Altium Designer

What it is

Altium Designer is an integrated electronics design tool for professional PCB projects, covering schematic capture, board layout, simulation, analysis, documentation and manufacturing files. Interactive routing and constraint management support HDI, rigid-flex, multi-board and harness designs. Simulation includes SPICE, power issue resolution and signal integrity analysis. With Altium 365 applications, collaborators can work on different PCB sections, maintain version-controlled project history and compare schematics, layouts, BOMs and Gerbers visually. Supply-chain data providers supply component pricing, availability and risk information. Listed ECAD-MCAD integrations include SOLIDWORKS, PTC Creo, Autodesk Inventor, Fusion 360 and Siemens NX. Altium 365 Workspace supports configurable PLM connections, including Windchill, Arena, Oracle Agile, Aras Innovator and Siemens Teamcenter. The product is offered for web and Windows; Windows 10 and newer are specified, while macOS and Linux are not supported. Altium Designer 25 starts at 460.00 USD per month, with a 30-day trial.

Who it suits. It suits professional PCB teams designing anything from basic circuits to complex systems, including avionics. Teams needing schematic, layout, simulation, collaboration and manufacturing-file workflows can use its integrated environment.

Verdict

Altium Designer connects major PCB design stages with simulation, collaboration and supply-chain information. Confirm operating-system, internet and licensing requirements before selecting the 460.00 USD monthly starting plan.

Plans and prices

From Altium Designer's own pricing page, checked 9 Oct 2026. Every plan

What the maker publishes

Collaboration

Paired with Altium 365 applications, Altium Designer supports collaboration and simultaneous work on different parts of one PCB. source

Data management

Altium Designer with Altium 365 provides version-controlled project history and visual comparisons of schematics, layouts, BOMs, and Gerbers. source

Free trial

The product page offers a free trial with immediate full-feature access. source

Intended users

The product page presents Altium Designer for professional PCB projects ranging from basic circuits to complex systems, including avionics. source

License requirement

On-Demand licensing requires signing in to an Altium Account and internet access to the Altium Portal; a roamed seat can be used offline for its specified period. source

MCAD integration

Altium says its ECAD-MCAD integrations include SOLIDWORKS, PTC Creo, Autodesk Inventor, Fusion 360, and Siemens NX. source

Platform

An Altium comparison page lists Windows 10 and newer as supported and says macOS and Linux are not supported. source

PLM integration

Altium 365 Workspace supports configurable PLM integration with Windchill, Arena, Oracle Agile, Aras Innovator, and Siemens Teamcenter, with additional setup for Teamcenter. source

Purpose

Altium Designer is an integrated electronics design tool covering schematic capture, PCB layout, simulation, and analysis. source

Routing and complexity

Features include interactive routing, constraint management, HDI, rigid-flex, multi-board, and harness design. source

Security and trust

Altium's Trust Center provides information on security, reliability, privacy, compliance, and its vulnerability disclosure program. source

Simulation

The product supports SPICE simulation, power issue resolution, and signal integrity analysis. source

Supply chain

The product provides real-time component pricing, availability, and risk information from supply chain data providers. source

Support

Altium lists documentation, a knowledge base, ticketed support cases, training, and community forums as support resources. source

Unified workflow

The unified design environment supports electronic designs from schematic capture through design documentation and manufacturing files. source