589 Altium Designer Reviews
The MCAD CoDesigner functionality has been very useful for integrating PCB designs into our mechanical 3D models in AutoDesk Inventor, and was a big reason we moved to Altium. The 3D views are very useful within Altium and creating PCB footprints and adding existing STEP files available from many component manufacturers is easy. The OutJob functionality is useful in exporting files.
The Draftsman documents are very powerful and have saved a significant amount of time in creating and updating production documentation. The layout capability works very well with a lot of configurability.
The ActiveBOM functionality is useful is checking part status and availability and for rolling up BOM cost.
Overall, Altium was an enormous leap from Mentor Graphics PADS (which I used for the previous 15 years), although now there are a number of other alternatives, including at least one open-source alternative that also has impressive capability (I have not explored these in detail).
Electronic design (schematic capture and layout) only makes up 10% of my working hours according to my time logging (among mechanical design, project planning, as well as customer, sales, and production support), but I am quite productive in Altium compared to my previous workflow. If this was my primary job function, I would be even more comfortable in the software as it is certainly designed with the "power user" in mind, but there are many things I don't remember or haven't needed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The file management and revision control is complex and difficult for a simple file-based guy like me to understand (I only dabble in software so I am not very familiar with digital version control systems) so I'm probably doing it wrong. It's nice to have the online project viewing functionality to be able to share with coworkers who don't have a seat of Altium.
I haven't figured out how to show manufacturer and MPN on a schematic, outside of the MPN assigned in the "Comment" field of a library component. It seems like this should be easy to pull from the part already set up in the "Part Choices" area.
PCB Outline editing capability is awkward. I usually end up importing from a 3D model but it's not intuitive (I end up needing to look up the process each time I do it).
Draftsman, while powerful, has limited flexibility in some ways (for instance, I'd like to have control of opacity for hatched shapes so I can show a conformal coat masking area). It would be nice to be able to do some parametric drawing, but it is adequate for what I need.
Import of files made in PADS (what we transitioned from) is quite difficult, mostly from a component library standpoint. I ended up starting over from scratch in some cases.
We recently added another seat for a new hire, and it was a chore to get him set up and the license assigned (I was confused between roles in the 365 project environment and Altium itself). Support was able to get this sorted out quickly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Started using Altium when it was called DXP (Design Explorer) to complete a project at School. It was mostly self learned and did not received formal training and within a couple of weeks I was successfully capturing schematics and making PCB layouts. Altium is very intuitive and easy to use, but at the same time very powerful. The power and complexity doesn't get in the way of the interface and the ease of use. The library tools, to create schematic symbols and footprints is excellent, very easy to use. It gives me all the flexibility to design the footprint based on the application and manufacturing requirements. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I can't think of any negative on the software itself. I would like to see a more seamless integration for footprint providers like Ultra-librarian or SnapEDA. The import of models can be a bit of a hassle sometimes. Overall, it's a great software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Altium Designer is the best designer tool I have used so far. It has an easy-to-use interface which makes PCB design a fun activity. The varied shortcuts Altium Designer has makes designing in Altium much more simpler and fast. I really love the interactive routing tool where the net selected is highlighted and optimized routing patterns and strategies are suggested. I adore that the new Altium Designer 25 comes with replicating PCB layout, more of git integration, advanced version control and MCAD integration. The customer support is really awesome and I love all the Altium webinars especially the ones with Zachariah Peterson. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
I think Altium 365 could have more improvements. I really love working in my local machine but would also want to have the same experience working online (Altium 365). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
There is a ton of videos, explanation and the documentation is very done. The software is easy to use, I use on a weekly base doing review with a large team of engineer.
