TinyCAD — The Complete Guide: Simple Electrical and Electronic Schematics on Windows
TinyCAD is open-source (LGPL) software for drawing schematics of electrical and electronic circuits. It is small, opens quickly and works with ready-made symbol libraries that you can extend. It runs on Windows only.
TinyCAD
TinyCAD (open-source project)
Electrical and electronic schematic drawing with symbol libraries, PCB netlists and SPICE export.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Symbol libraries — electronic and electrical parts, plus an editor for new symbols.
- Netlists — export in many formats for PCB layout programs.
- SPICE export — a netlist for simulation in an external tool.
- Other drawings — single-line diagrams, block diagrams and presentation drawings.
- Bill of materials — a parts list generated from the schematic.
What to know
The latest release dates from 2021, so there is no active development, but the program is stable and still widely used. It suits documentation, teaching material and schematics that go on to another layout program. If you need schematic and PCB in one program, KiCad will serve you better.
Related tools
For IEC electrical and control panel drawings — QElectroTech. For schematic and PCB in one flow — KiCad. For quick drawings you can paste into a forum — FidoCadJ.
QElectroTech
QElectroTech Project
Draws electrical panel and control diagrams from standard symbol libraries.
Get it from the vendor
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
FidoCadJ
Davide Bucci
A very simple editor for electrical and electronic drawings.
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
TinyCAD is a simple, free way to draw a clean schematic on Windows without learning a full EDA suite.