Which one is the better PCB design software between Easyeda vs Altium

Which one is the Better PCB Design Software Between Easyeda vs Altium

Posted: May 20, 2022 By: Bonnie

For PCB engineers, a suitable and easy-to-use PCB design software can largely help them complete PCB design more efficiently. The choice of PCB design software will directly affect the progress of learning and work. So which software is the best? What software can make a PCB design engineer even more powerful? Since each software has its own characteristics and advantages, PCB engineers should choose suitable software according to their own design needs to make PCB design more efficient and convenient. Here AiPCBA introduces two software. Come check it out! AiPCBA is China's first online PCBA flexible intelligent manufacturing cloud platform, providing electronic product R&D companies with one-stop prototype production and volume production manufacturing services for BOM sourcing, PCB manufacturing, and SMT assembly. Learn more about AiPCBA’s turnkey PCB assembly.

Easyeda

Easyeda is a PCB design software with multiple functions. The software has all hardware modules and can be used for electronic design and circuit design. No matter how complicated the circuit diagram is, it can be easily produced. In addition, the software also has built-in A wealth of simulation models are available for users to choose from, and it also has the function of collaborative development.

1)As an easy-to-use tool to connect engineers and supply chain, reduce learning threshold and save time for engineers. Since the official launch of Easyeda in May 2014, Easyeda has focused on the preparation of library documents for developers, providing common modules for design, so that engineers can quickly build a minimum development system like copying code. In addition, due to the synchronous support of cloud system, a multi-regional team can co-develop anytime, anywhere, and see the latest design progress. It will not affect the progress, more importantly, you will know whether the chip you are using can be purchased and the specific price during the design process.

2)In addition to continuing the fine tradition of efficient innovation, Easyeda adopts all Chinese style. Easyeda strengthens the import and export function, supports Altium designer file import (ASCII format) and ad format export, the new KiCad import, and improves the function of DXF import. It optimizes the import speed and generation quality. It supports global multi-pages schematic, network and component numbering. In addition, a package manager is added to support batch modification of packages to check the current encapsulation. In addition to the previous library files, we have added a new chip parts library, which makes it easier for users to select materials using the patch service and make circuit development more efficient.

3)Easyeda has made protection against security and network disconnection problems, and will implement data encryption. Individuals and teams manage through a key, and the file has been encrypted before it is saved to the server. Encryption and decryption are completed at the browser end, and there is no possibility of leakage. And when the network is offline, you can back up the files locally and synchronize the cloud when there is a network, so there will be no data loss when the network is disconnected. In 2018, new client and privatized versions were launched. The private version can be completely separated from the network, and can build its own server to meet the needs of local development and confidentiality. In addition to the convenience of the cloud, easyeda has two other things to respect. One is that easyeda inherits the promise that easyeda is completely free, and the other is open-source support for hardware design.

4)In fact, the concept of online EDA is not only in China. There are also many online EDA manufacturers abroad, such as the converter, circuit lab and circuit hub invested by YC. However, the Chinese manufacturers are doing the best at present. This is the pride of easyeda and the pride of Chinese EDA manufacturers. However, it has to be said that easyeda may not be able to meet all the requirements for some complex circuit products at present.

Altium Designer

Altium Designer is an integrated electronic product development system launched by the original Protel software developer Altium, mainly running on the Windows operating system. This set of software perfectly integrates technologies such as schematic design, circuit simulation, PCB drawing and editing, topology logic automatic routing, signal integrity analysis and design output. It provides designers with a brand-new design solution, which makes it easy for designers to design. Skilled use of this software will greatly improve the quality and efficiency of circuit design.

1)Altium is a global leader in PCB design, PCB components and data management software suppliers. It is also the organizer of Altium Live, the world's fastest growing PCB Design Engineer event. Engineers need to design tools to help them maximize the use of advanced technology, successfully manage projects, and deliver connected intelligent products, and Altium can meet this. Altium has more than 30 years of R & D experience in PCB design and is committed to increasing their profits year by year. Altium has a diversified global profit model, with 43% of its revenue from the Americas, 38% from Europe, 12% from China and 7% from the Asia Pacific region. Altium has a good positioning for the future development, and electronics and PCB design are at the core of the intelligent system.

