# Page 3 | Altium Develop Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Page 3 - 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

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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/)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Page 3 - Reviews of Altium Develop

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 51-75 of 181 Reviews

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Most Helpful

Rating

Company Size

Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

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

SC

Stephan C.  
Student  
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Very powerful tool in the right hands"

July 2, 2024

5.0

My experience with Altium is overall very positive. 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 worth the money if you know what you are doing or a student.

Pros

I like that Altium has a lot of power and is very organized. It gives you control over any part of the process and makes professional engineers lives better.

Cons

It’s hard to learn at first and I wish they had more models built in or made it easier to import libraries but it isn’t a huge deal and just like all good things it just takes time.

Review Source

AC

Abera C.  
Maintenance Engineer  
Electrical/Electronic Manufacturing  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Altium 365 for maintenance engineers"

July 22, 2024

4.0

Overall I am happy using Altium 365. It is a great tool with great features and user friendly interfaces.

Pros

I liked the feature that allows my supervisors could see what I am doing and they give me a real time feedbacks and assistances. Also me and my coworkers could work in one workspace and help one another during our projects.

Cons

I am disappointed by the pricing of subscription. It requires a lot of money to use this great tool, and this is not affordable by beginner designers like me and my coworkers.

Review Source

SSR

Satyaveer Singh R.  
PhD Candidate  
Higher Education  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Review of Altium"

July 2, 2024

5.0

Overall, I enjoyed working and learning this software. I have manufactured 2 PCBs till date for my work and more then 70-80 PCBs in total in our lab.

Pros

We can manufacture a working product using this software.

Cons

Help for learning newer version is less available.

Review Source

SI

Stefano I.  
Electronics engineer  
Transportation/Trucking/Railroad  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "A very good container"

June 5, 2024

4.0

Altium 365 is a very good container for all my Altium Designer projects. It allows projects and component management, mechanical CAD integration and has useful sharing features, so that all designers in my company can access all projects and components.

Pros

Great overview of my projects: all boards are in one screen, and it's very easy to look at one of them in order to open it and look for its details. Components management, including supplier management: all my components are there, and I have a high level overview of them. Integration with Mechanical CAD: I never used this feature, but it's good to know it's there. Free of charge, at least in the basic version included with Altium Designer.

Cons

Some features are not present in the free version. I think that full component management should be, as it is a very useful feature but I don't think it's worth paying for.

Reason for choosing Altium Develop

It was integrated (for free) in my Altium Designer license, so I started to use it.

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

Sven S.  
Hardware Developer  
Medical Devices  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great tool for HW development"

June 3, 2024

5.0

It's a good tool to develop electronics and create reliable and complete manufacturing data. It has good review and commenting features.

Pros

intuitive use, modern UI, cooperative features

Cons

component creation got a lot more complicated in the last years.

Review Source

PL

Pedro L.  
pDr  
E-Learning  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "2 years with Altium 365"

June 26, 2024

5.0

Pros

After 2 years with Altium 365, I'm addicted to its collaboration features and the 365 portal.

Cons

some customizations can be difficult to setup.

Switched from

[KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/)[Cadence](https://www.capterra.com/p/215564/Cadence/)

Altium provide free licensing to students and teachers.

Review Source

yM

yibeltal M.  
Electrical Engineer  
Computer Hardware  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "A great electronics design tool for professionals and students"

May 6, 2024

5.0

as an electrical engineer especialising on electronics design I found Altium designer the most necessary designing tool for every professional pcb designer and for academic purposes

Pros

It is an industry standard designing tool and it provides great features for schematics simulation and pcb designing

Cons

It might be a little expensive for beginner designers to afford it

Switched from

[KiCad EDA](https://www.capterra.com/p/10006638/KiCad-EDA/)

because of the industry standard features altium designer provides and the markets need for design engineers who use altium designer

Review Source

IJ

Inge J.  
Senior Development Engineer  
Airlines/Aviation  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "My first schematic design with ALTIUM"

July 3, 2024

5.0

Very good. Support co-operation between Schematic design and PCB layout excellent.

Pros

Easy to use. Good integration between schematic and PCB layout. Support reviews with comments directly in schematic.

Cons

Schematic: Many menus. Some functions could be tricky to remember the path to.

Switched from

[PADS4](https://www.capterra.com/p/66174/PADS4/)[NX](https://www.capterra.com/p/232212/Siemens-NX/)

Ease to use. PCB layout support. Schematic symbols availability.

