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Circuitstudio vs Circuitmaker?

matthew180

I'm currently using CM and overall I'm happy with it.  Due to the nice promotion discount right now for CS I'm considering buying it.  I'm just a hobbyist, but I don't have any problem investing in good software.  I have been looking around, watching videos, etc. but I cannot seem to find answer to the following questions:

 

1. Other than the local vs cloud storage (and requiring designs to be open, which does not bother me), what does CS give me over CM?  I have been unable to find a comparison between CM and CS.  Is there such a document, and/or what are the main differences?

 

2. If I purchase CS I believe I get updates for a year, after which time I would need to purchase the annual maintenance licenses (which seem to cost $150) to continue to get updates.  However, sometimes I don't need to make a PCB for over a year (or two).  So what happens if I buy CS now and in two years want to get an update?  At that point does purchasing the maintenance license get me updated to the latest version, plus the one year of updates?  Or will I have to purchase multiple maintenance licenses for each missed year?

 

Thanks,

Matthew

  • Hey Matthew,

    If you are good with the cloud storage I would stick with CircuitMaker for now.  I used CircuitMaker for a while and liked the features and then purchased CircuitStudio thinking there would be an improvement in feature sets.  So far that has proven not to be the case and in some cases CircuitMaker is better to use (part library for one). There have been a few bugs with the most recent release that haven't been addressed yet in any patch or update.  I'm hoping that all of this gets turned around and a serious development effort is directed towards CircuitStudio but for now I am seeing a software package that is kind of an afterthought.

  • in reply to bugrobotics

    Hello Skyler,

     

    Thanks for the info, it is very helpful.  I was really hoping CS would offer something over CM to make it worth spending the money.  I suppose for someone who cannot share their designs CM is not an option.  Any idea on how the maintenance works if you let it lapse?

  • Hi Matthew,

     

    Just to add to this discussion as you raise some interesting and valid points.

     

    There is no official comparison, the products are similar (but not identical) in terms of capability. The major difference is that CS allows you to save projects locally and privately to your local drive rather than having to use the cloud. There is a free downloadable trial of CS available allowing you to check all the required functionality is present before making any purchasing decision, please feel free to give it a try. In general CM is intended for hobbyists and Makers who are happy with cloud collaboration whereas CS is designed for engineers and professional PCB designers.

     

    Regarding maintenance you are correct in that the initial purchase includes 1 year of support, updates and access to the Altium Vault. The current official position of Premier Farnell (as of 18 May 2017) is that an additional year of maintenance can be purchased at any time without a penalty or having to purchase back maintenance. Please be aware that such policies may be subject to change in the future, this is just the current position.

     

    Regards,

    Peter Barnard - Global Software Applications Engineer - Premier Farnell