Design Engineer

> "It makes design procedures more easier and fast"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6846026)

GG

Greg G.

Sr. EE

> "The paid training is a ripoff. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6623269)

JD

Jon D.

Configuration Systems Engineer

> "It was somewhat daunting to adopt it as a replacement for our outdated design software, but the payoff is ultimately worth the effort!"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6618911)

ML

Mahesh L.

Sr. Electrical Engg

> "Sometimes little complicated to use."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6358972)

BD

Bethlehem D.

Electronic Engineer

> "I like its seamless cloud-based collaboration."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6822374)

SS

Saulius S.

Electronics engineer

> "Also, the relation between the workspace vs local vs project component libraries seems convoluted."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5085341)

AH

Alazar H.

Electronics Design Engineer

> "It helped me a lot with both academic projects and projects from clients."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6736578)

DM

Doug M.

Director of Engineering

> "All good except tech support is slower than I've ever experienced."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6618901)

KA

Kamal A.

Sales and Technical coordinator

> "Easy to implement, it is possible to check all connections and get notes for being an expert designer."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6628952)

Matheus Augusto V.

Hardware Developter Vonluteer

> "Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the amount of options the software shows and it is not always clear what they mean."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5087493)

SI

Stefano I.

Electronics engineer

> "Free of charge, at least in the basic version included with Altium Designer."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6331967)

TW

Tyler W.

Electronics Engineer II

> "Sometimes the setup and some of the release documentation can be a little cumbersome to use"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5058988)

NB

Nathan B.

Electrical Engineer

> "Data can be shared with internal and external parties who wouldn't normally have access to the design software but then can view and..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5073832)

CP

Cesar P.

Senior Power systems Engineer

> "Sometimes slow to load, specially if there are many task assigned for review and feedback"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5004506)

LG

Lou G.

Senior Electronics Engineer

> "We recently solved high voltage clearance issues, differential signal routing issues, and 22 layers. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5082553)

MW

Michael W.

Production Manager

> "Accessing Company based File Libraries can be difficult. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5046196)

DM

Derese M.

Electronics Design Engineer

> "Till now I am very happy using it, so it's worth having it and using it in my academic and professional projects"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6809628)

KG

Kris G.

Hardware Design Engineer

> "They have to be redone in these tools and it is very time consuming."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6094291)

SM

Saravanakumar M.

ENGINEERING MANAGER

> "Simple tool easy to learn and use ,we are using for PCB design its helping a lot"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6632043)

KB

Kenneth B.

R&D engineer

> "It is a tad confusing and I still have difficulty figuring out how to solve my problems"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5004631)

AJ

Atefeh J.

Hardware developer

> "I am satisfied with but, it takes time and slower than the last versions, I like the possibilities which all can work and save on..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___5047057)

RI

Riley I.

EE R&D Co-op

> "I don't know the software well enough to have specific cons, but sometimes the BOM exporting process can be a bit weird and/or..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___4543830)

AE

Abel E.

Electrical and computer engineer

> "It made my career more interesting and it helped me in many ways."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6402700)

H S Younes B.

engineer

> "Finally, some users may experience technical issues or compatibility problems with certain hardware or software platforms."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___4542282)

YK

Yusuf K.

Embedded Systems Engineer

> "Overall Altium 365 is a great tool, it makes most things easier."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6838812)

PP

Pruthav P.

High Voltage Team Lead

> "It is difficult to navigate to the actual page the circuit I am working on is."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___4357520)

BD

Beer D.

Electrical Engineering Student

> "Inspecting the designs is also really well made."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6552667)

KA

Khairul A.

student

> "There is no option available for Microcontroller simulation."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___3891452)

AG

Anand G.

Assistant Manager

> "The availability of the latest footprints along with its lifecycle data is very useful while designing a product and the 3D cad, the..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___3878534)

JT

Jonathan T.

Student

> "Some of the features that I use most often (cross probe) does not have easy to use keyboard shortcuts."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___4660951)

H S Younes B.

engineer

> "It offers a range of advanced features and capabilities, including:User-friendly interface and intuitive design flowAdvanced..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___4542282)

SC

Stephen C.