2)The highlight function of Altium is that when copy and paste your well-known concepts to match your target area, the system can greatly improve the efficiency in schematic editing. This skip translation is particularly useful in the Altium designer unified environment because it simplifies the design input for PCB and FPGA design projects. During the schematic input phase, when you create a design, there are a large number of objects to place and connect. In this process, it is very common to have schematic information about different types of design objects. For example, a bus in one part of a schematic may be displayed as a single network in another schematic, or an interface on a page may be displayed as a page entry on the page symbol. If you just copy and paste objects of one type into objects of another type, Altium designer can achieve this function.

3)Another simple function is to paste the selected circuit as a diagram. With this function, users can easily add part of the circuit diagram to another page, and adjust the size as needed. Use the smart paste function to convert pasteboard objects when pasting by simply selecting “Edit”to Smart paste. If you haven't experienced the smart paste feature of Altium designer, take a moment to familiarize yourself with it. As long as you do, you'll save 10 times more time each time you design input.

Easyeda vs Altium

Item	Easyeda	Altium Designer
Cloud development	√	√
Schematic drawing	√	√
Circuit simulation	√	√
PCB Layout	√	√
PCB - Interactive Routing	×	√
CAM file import	×	√
Signal Integrity Analysis	×	√
PCB fabrication file output	√	√
CAM File Editor	×	√
Collaborative development	√	×
PCB&PCBA manufacturing option	√	×
Component sourcing	√	×
PCB 3D PCB Viewing and Editing	√	√

1)Easyeda is a free EDA software, and some functions are missing. However, the cost of use is currently the lowest in the industry, and there are many ready-made component packages and component schematic packages. If it is not a confidential product or a high-precision product, this is enough. There are various open-source projects in Easyeda. Some designs can be used directly. There are various package libraries in it. The most important thing is that you can directly select the type.

2)Altium Designer has experienced decades of development history, it is a professional circuit design software. Especially in terms of LAYOUT, it already has a very complete set of electrical setup rules. Regarding the setting of circuit rules, you need to have a certain theoretical basis and technical experience in the characteristics of components, safety design, and signal integrity.

3)The current version of Easyeda is only suitable for a relatively simple circuit design. When you want to design complex circuits, you still need to use professional software such as AD.

AiPCBA Online 3D Gerber Viewer

After you generate Gerber files, AiPCBA can offer an online 3D Gerber Viewer for you to see your designs from a different perspective.
AiPCBA has designed a free online 3D Gerber file viewer tool. With this viewer, you can upload a Gerber file and have a 360-degree view of your PCB design. Using the AiPCBA Online 3D Gerber viewer, you can check for errors, and use the zoom function to inspect the board. You don't have to be a registered user to take advantage of this useful tool, and you don't need a high-processing computer to operate.

PCB manufacturing and PCB Assembly in AiPCBA

AiPCBA can offer one-stop service from PCB manufacturing, BOM sourcing, PCB assembly, SMT, THT, PCBA testing, product assembly, packaging, and delivery. You just need to deal with your design while suppliers take care of the rest. This is also what AiPCBA has always advocated, simplifying the customers’ work. Our customers only need to focus on design, and AiPCBA is responsible for purchasing and producing, and delivering products at the fastest speed.
All PCBs in AiPCBA are produced based on UL and ISO certification standards. All our normal specification PCBs are strictly obeying to IPC-A-6011/6012 Class 2 latest version and IPC-A-600 Class 2 latest version.

How to get the Quote service in AiPCBA

PCB quote: In our online PCB quotation system, you only need to upload the Gerber file and fill in the PCB specifications, you can easily get a quotation within 10 seconds. At the same time, our quotation page is also equipped with the function of an online Gerber 3D Preview. you can upload a Gerber file and have a 360-degree view of your PCB design.

BOM quote: AiPCBA's self-developed BOM quotation system can identify component information within 30 seconds, and analyze and quote market prices. And our BOM quotation system does not have strict requirements on the BOM format, all of which are based on the development of our strong R&D team, and play an extremely important role in our thousands of BOM price confirmations.

PCB Assembly Quote: Based on AiPCBA's PCB and BOM online quote system, we have also developed the calculation formula for assembly costs accordingly and combined these three quotation systems to form our complete one-stop PCBA quotation. As long as you upload the Gerber file and BOM list, our system will give you a complete PCBA quotation within 30 seconds.

AiPCBA also accepts Requests for a quotation by email, we are glad to receive your attachments (Gerber files, BOM list, etc. ) Pls feel free to contact us at sales@aipcba.com.

Do you have any questions about the above-mentioned? Contact us now, we will reply to you soon.

Is the article useful to you?

Yes(

)

3572