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Suggestions on the Best Free EDA tool for Beginners

hadleywhite

　　Hello everyone, just a quick opinion survey, what EDA do you think is best and why? Something that is hopefully often updated and is stable. I have looked into EasyEDA  and Design spark, but are there any other EDAs there?

　　Opinions are highly appreciated, Thanksimage

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    I like Diptrace.  You can use the free version and then if you need more functionality you can upgrade to a paid version at different price points.

     

    I have also used gEDA on linux.  It's rather basic but you can lay out a simple board with no problems.

     

    Beware any package that locks you into buying from a certain board manufacturer.

     

    I have used Altium Designer and Cadence Concept at work, but they're far from free.  ;-)

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  • 0

    I like Diptrace.  You can use the free version and then if you need more functionality you can upgrade to a paid version at different price points.

     

    I have also used gEDA on linux.  It's rather basic but you can lay out a simple board with no problems.

     

    Beware any package that locks you into buying from a certain board manufacturer.

     

    I have used Altium Designer and Cadence Concept at work, but they're far from free.  ;-)

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  • 0 in reply to pettitda

    Yes, I have tried EasyEDA,and the most startling things about EasyEDA are not just that it is free up to the point where you want to physically buy a (low cost) PCB directly from EasyEDA but that, unlike ExpressPCB and some others, you are not tied into buying the PCBs from EasyEDA: you can download Gerbers and send them off to any PCB fab house at no charge from EasyEDA.

     

    it's web based so, with nothing except a bit of javascript to install, it can be used by Linux, Mac and Windows users and - if they have a big enough screen - Android and iOS users too;