Electrical Engineer

> "It used to be that Protel/AD was not very well established, so recruitment of experienced people wasn't easy."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___4748292)

AE

Abel E.

Electrical and computer engineer

> "I recommend anyone in the field of electronics design or other related fields to use this awesome tool."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6402700)

DP

Divyani P.

RFIC ENGINEER

> "so far the library is little bit not that friendly or may be I am not that accustom to it much.."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___4762150)

AD

Abraham D.

Electronics Engineer

> "Overall I am happy using Altium 365, it helped me a lot in my career."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___6402910)

VR

Verified Reviewer

Development Engineering Manager

> "the suite of products that you can buy beyond the standard schematic capture, layout, and routing, creates ala carte options that..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#Capterra___2409469)

[View Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

JE

Jeff E.

Owner

> "Great customer support and rapid learning curve (I transitioned from AutoCAD and Pro E). Have been using since 2014 to support..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7113007)

JK

Julian K.

Engineer

> "I found it difficult to set up defaults (dimension styles, set to use millimetres etc.) and get them to persist between drawing..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7049064)

MR

Mike R.

Owner

> "Alibre's pricing and licensing policy are very fair, and offer the best bang-for-buck, of all of the 3D CAD programs that I looked..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7047978)

GR

Geoff R.

Draftsman

> "It glitches occasionally, mainly when drawing a geometry line where many already exist, suddenly making all the geometry look like a..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6332346)

BC

Brian C.

Owner

> "I use the 3D modelling and assembly a lot and find it allows me to design and engineer more quickly and accurately than some other CAD..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7053271)

RJ

Ron J.

Owner and Engineer

> "difficulty getting the program to accept fillets - I spend more time trying to get the fillets to work than drawing the parts."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6843494)

JS

Joseph S.

CEO

> "My Alibre tools get me quickly and efficiently from model concept through to generation of a .stl file that I can move into slicer..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6828408)

GR

Geoff R.

Draftsman

> "It also has issues where, in an assembly, it substitutes one item for another and the only solution is to completely redraw the..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6332346)

GC

Gregory C.

NA

> "The combination of price and capabilities, Alibre Design is the best tool to facilitate the flow from rough pencil-sketch, to 3d model..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6825569)

ME

Mark E.

None

> "The one complaint I have is the tutorials that I can find."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7049772)

SK

Scott K.

Engineer

> "I really like their pricing structure, subscription based or one time based with option to pay for upgrades as needed. Plus, I was..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7013044)

JK

Jason K.

Mechanical Design

> "For all intents and purposes no ability whatsoever to manage project files, creating an impossible mess on your hard drive that you..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6039503)

MR

Mike R.

Owner

> "I like that the license is perpetual, and the fact that the service update subscription is optional, which helps control the cost."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7047978)

RJ

Ron J.

Owner and Engineer

> "Unable to intersect a line to a curve or two curves."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6843494)

AN

Adam N.

Owner

> "With pricing options for every budget, friendly upgrade options, and nearly every tool the other guys have, Alibre is a no-brainer."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7083772)

JS

Jason S.

Mechatronics Instructor

> "I use Alibre for making blueprints quite often and this is a constant headache."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6755493)

RF

Reg F.

Senior Electronics Engineer

> "The continuous development and release of new features (as well as bug fixes) again offered in a value for money annual maintenance..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7086970)

DJ

David J.

Chief Technology Officer

> "I had no idea how to work with 3D CAD twelve years ago and now I have designed a patent pending suspension modification."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6452809)

ES

E S.

Product Engineer

> "Alibre Design is a fully capable parametric modeling application and I can complete a product design from idea to model to production..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6655356)

DP

Donald P.

Design Engineer

> "Can't get to my design files to edit them. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6537884)

RJ

Ron J.

Owner and Engineer

> "The support has generally been good. If I did not have so many files saved in Alibre, on a major project that I need to finalize and..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6843494)

EW

Errol W.

Owner Director

> "Lack of Multi Body modelling."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6666535)

AH

Arron H.

Production Manager

> "it has helped alot with our 3d rendering of products so our workers can see the end result"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6864015)

RM

Rochan M.

Engineering manager

> "It has a hard time with organic shaped"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6622220)

SK

Scott K.

