Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

LibrePCB VS Partstack

Compare LibrePCB VS Partstack and see what are their differences

LibrePCB logo LibrePCB

LibrePCB is a free EDA software to develop printed circuit boards.

Partstack logo Partstack

Partstack is a next-generation marketplace platform for semiconductor buyers & traders. Buy, sell, and discover electronic components from the manufacturers you love. Get datasheets, tech specs, and more for 1 billion+ parts.
  • LibrePCB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-12
  • Partstack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-11-03

Itโ€™s not easy building the technology of tomorrowโ€”but you do it every day.

We built Partstack for youโ€”the dreamers, innovators, and mold-breakers who fearlessly build the game-changing products that power our world.

Whether youโ€™re searching for a single component or thousands, Partstack gives you access to the semiconductor market's most comprehensive catalog of component pricing and availability data from a curated โ€œstackโ€ of the marketโ€™s most diverse group of global suppliers. Get datasheets, tech specs, and more for over 1 billion parts.

And thatโ€™s just the beginning.

Welcome to the future of electronic components search.

LibrePCB features and specs

  • Open Source
    LibrePCB is open source, meaning it is free to use, modify, and distribute. This fosters community-driven development and greater transparency.
  • Cross-Platform
    LibrePCB is available for multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, ensuring accessibility for users on different platforms.
  • Modular Design
    The software is designed with a modular approach, which makes it easier to extend functionalities and integrate with other tools.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    It offers a clean and intuitive user interface, making it easier for beginners and experienced users alike to design PCBs.
  • Active Community
    LibrePCB has an active user and developer community, providing support, resources, and regular updates.

Possible disadvantages of LibrePCB

  • Limited Libraries
    The component libraries in LibrePCB are not as extensive as those in some other PCB design software, which may require additional time to create or import parts.
  • Feature Set
    Compared to more mature and commercial software, LibrePCB may lack some advanced features and tools needed for highly complex designs.
  • Learning Curve
    Although it has a user-friendly interface, users previously familiar with other PCB design software may need some time to adapt to LibrePCB's workflows and conventions.
  • Performance
    On systems with lower specifications, LibrePCB can sometimes be slow or unresponsive when handling large or complex projects.
  • Documentation
    While the available documentation is helpful, it may not be as comprehensive or detailed as user manuals for some commercial alternatives.

Partstack features and specs

  • Intelligent Component Search Engine
  • Data-driven buyer-seller matching
  • Comprehensive Part Comparison Tools
  • Verified Supplier Stack
  • Full Datasheet Access
  • Trade Compliance Data

LibrePCB videos

Introduction to LibrePCB A new, powerful and intuitive EDA tool for everyone

Partstack videos

Partstack Semiconductor Marketplace

More videos:

  • Demo - Partstack Semiconductor Marketplace Intro

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to LibrePCB and Partstack)
Simulation
100 100%
0% 0
Electronics
90 90%
10% 10
Online Marketplace
0 0%
100% 100
IDE
100 100%
0% 0

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing LibrePCB and Partstack.

What makes your product unique?

Partstack's answer:

We're a next-generation search engine and digital marketplace for semiconductor and electronic component buyers & traders. Partstack was designed for todayโ€™s globally connected marketplace. One key difference is that weโ€™re not a "pay-to-play" platform. Customers never pay a dime and approved suppliers can display their in-stock inventory without restriction.

Users can find more parts, more suppliers, and radically transparent pricing and inventory dataโ€”faster than ever before.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Partstack's answer:

We've assembled the world's largest semiconductor supply chain and supercharged it with the power of modern search technology. And we're iterating and improving our marketplace every single day.

Partstack features the most diverse and comprehensive supplier stack of all electronic component marketplace platforms. Most importantly, our extensive component catalog is shared with users via product-rich data pages that feature insights that are simply not available on any other platform. In addition to form, fit, function, and standard trade compliance data, users can find information about part manufacturer leadership, financials, fab locations, and other key data points.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Partstack's answer:

Our primary audience consists of the builders, makers, and innovators who create the products that power our world. We built Partstack to make life (and sourcing!) easier for these everyday game-changers (i.e., electrical engineers, PCB design teams, semiconductor procurement professionals, distributors, product manufacturers, students, etc.). Whether they are independent hobbyists, a company of one, or a large-scale corporation (OEM/CM)โ€”we make it easy for users to find their place in the stack.

What's the story behind your product?

Partstack's answer:

The platform is the brainchild of a team of electrical and software engineers who wanted to build the worldโ€™s most comprehensive electronic components database and marketplace platform. We like to say that Partstack was built for engineers, by engineers with one goal in mind: Marketplace diversity and transparency.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

Partstack's answer:

An array of cutting-edge technologies come together to build our platform's "technological harmony." We take advantage of both client-side and server-side rendering to parse and manage the flow of data across our multi-vendor marketplace. We utilize direct supplier uploads and some programmatic interfacing to collect real-time pricing and inventory data to populate our supplier stack. Technologies such as Cloudflare and SSL certificates are used to ensure user authentication, data encryption, and overall platform security. Finally, several in-house, custom-built proprietary technologies are used to power our search engine, stack logic, and other features of our marketplace.

Who are some of the biggest customers of your product?

Partstack's answer:

Partstack supports users from the worldโ€™s largest manufacturing companies (OEMS) and contract manufacturers. We also proudly serve tinkerers and hobbyists.

User comments

Share your experience with using LibrePCB and Partstack. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, LibrePCB seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 6 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

LibrePCB mentions (6)

  • Effective June 7, 2026, Autodesk will no longer sell nor support EAGLE
    There's also https://librepcb.org/ Has anyone had time to try Horizon and/or LibrePCB and compare them to KiCad? - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • What is "this type" of PCB "called"
    On the open source front, LibrePCB seems to be the only contender, never used it myself, but have heard good things and met some devs at a conference and they were nice. The level of support you get there may be a bit more personal. Otoh, if you've never designed PCBs before, it may be hard to even tell if something is a bug... Source: about 3 years ago
  • Hardware design on linux
    I would throw LibrePCB into the mix. Coming from Eagle, it was easier for me to grasp than KiCad. Source: over 3 years ago
  • How can I make professional looking schematics for free?
    Also LibrePCB at https://librepcb.org A bit "lighter" in size than KiCad. Source: over 4 years ago
  • from where should I start for designing my own PCB?
    I've been turning out some nice results from LibrePCB. It has a learning curve like anything else but its not an impossibly convoluted workflow like some of the more established FOSS programs out there. Source: almost 5 years ago
View more

Partstack mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Partstack yet. Tracking of Partstack recommendations started around Oct 2023.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing LibrePCB and Partstack, you can also consider the following products

KiCad - A Cross Platform and Open Source Electronics Design Automation Suite

Octopart - A simple wrapper for the Octopart V3 API for Node. Contribute to octopart/octopart-node development by creating an account on GitHub.

Fritzing - Fritzing is an open-source initiative to support designers, artists, researchers and hobbyists to...

Findchips - Findchips is a database for searching electronic parts and components and provide datasheet and bill of materials from multiple distributors and manufacturers.

EasyEDA - EasyEDA - Web-based EDA suite; runs in browser.

Easybom - Easybom establishes a communication bridge for suppliers, purchasers, and engineers with electronic component data as its core.