gEDA — The Complete Guide: An Open Tool Suite for Schematics and Printed Circuit Boards
gEDA is a suite of open-source tools for electronics design and one of the oldest in the field. Instead of one large program, it is made of separate tools that connect into a single flow: a schematic editor, a netlister, symbol libraries and a PCB layout program.
gEDA
gEDA Project
A suite of tools for schematic capture, netlisting and PCB design.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- gschem — the suite’s schematic editor.
- gnetlist — netlist generation in dozens of formats, including SPICE and other layout programs.
- PCB — a printed circuit board layout program with Gerber output.
- Libraries — symbols and footprints in simple text files.
- Automation — the files are text, so they are easy to process with scripts and keep in Git.
Who it suits
gEDA suits people who like small tools and the command line, and anyone maintaining older projects built with it. Development has slowed considerably, and ongoing work has moved mainly to derived projects such as Lepton EDA and pcb-rnd. For beginners and most new work, KiCad is integrated, mature and far better supported.
Related tools
For modern PCB design — KiCad or LibrePCB. For autorouting — Freerouting. To simulate the netlist — ngspice.
KiCad
KiCad Development Team
Open-source PCB design suite, from schematic to fabrication files, with no limit on layers or board area.
Get it from the vendor
LibrePCB
LibrePCB
Modern PCB design with a unified component library — schematic, layout and fabrication files.
Get it from the vendorFreerouting — PCB Autorouter
Freerouting Project / LayoutEditor
Free PCB autorouter that connects to KiCad and Eagle through the Specctra DSN format.
Get it from the vendor
Ngspice
Ngspice Project
Open-source SPICE simulator — DC, AC, transient and noise. The engine behind KiCad simulation.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
gEDA is a stable, completely free suite built on separate tools. For a new project, consider KiCad first.