I love the home page and learning center section with easy access to the community and support. The educational videos are well made and the host Zach Peterson is great ! The implementation of the vault is pretty straight forward using the documentation and the 365 web access to share design between team is a must and the possibility to joint the PCB and mechanical in the same software is simply awesome. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Integrating part libraries from a different software can be difficult or from previous version and requires some work to be imported correctly without errors. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The software helps for schematic capture, PCB layout, and 3D visualization. The ability to view the entire design in 3D is incredibly helpful for detecting potential issues.
Also the extensive component libraries and ease of collaboration makes it a complete package. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
For beginners, it takes time to get comfortable with all the features.And its a little bit expensive compared to the other design softwares (but i got it completely free using my student identification).
Personally I felt that, some of the components are not available in the library.So that we need to create by our own. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Altium is the first professional PCB design software I have used, and I it almost every day in my work day, whether reviewing old designs or working on new ones. I am the main admin for Altium in my small company, managing the workspace, libraries, templates, etc. Altium is a great all-in-one solution for schematic and layout.
Importing a standalone library file into a new, clean, altium-managed library is easy once you set up component templates correctly. The templates for new projects, schematics, components, etc. makes creating new items becomes very easy.
Integrating into our current QMS is easy, using the project releaser you end up with a nice clean package of files that you can upload to keep the quality team content. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Some of the library management is wonky to get started and has poor starting templates. There's no reason to have a default part ID be "CMP-asdf97sdf67s" - that doesn't help anyone. After getting into the templates and giving them reasonable ID's like 'CAP-0001' and 'RES-0001', along with some standardized names and part descriptions, makes the libary management much better.
Customer support is sometimes slow, and to learn how to use the tool you need succumb to a sales pitch masquerading as an info session, rely on 3rd party youtube videos, or pay for many of Altium-run the courses. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Been a professional user of AD for 15+ years having also used Allegro, PADS, KiCAD, EAGLE, etc.
UI Design is the best in the industry for ease of use. Particularly the "properties panel" and "Design Rules" graphical interfaces. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
New subscription model and price gouging by 4x is disrespectful and bad value.
My org already left SolidWorks for similar mis-behavior.
AD hasn't added ANY practical "features" and continues to ignored bugs 6+ years old one of which is a CAM output error that causes A LOT of headache. New tools they've added like wire harness design are VERY far from feature complete compared to competitors like Enterprise Harness which my org uses.
Overall Altium has lost touch with their userbase and their executives are clearly going for the short term cash grab and willing to let Altium slide slowly into irrelevance. Seen it so many time before.
I've been using KiCAD lately after it made HUGE strides in features and anticipate being able to migrate my organization to KiKAD in the near future after just a few key features are added. So Altium better get their act together because open source is GOING to take their lunch. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Altium has a lot of tools that streamline development that save a ton of time. The sharing features allow easy use between electrical engineers and 365 allows for sharing between non-electrical engineers. Altium also has a lot of online and paid trainings. This makes learning how to use the software a bit easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
While it is a benefit that there are a lot of tools, there can be a lot of rules and settings that have to be correct. The first couple times, it can be convoluted. Another aspect is speed of the program (this could be my machine as well). When I run small board projects, it performs fine. However, when I run large projects, the PCB software tends to lag. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
What I love most about Altium Designer is how everything I need is in one place: schematics, PCB layout, footprints, simulation, and more. It makes the whole design process so much smoother and saves me a lot of time switching between different tools. I find it intuitive, reliable, and it really helps me stay focused on designing instead of managing software. It’s become an essential part of my workflow. The customer support, ease of implementation and integration has been flawless. I have been using it for the past 8 years and compared to other design tools, I like it the most. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
The amount of RAM Altium Designer requires for big PCB design is huge, but I have been able to go over it with a boosted computer. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Altium Designer has a large archive of new and legacy components that can be imported into a project which makes new designs quicker. When using the software daily, the advanced features can save a lot of time. The software also easily integrates with SolidWorks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
Customer service is ticket based and can sometimes take a while to resolve an issue. I would prefer having live chat or a person that I could call to address issues quicker. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
