Actions
Forum Thread Details
  • Replies 14 replies
  • Subscribers 172 subscribers
  • Views 2552 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Related

Autodesk EAGLE Announcement - Time to Move on?

cstanton

"

Effective June 7, 2026, Autodesk will no longer sell nor support EAGLE. New and active Fusion 360 and Fusion 360 with EAGLE Premium subscriptions will continue to give you access to Fusion 360 electronics as well as EAGLE Premium functionality until EAGLE is no longer supported in June 2026. 

Fusion 360 with EAGLE Standard subscriptions will no longer renew after June 7, 2024. It’s recommended to subscribe to Fusion 360 for access to the electronics workspace. 

A subscription to Fusion 360 includes fully integrated CAD, CAM, CAE, and PCB functionality and includes up to 999 schematics, 16 layers, and an unlimited board area. 

This document will cover the Frequently Asked Questions around the Autodesk EAGLE Announcement – Next Steps and FAQ. 

To navigate to a specific section, click any of the links below. Use ‘Return to Top’ in each section to navigate quickly back to the top of the web page. 

Source: https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Autodesk-EAGLE-Announcement-Next-steps-and-FAQ.html

Time to move on to another product, like KiCad!

Parents

  • Autodesk lost me when they went to a subscription business model. However I still own an old version of Eagle that I use to design 10-20 PCBs per year. KiCad is at a stage where I could switch, but I don't think it would improve my productivity for most of what I do, so I'm not feeling a great need to switch at this time.

Reply

  • Autodesk lost me when they went to a subscription business model. However I still own an old version of Eagle that I use to design 10-20 PCBs per year. KiCad is at a stage where I could switch, but I don't think it would improve my productivity for most of what I do, so I'm not feeling a great need to switch at this time.

Children
  • in reply to dougw

    I too, have Eagle 7pro and had no interest in joining the autodesk fold.

  • in reply to dougw

    Funny how polarising software subscription licensing is!  It seems to be a marmite scenario for people.  Personally, I've never had an issue with it and there is some software for which it can work out cheaper to subscribe for when it is needed and let it lapse when it isn't.  Fusion 360 can be subscribed to for £60 a month for example, or IIRC, £550 a year.  The only time it seems that subscription fails is when someone isn't that bothered about keeping up to date, like yourself and a perpetual model makes sense.

  • in reply to Andrew J

    For companies and bigger customers, it is may be easier? A yearly cost instead of an investment?

  • in reply to Andrew J
    Andrew J said:
    Funny how polarising software subscription licensing is!

    On a personal note, it always flags up in my mind when I go to the bank and ask them to check my financial status, say for a potential mortgage or loan or any other financial assessment. They look at regular monthly outgoings, so I want to avoid subscriptions as that's seen as detrimental to any finance. Being able to do a monthly payment is important in those scenarios and anything that eats into it regularly does not look good.

  • in reply to Jan Cumps

    yes, companies.  I reckon it also improves the cashflow for software companies who produce the product.

  • in reply to cstanton

    I'd never thought about it on that basis actually, but it seems like a good point.  Then again, the only monthly subscription I ever had was for Adobe and that was something like £9.98 so I doubt I would have been impacted!  

    I have a yearly subscription to Microsoft 365, Amazon Prime and a three year subscription to Fusion 360 but none of those would appear as regular outgoings.

  • in reply to Andrew J

    Understandably every software company looks for ways to create a continuous revenue stream from their offerings in the form of periodic fees of some sort. Of course users just want the most value for the least cost. Ultimately companies often end up not selling a product, just a service, or a license to use for a period, or a pay-per-use, or update fees, etc. Consumers will opt out if the fees get too high. The only choice they have is to weigh the total costs, including their sunk investments in legacy designs. In the case of CAD there is such a large investment in learning to use the tool efficiently and of course their legacy designs and IP, that hefty update or license fees are cheaper than the cost of switching. CAD software companies exploit this situation extensively.

    The original Eagle product was a decent price point and it had a useful free version, which resulted in more users than all of the major CAD company "seats" combined. Which is one of the reasons Autodesk bought it.

    The main reasons why users adopted Eagle were essentially eliminated when Autodesk reworked the licensing model, but they still retained some of the client base that had invested in the learning curve. I am curious how many seats still use Autodesk E-Cad.

    Those users that had been flocking to Eagle are now flocking to KiCad.

    The whole thing about keeping up-to-date is a separate problem. Bug fixes should always be free, but unfortunately they aren't always free, they are often bundled with feature upgrades which have a cost. It is actually a much more complex issue, and everyone is going to have their own opinion about how tolerable various aspects are.

    I am glad that KiCad is a viable alternative although it doesn't seem to be influencing the big for-profit CAD company business models.

    The choices I've made make my design flow the lowest possible cost ($0) and I can still re-use all my library work and legacy design work and my productivity is higher than I it would be with any other CAD tool.