Engineer

> "I'm really glad I found and use Alibre for my 3d modeling for general CAD and lots of 3d printing stuff."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7013044)

JN

John N.

President

> "When drawing detailed layout's with many shapes the software crashes."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6274493)

JE

Jeff E.

Owner

> "Most capable product that punches way above it's weight from a cost perspective."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7113007)

GC

Gavin C.

Director

> "Very occasional crashes and hangs like most cad software. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6146444)

LK

LaVerne K.

President

> "I moved from TurboCAD 2D and had a very little Solidworks experience, the switch was very easy, Alibre is intuitive, after a couple of..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6393194)

AL

Arturo L.

Owner

> "You should reselect (edit) plane when edit scketh When you replace a part in assembly, do not respect the relations with other parts"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3862564)

GC

Gregory C.

NA

> "I also appreciate the "buy once to own" sales model as opposed to the ubiquitous software-as-subscription subscription model."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6825569)

SU

Sascha U.

freelancer

> "Alibre is a bit lacking in surface modeling tools, making it harder to model complex curved or organic surfaces."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3868143)

JK

Julian K.

Engineer

> "Alibre's licensing options are perfect for this."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7049064)

DJ

David J.

President

> "One that always bothers me is that selection of multiple elements requires shift-clicks in some contexts, but just clicks in others,..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3851976)

DP

Dave P.

Automation Engineering Tech

> "I have gotten to the point now that I don't even miss Autodesk Inventor any more for 3D modeling."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7104514)

DS

David S.

President

> "Lack of ability to produce models of boat hulls and project a flat pattern for hell shapes."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3796842)

AH

Arron H.

Production Manager

> "it has been relatively good ive only used 2 drawing programes alibre been one of them and have found it is able to do what we require..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6864015)

GC

Gavin C.

Director

> "Some advanced features not available."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6146444)

RB

Ryan B.

Manager

> "Great value for the money with a permanent license, great customer support on the rare occasion I have a question. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7114764)

JC

Joseph C.

Chief Builder

> "The 2D sketching experience is decent and gets the job done, but it is not as easy to use and lacks 2D drawing features compared to..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3866536)

DP

Dave P.

Automation Engineering Tech

> "I found Alibre Experrt Design and decided to try, and after a short learning curve I am now comfortable with the software."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7104514)

RG

Robert G.

Engineering manager

> "Overall assembly constraints can be quite a challenge, especially if some blow up, turns into a major cluster when trying to..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852191)

MR

Mike R.

Owner

> "Alibre Design was easy to learn, coming from SolidWorks, which I use at my day job."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7047978)

DH

Darrell H.

Owner / Mechanical Engineer

> "Hidden Line Management in 2D drawing can be a real pain and cumbersome to manage. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852281)

SK

Scott K.

Engineer

> "Can install it on my machine, easy to setup and they have great getting started tutorials for the beginner 3D modeler! "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7013044)

DS

David S.

Owner

> "I may have chosen otherwise if cost was no object but I don't design things every day and paying many thousands of dollars for a..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3872613)

WW

William W.

Research and Development Engineer

> "The Sheet metal functions in the Expert version are really intuitive for me to use and there are several projects I could not have..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6359821)

Anoop N.

Operations Manager

> "Alibre lacks easy integration with PCB / Electronics / Electrical Design software."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3853222)

RH

Ralph H.

President

> "The ability to compute weights of assemblies that easily flow into a top assembly is excellent."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6557351)

RW

Ron W.

Senior Hardware Design Engineer Technologist

> "I do find limitations though, so unfortunately I also use SolidWorks on the large projects."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852042)

JW

Jon W.

Technical Manager

> "A huge improvement on the old CADMAX system."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7114024)

TD

Thomas D.

Project Manager

> "I don't have anything that really bugs me about the software, small refinements are really all that is needed."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852792)

Craig F.

Owner

> "Overall it's a rocksolid design tool you can count on."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7096405)

SG

Samuel G.

Electronics and Software Engineer, Retired

> "not quite match up to the 3-D CAD technology."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852197)

PW

Paul W.

manager

> "i like the fact its a software purchase, not subscription based."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7053808)

EA

Eric A.

