Electronics Software

Electronics circuit diagram/schematic drawing softwares list

This article is an attempt to list out all available softwares for circuit drawing. I have taken into consideration many criteria before making this list. You know there are free softwares, paid softwares, sharewares and there will be variations in quality of softwares, user friendliness, complexities etc. I have tried to include as many software as possible. For instance if there is a tool that helps only in basic drawing but is really user friendly so that a beginner can draw electronics circuit diagram, then I would consider adding that particular software. Circuit drawing or electronic schematic drawing is not a hard to learn stuff, you can make it better with practice. Well there are some standard practices that you have to keep in mind while you draw. We will write an article regarding the standard practices to follow while drawing circuit diagrams.

Lets list out free circuit diagram drawing softwares first.

Free circuit drawing softwares list:-

PCB123 – This is a free circuit drawing software from Sunstone. You can do almost all your needs from design to build using PCB 123. PCB123 provides 500,000 parts with great search functionality to access all the parts while drawing. Datasheets of select parts are available. The interesting feature of this software is “real time” search for availability of parts from Digi-Key. Well, give it a try and give your opinions. After all it’s a free software from a reputed company like Sunstone.

Xcircuit - is a free schematic drawing software from OpenCircuit designs, which is made for Unix/Linux environment. You can use this software on Windows if you have the X-server running or Windows API. This open source project is aimed at developing output schematics that are of high quality, ready for instant publication. Many versions of the software are available. You have to go through the tutorial thoroughly before you start using it.

TinyCad - is a schematic drawing software for Windows from SourceForge. It supports circuit drawing, layout developing and circuit simulation. It is available for free download.

Dia - Dia is a basic drawing software suitable for drawing block diagrams. They provide access to some basic and important components too. This software is only for a beginner or a new entrant in the electronics circuit drawing arena. I consider this software good for drawing block diagrams.Software has a GPL license and is made for Mac and Linux. I don’t know if they have a Windows version.

SmartDraw – Free software for drawing electronics schematics. This software is from SmartDraw LLC which develops high end drawing softwares and CAD softwares. The free version is a tool for promoting their paid versions. So you may not expect great/advanced features in the free version.

Pspice – Student Version - You all know about Pspice – the simulation software. Follow that link to get a free student version of the Pspice.

ProfiCAD - is a free, basic tool for drawing. I haven’t used this yet, well try out and tell me.

Solve Elec - is a free software for Windows and Mac.

Paid/Enterprise Softwares:

Tina – Tina is an affordable solution for small industries and freelancers. Facilitates circuit drawing, layout developments, simulation and other features. Real time testing of circuits is another notable feature.

Orcad – a highly popular software from Cadence for circuit drawing, layout development and simulation.

CadSoft Eagle - another high quality PCB design software. Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor is the abbreviation of EAGLE.

LTSpice - is a simulation software from Linear. Schematic development, spice simulation, waveform viewer and many other features.

Altera - has a lot of softwares for your various needs. They have softwares for Embedded design (NIOS II), DSP design software (DSP Builder).  For logic design they have Quartus II and ModelSim.

PCB Pool - They don’t provide any softwares. This link is in fact a list of softwares for PCB design.

So I guess I have compiled a good enough list of circuit drawing softwares, which can be used for electronics circuit drawing, schematic layout drawing, wiring diagram drawing etc. I will add more softwares to this list if you can suggest it through our comments section.

List of Circuit design / analysis / simulation software

Hello friends,

I hope you all got benefited with our previous article on Electronic circuit drawing softwares .

Today we are bringing you a great collection of circuit simulators – which are at the same time can be used for circuit drawing, circuit design and analysis as well. The list is well structured as free circuit simulation softwares, open source circuit analysis and simulation software, simple and easy to use simulators, linux based simulator, windows based simulator etc. Finally after researching through all the list we have compiled a collection best circuit simulation softwares as well. So lets start our journey right below.

Free and Open source circuit simulator software list:-

NgSpice – one of the popular and widely used free, open source circuit simulator from Sourceforge. NgSpice is developed by a collective effort from its users and its code is based on 3 open source software packages:- known as:- Spice3f5 , Cider and Xspice. Ngspice is a part of gEDA project which is growing every day with suggestions from its users, development from its contributors, fixing bugs and approaching perfection. As its a collaborative project you can suggest improvement of the circuit simulator and be a part of the development team.

GnuCap - is another open source project, developed as a general purpose circuit simulator. Known widely as GNU Circuit analysis package, this linux based circuit simulator performs various circuit analysis functions as dc and transient analysis, ac analysis etc. Developers have incorporated spice compatible model for MOSFET, BJT and Diode.

CircuitLogix - this student version software from CircuitLogix enables you to perform analog, digital and mixed mode circuit analysis and simulation.  This SPICE simulation software provides 4000 devices on its student version which is 1/3 of the pro version. This circuit building software give access to switches, linear IC and digital IC, FET, Transistors, relays, displays, signal generators, SCR’s, opto isolators, photo diodes, semiconductors, motors etc.