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

HM

Hugo M.  
Professor  
Education Management  
Used the software for: Less than 6 months

### "Good tool to keep all organized "

June 25, 2024

5.0

Pros

Easy to use an access to the files at any place. Easy to keep tracking all the changes

Cons

A little bit hard to configurate, and set all the features.

Review Source

RV

Richard V.  
Electrical Engineer  
Airlines/Aviation  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Altium Hates Engineers"

January 6, 2024

1.0

I have 6 years experienc usign Altium, but now I NO LONGER have the skills to use it because of that STUPID Integrated Component Library that's too difficult to use. I HATE Altium!

Pros

Nothing. I have it SHOVED in my face every time.

Cons

That STUPID Integrated Component LIbrary has RUINED my experience. I'm going to QUIT my job to get AWAY from this LOUSY tool. I HATE it!

Review Source

SS

Saulius S.  
Electronics engineer  
Consumer Electronics  
Used the software for: 6-12 months

### "Altium 365 allows fast collaboration and ease of project management and sharing"

October 20, 2023

5.0

Overall, I am happy with Altium 365, using some of its features profoundly, while trying to circumnavigate the things that are unclear. I hope to be able to learn how to use all the features in the future.

Pros

I love the commenting, the ease of project sharing between colleagues and especially the ability to view the design files in a browser, without having to install Altium Designer. Also I like the workspace component libraries, although I probably do not understand how they work and how they integrate with a design project completely. I also like the ability to pick any version of the project, and the ability to compare two versions of the design project files.

Cons

I feel that it is sometimes unclear how the projects in the cloud are connected to the local copy of the project. And because of that, I feel discouraged to use the functionality, being afraid to mess up the project structure or the project files either in the cloud or on the local machine. Also, the relation between the workspace vs local vs project component libraries seems convoluted. It would be nice to have all components used in all projects listed in a shared workspace library, available to use in other projects, while maintaining a local library of per-project customized components within the project. While I feel that there is all the functionality there, sometimes it feels overwhelming.

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

Verified Reviewer  
Electrical Engineer  
Industrial Automation  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Altium 365: Ultimate ECAD tool "

October 3, 2023

5.0

Altium is an extremely useful and intuitive ECAD tool that allows users to create customized processes, design complex boards accurately, and produce great documentation and PCBAs. It also allows teams from different disciplines to work together and visually explore circuit designs.

Pros

The 3D view and ability to interface with Solidworks (and other CAD tools) allows complicated electromechanical designs to be created accurately.

Cons

Due to the large amount of features, the program is buggy at times. The grid system could also have finer resolution.

Review Source

DB

Daniel B.  
Electrical design engineer  
Consumer Electronics  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A high end useful tool with a hefty pricetag."

October 17, 2023

4.0

Very nice tool with loads of functionality.May have to restart the software a few times per day due to bugs, and god bless your soul if you don't have a strong gpu, but it has the potential to be absolutely amazing.

Pros

Security while designing by rigorous and strong rule setting.Loads of functions that are useful and solid.Ease of cooperation.Output job-files as a "template", although these need way more customization for general projects.

Cons

So many bugs.It's so slow compared to free softwares like kicad.It develops new features rather than perfecting old ones or solving bugs (looking at you output-job templates)Be more open even when not logged in. Just let people open documents and access the server even if they are out of a license.

Reason for choosing Altium Develop

Kinda is used for faster, small projects or one-shots.Allrum had more rigid rules and more functions and we trust the out-data more when designing high-end items.

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

PC

Paolo C.  
Design engineer  
Consumer Electronics  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A good tool for simple to complex tasks"

April 20, 2023

4.0

My overall experience is very good; after some learning, you can be very proficient and the help system will help you to deal with things you still cannot do, making it very easy to learn new things.

Pros

The best thing about Altium is that there is very tight interaction between schematics and layout tools. The communication between the two environments allows you to easily implement modifications one way or the other, thus applying changes very effectively. Furthermore, the online help system is very effective, providing you an answer to almost all your questions.

Cons

There is room for improvement in track polishing, in the sense that too often pieces of tracks remain hidden underneath other tracks and make it more time consuming to clean up projects. I suggest a function which analyzes tracks and regenerates proper ones so that the outline of copper is maintained with the minimum number of elements.In addition, sometimes Altium does not seem to be able to understand at all what you are trying to do, both in schematics and in layout.