Engineer

> "Drawing errors are notified but not pinpointed where they occur."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3914045)

JW

Jared W.

Owner, Engineer

> "Alibre is an affordable, all-in-one CAD solution. While it's similar to other packages, there is a small learning curve."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6708542)

JW

James W.

CEO

> "Complex artistic forms is where it begins to hit limits."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852039)

JD

Jim D.

Creator

> "I started with Atom in early 2023 but very soon upgraded to to Alibre Design Expert for all of the extra features."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6615234)

SU

Sascha U.

freelancer

> "Sometimes there are also basic tools you expect to be there, and they don't exist."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3868143)

BL

Brian L.

Co-owner

> "I have been using it since 2011 and it has had continuous improvement."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___7071560)

DT

Dan T.

Owner

> "I still have a few issues with sketching, not really as intuitive as I would like. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852054)

TG

Thomas G.

Manufacturing Engineer

> "Assemblies are easy to create, and I can import parts from virtually any source."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6861900)

BG

Bent G.

Owner

> "The motion simulation was removed some years ago that's BAD."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3906164)

TG

Thomas G.

Manufacturing Engineer

> "Enjoying the new tools added with this update and look forward to new innovations from the development team."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6861900)

DO

Duane O.

Owner

> "There are some features I would like to see, but there's nothing i really don't like"

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852164)

MN

Matthew N.

Lead Engineer

> "Also, the ability to import common file formats (CATIA, SolidWorks, Inventor, ProE, NX, etc.) makes Alibre Design Expert the go to."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6230553)

DH

Darrell H.

Owner / Mechanical Engineer

> "I would be less productive and less profitable with any other Software. "

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___3852281)

AG

Alex G.

Design Engineer

> "I've been using Alibre for 20 years and it's the CAD package I always return too, having had experience with many others more than..."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___6427442)

Eugene B.

Product Engineer

> "A couple of times over the years, I've had to completely scrap a design are restart when the software would crash repeatedly."

[See full review](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#Capterra___2611603)

[View Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

## User interface

4.56 (181)

[Alibre Design](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/)

4.69 (183)

## Connect with a Capterra advisor for a free 15-minute consultation

Get a personalized software list aligned to your business needs with guidance from our expert advisors. Our team has helped 1 million+ businesses like yours find options that fit their needs.

### Features

Do these products fit your needs?

Prioritize real-user-identified key features according to your needs to find your best fit.

\--% Fit

vs

\--% Fit

2D Drawing

207

Important

3D Imaging

150

Important

Access Controls/Permissions

120

Important

Altium Develop

Top features

27/35

-   2D Drawing
-   3D Imaging
-   Access Controls/Permissions
-   AI Copilot
-   Bills of Material
-   CAD Tools
-   Change Management
-   Civil
-   Collaboration Tools
-   Compliance Management
-   Configurable Workflow
-   Configuration Management
-   Content Library
-   Customizable Fields
-   Data Capture and Transfer
-   Data Import/Export
-   Data Visualization
-   Design Analysis
-   Design Management
-   Document Generation
-   Document Management
-   Electrical
-   File Management
-   Generative AI
-   Manufacturing Design Data
-   Mechanical
-   Mechatronics
-   Presentation Tools
-   Process Control
-   Product Data Management
-   Project Management
-   Project Templates
-   Reporting/Analytics
-   Version Control
-   Visual Analytics

[See all features](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/#features)

Alibre Design

15/35

-   2D Drawing
-   3D Imaging
-   Access Controls/Permissions
-   AI Copilot
-   Bills of Material
-   CAD Tools
-   Change Management
-   Civil
-   Collaboration Tools
-   Compliance Management
-   Configurable Workflow
-   Configuration Management
-   Content Library
-   Customizable Fields
-   Data Capture and Transfer
-   Data Import/Export
-   Data Visualization
-   Design Analysis
-   Design Management
-   Document Generation
-   Document Management
-   Electrical
-   File Management
-   Generative AI
-   Manufacturing Design Data
-   Mechanical
-   Mechatronics
-   Presentation Tools
-   Process Control
-   Product Data Management
-   Project Management
-   Project Templates
-   Reporting/Analytics
-   Version Control
-   Visual Analytics