LTSpice – is a widely popular SPICE simulator from Linear. LTspice is a free circuit simulation tool from Linear Technology corporation. This simulation software is considered as one of the best freeware available. Highlight of LTspice is much fast simulation of switching regulators with enhanced SPICE (compared to normal SPICE simulators).LTspice gives access to over 200 op amp models, transistor models, MOSFET models etc. A high disadvantage of LTspice is its proprietary code base which is licensed by Linear Technology. Had they made it open source, LTspice could have gone places with collaborative development.

Note: LTSpice is considered as the BEST circuit simulation software available by users.

MultiSim – is a student version circuit simulation software from National instruments. As you know, student versions always comes with limited access. Still this is a great simulation tool for beginners in electronics. MultiSim, the circuit maker software enables you to capture circuits, create layouts, analyse circuits and simulation. Highlight features include exploring breadboard in 3D before lab assignment submission, create printed circuit boards (PCB) etc. Breadboard simulation is possible with Multisim circuit simulator.

TopSpice - this is a demo version circuit simulator from Penzar. This electronic simulation tool is tailored to work with Windows only and its is compatible for Windows XP/Vista/7.  TopSpice is a mixed mode mixed signal digital,analog, behavioral simulation software. It offers both Pspice and Hspice compatible simulation of circuits.

Circuit Simulator 1.5j - is a freeware circuit simulation tool. I have not used this tool or even attempted a try. I add this as a suggestion from a user in our forum. I think this is just basic tool with very basic functions, created for starter purpose. Use at your own risk.

MacSpice - is a free circuit simulation software for Apple Macintosh users. This circuit simulation which is compatible for PowerPC and Intel architecture Apple Macintosh (MAC pc) computers is derived fromBerkeley Spice 3f5 . This breadboard simulator can perform simulation ranging from a single resistor to an integrated circuit with thousands of devices and components packed together.

5Spice – is a free analog circuit analysis and simulator with many great features which includes a user expandable library of Spice/Pspice models, save any number of analysis results, integrated graphing of simulation results, student level MOSFET IC design etc. The focus is emphasized on analog circuit analysis and design at component level. 5Spice is mainly designed for students and educators, rather than industry professionals. Latest version of 5spice is released on October 31st 2001 – v 1.65.

Beige Bag - is a demo version of the original paid version of Beige Bag circuit simulation software. Developed based on B2 Spice, this software is mixed mode, power packed, fast and easy to use. Well try the demo version before you decide to buy.

Micro-Cap 10 - is another demo version circuit analyzer and simulator from Spectrum Soft. As they claim its a mixed mode digital/analog circuit simulator with an intuitive user interface, fast simulation and great performance. I haven’t tried this yet, so if you are interested try your own.

PECS - is a free power electronics circuit simulator created by Richard Tymerski. You can download the various manuals and tutorials from the website before start using the simulation tool.

Proteus - Prospice is a mixed mode, Spice based simulation tool from LabCenter. They have two versions, basic and advanced. Basic version is free which supports interactive simulation only while advanced supports a range of useful functions and features like graph based analysis which includes frequency, noise, distortion, fourier parameters etc.

QUCS - Quite Universal Circuit Simulator is a free simulation software developed on GNU/Linux environment. Well this software really works on other operating systems such as Solaris, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft windows, FreeBSD, NetBSD etc. User can simulate large signal, small signal and noise behavior of the circuit using this simple circuit simulator.

Solve Elec - is an electrical circuit simulator (free version) which is developed for Macintosh OS and Windows. It enables users to draw and analyse circuits (both electrical and electronic) functioning in direct current or alternating current, get formulas, verify equations, get equivalent circuits etc.

XSpice - is developed as an extension to Spice 3 by Georgia Institute of Technology. It has code modelling feature which enables user to add new models.

Okay! So far we have listed 16 free version circuit simulators, some of which are open source, some are licensed but free, some are demo/ student versions etc. And we have atleast one simulator for each and every operating system out there in the market. If you know some other free simulation software/tool, that’s so great, please share it as comments.

Now lets have a look at some enterprise circuit modelling software in the market.

Best Licensed/Paid Circuit simulation software:

PSPICE – is a mixed signal, industry standard circuit simulator. This software is used by many professionals for electronic system design and development. Orcad, the printed circuit board (PCB) design software is developed by the same company, Cadence.

MultiSim- is a great simulation software from National Instruments for electronic design engineers, academic professionals and educators, colleges, students, universities and professionals. Highlight features of this software are written above (under free resources).

SiMetrix – is a circuit simulation tool with enhanced Spice specifically developed for Professional electronic design engineers. They have other products like Simplis, Micron VX, DVM etc.

TINA - is an affordable, cost effective circuit design and simulation software, yet very powerful in features and functions. You can buy a basic version of TINA design suite 9.3 for as low as 90 Euros and a classic version (suited for professional design engineers) is available from 600 Euros.

PowerSim – is a simulation software developed for power electronics circuits, motor control and other requirements like dynamic system simulation.

Schematic Symbol Reference

This is an offline version of the Schematic Symbol Reference. It contains all the same info, but is a standalone program that requires no Internet connection to run. This will run under Windows 95, Windows 98 and NT4 Server and Workstation.

If you have the files MSVBVM50.DLL and MSVBVM60.DLL in your windows\sytem directory, then you can download the compact version (917K). Otherwise, you will need to download the full version (2.7MB).