Review Source

JB

Josh B.  
Senior Electronics Engineer  
Research  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "JB Loves Altium, Can't Wait to See What's Next"

April 11, 2023

5.0

We are a small shop and our turn-over for students can make managing, tracking, and updating project work a challenge. With 365, however, that's no longer an issue. I can manage just about every aspect of a project from within Altium, on the fly. I really love using this program.

Pros

The ability to manage and coordinate multiple project efforts with designers ranging from my 10+ yrs. experience to undergraduate, student workers has made a world of difference. We can all access the same library and share parts with ease. Our projects can be updated without concerns of either engineering team, electrical or mechanical, running into conflicts or missing critical design changes. We get version control plus localized storage for the best of both worlds. What's not to like?

Cons

Of course there are always ways to grow and improve, but honestly the main desire I have is for more, manufacturer-approved footprints and models, possibly via a user-contributor portal. Possibly some in-program tutorials for setting up probing and/or design simulation? I know you already offer webinars, but maybe there's a way to make some of that knowledge available through the program? Heck, maybe that already exists and I just need to make some more time to explore.

Reason for choosing Altium Develop

Much, much better interface, much more feature-rich software, version control and cloud management, built-in libraries, CAD and collaboration features, simulation capabilities, not to mention that Altium is the accepted industry standard and is what we prefer to teach our student employees to prepare them for employement.

Review Source

BC

Berin C.  
Electronics Design Engineer  
Hospital & Health Care  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "How the Mighty Have Fallen"

September 29, 2022

2.0

I was once a huge fan of this software, going so far as to be evangelical about it. Now, it's reputation lies in ruin due to corporate greed getting in the way of good engineering. Which, for an engineering software, is unforgivable.

Pros

Altium has always been a very easy software to learn and has had a rich suite of features suitable for basic to quite high-level design.

Cons

The new cloud functionality, which nobody wanted, is so poorly implemented. It is treated as a cash-cow for the greedy "business" people in charge of the company and doesn't add anything of real value - even with the more expensive license. If anything, given how buggy it is, and how there are still bugs from 10 years ago in the product, it can be said to be detracting from the product

Review Source

SS

Stuart S.  
Electronic Design Engineer  
Automotive  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great all-round circuit and PCB design package"

May 19, 2019

4.0

As part of an electronic design team, Altium is an invaluable tool for cooperatively developing our designs. The robust library and project management features mean it is easy to have multiple engineers working on a design, and have everyone contributing to the company's library of components and templates. We can easily export 3D models of the PCBs for the mechanical team to check against physical constraints and the wide range of design file export formats keeps board houses happy. The ability to import designs and libraries from almost any other PCB package has been very useful and is worth mentioning.

Pros

Creating and editing library components is straightforward and mostly works without error. The library and project management features are very powerful and suited to working in a corporate environment with large libraries. PCB layout editor is excellent with intelligent and relatively intuitive controls and behaviour. The view of the PCB layers can easily be customised to provide the clearest image of the user's desired section of the design. The 3D PCB view is great for easily visualising the board being worked on and can be used for basic fit-checking for enclosure and housings. If the company regularly designs PCBs for a certain enclosure or package space, a custom project template can be created, meaning when a new design is started the board area and any keep-outs and other restrictions are already loaded, saving time and mistakes.

Cons

As a relatively heavyweight piece of software, startup times are slow and file access can be sluggish, especially if working on a network. Many of the default settings are not helpful, for example the connection matrix which determines which combinations of IC pin types on a net will cause an error. The default settings generate dozens of spurious warnings for a moderate-size schematic. The Bill of Materials feature, while useful, can be painful to use as it takes several minutes to generate the component table for a moderately complex design. This must be repeated if a mistake is found and a change must be made to the schematic.

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/)[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

MBS

Mubarak Basha S.  
Hardware Engineer  
Consumer Electronics  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Good tool for CAD deisgn"

September 4, 2023

5.0

Overall this product is good

Pros

It has several features that I like.1. Reviewing the CAD and designing is easy.2. Also it has integrated simulation tools to simulate3. ECAD and MCAD integration is easy

Cons

File storing and updating and SVN repositories should made a bit easier, and user-friendly

Review Source

TT

Thomas T.  
DESIGNER  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Tuckers\_review"

December 19, 2023

5.0

I generally like using Altium compaired to Allegro.

Pros

Everything is nicely integrated into a project which makes keeping track of everything easy.

Cons

No direct Solidworks output. Ecad/Mcad has to be done in the cloud.

Review Source

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