[See all features](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/#features)

### Recognition

Altium Develop is recognized as a top-rated tool in 1 Capterra Shortlist reports

Alibre Design is recognized as a top-rated tool in 2 Capterra Shortlist reports

Best Value 3D CADSoftware (2024) 

### Deployment & support

Altium Develop

Deployment

-   Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
-   Desktop Mac
-   Desktop Windows
-   Desktop Linux
-   On-Premise Windows
-   On-Premise Linux
-   Desktop Chromebook
-   Mobile Android
-   Mobile iPhone
-   Mobile iPad

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

Alibre Design

Deployment

-   Cloud, SaaS, Web-Based
-   Desktop Mac
-   Desktop Windows
-   Desktop Linux
-   On-Premise Windows
-   On-Premise Linux
-   Desktop Chromebook
-   Mobile Android
-   Mobile iPhone
-   Mobile iPad

Support

-   Email/Help Desk
-   FAQs/Forum
-   Knowledge Base
-   Phone Support
-   24/7 (Live rep)
-   Chat

Training

-   In Person
-   Live Online
-   Webinars
-   Documentation
-   Videos

### Company Details

Altium Develop

-   By Altium
-   Located in United States
-   Founded in 1985

Alibre Design

-   By Alibre
-   Located in United States
-   Founded in 1997

## Popular Comparisons

[Altium Develop](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/)[4.56 (181)](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

vs

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Contact vendor for pricing

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[Altium Develop](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/)[4.56 (181)](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

vs

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Contact vendor for pricing

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Contact vendor for pricing

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[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/93121-175058/SolidWorks-Premium-vs-Altium-Designer)

[Alibre Design](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/)[4.69 (183)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

vs

[SolidWorks Premium](https://www.capterra.com/p/93121/SolidWorks-Premium/)[4.63 (756)](https://www.capterra.com/p/93121/SolidWorks-Premium/reviews/)

$10/month

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Contact vendor for pricing

4.6

Features

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4.6

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[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/93121-172312/SolidWorks-Premium-vs-Alibre-Design)

[Altium Develop](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/)[4.56 (181)](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

vs

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Contact vendor for pricing

Price

$203.63/year

4.6

Features

4.6

4.3

Ease of Use

4.0

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/125813-175058/MATLAB-vs-Altium-Designer)

[Alibre Design](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/)[4.69 (183)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

vs

[Inventor](https://www.capterra.com/p/236745/Inventor/)[4.53 (277)](https://www.capterra.com/p/236745/Inventor/reviews/)

$10/month

Price

$310/month

4.6

Features

4.5

4.6

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4.2

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/172312-236745/Alibre-Design-vs-Inventor)

[Altium Develop](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/)[4.56 (181)](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

vs

[CATIA](https://www.capterra.com/p/100453/CATIA/)[4.56 (223)](https://www.capterra.com/p/100453/CATIA/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

Contact vendor for pricing

4.6

Features

4.6

4.3

Ease of Use

3.8

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/100453-175058/CATIA-vs-Altium-Designer)

[Alibre Design](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/)[4.69 (183)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

vs

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Price

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4.6

Features

4.5

4.6

Ease of Use

4.1

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/172312-178416/Alibre-Design-vs-Fusion-360)

[Altium Develop](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/)[4.56 (181)](https://www.capterra.com/p/175058/Altium-Designer/reviews/)

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Contact vendor for pricing

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4.6

Features

4.3

4.3

Ease of Use

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[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/164678-175058/Creo-vs-Altium-Designer)

[Alibre Design](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/)[4.69 (183)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

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vs

[Inventor](https://www.capterra.com/p/236745/Inventor/)[4.53 (277)](https://www.capterra.com/p/236745/Inventor/reviews/)

Contact vendor for pricing

Price

$310/month

4.6

Features

4.5

4.3

Ease of Use

4.2

[View full comparison](https://www.capterra.com/compare/175058-236745/Altium-Designer-vs-Inventor)

[Alibre Design](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/)[4.69 (183)](https://www.capterra.com/p/172312/Alibre-Design/reviews/)

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4.6

Features

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