Software Alternatives & Reviews

PADS PCB Design VS LibrePCB

Compare PADS PCB Design VS LibrePCB and see what are their differences

PADS PCB Design logo PADS PCB Design

Best-in-class PCB design tools at unbeatable prices

LibrePCB logo LibrePCB

LibrePCB is a free EDA software to develop printed circuit boards.
  • PADS PCB Design Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-29
  • LibrePCB Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-12

PADS PCB Design videos

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LibrePCB videos

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PADS PCB Design and LibrePCB)
Electronics
15 15%
85% 85
Simulation
13 13%
87% 87
Design Tools
20 20%
80% 80
Computer Simulations
7 7%
93% 93

User comments

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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.

PADS PCB Design mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of PADS PCB Design yet. Tracking of PADS PCB Design recommendations started around Mar 2021.

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 / 11 months 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: 11 months 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: 12 months ago
  • How can I make professional looking schematics for free?
    Also LibrePCB at https://librepcb.org A bit "lighter" in size than KiCad. Source: about 2 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: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing PADS PCB Design and LibrePCB, you can also consider the following products

Proteus PCB design - Proteus PCB design combines the schematic capture and ARES PCB layout programs to provide a...

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

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

OmniGlyph - Powerful and easy-to-use PCB Design package

Autodesk EAGLE - Autodesk EAGLE is an electronic design automation (EDA) software.

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