Arduino IDE
Arduino
The official IDE for Arduino boards — write code, upload it to the board and watch sensors on the serial monitor.
Get it from the vendorElectronics design covers the route from schematic to manufacturing files: drawing the circuit, assigning components, laying out the board, routing, design rule checks and Gerber output.
The important point in this category is that the leading open tool has no limit on board area or layer count — unlike the free editions of commercial packages, where exactly that restriction is what pushes you to buy. That is why it became the default in open hardware and academic projects.
Alongside it are tools that are friendlier for beginners and for project documentation, and tools for digital design — logic circuit simulation and hardware description languages.
44 results
Digital — logic simulator
Helmut Neemann
Build a logic circuit and watch it run — with export to VHDL and Verilog.
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EasyEDA
EasyEDA (JLC)
Browser-based schematic and PCB design with simulation and a huge part library; the free plan includes all editors, including for commercial use.
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Eclipse 4diac
Eclipse Foundation
Open-source environment for distributed automation to IEC 61499: function block network design, deployment to controllers, monitoring and debugging.
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Electric VLSI
Static Free Software
An IC and schematic design system covering layout, schematics and simulation links.
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Falstad Circuit Simulator
Paul Falstad
An interactive circuit simulator that runs in the browser, with animated current.
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Freerouting — PCB Autorouter
Freerouting Project / LayoutEditor
Free PCB autorouter that connects to KiCad and Eagle through the Specctra DSN format.
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Fritzing
Friends-of-Fritzing e.V.
Beginner-friendly electronics design — breadboard, schematic and PCB from one file.
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gEDA
gEDA Project
A suite of tools for schematic capture, netlisting and PCB design.
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Gerbv
gEDA / Gerbv developers
Viewer for Gerber RS-274X, Excellon drill and pick-and-place files — a last check before sending a board to the fab.
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GHDL — VHDL Simulator
GHDL Project
Open-source VHDL compiler and simulator for verifying hardware descriptions before synthesis.
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GTKWave
GTKWave Project
A waveform viewer for digital simulation output.
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Horizon EDA
Horizon EDA Project
An EDA system with tight part management — schematic, layout and one linked library.
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Icarus Verilog
Stephen Williams
A Verilog compiler and simulator for digital design work.
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InteractiveHtmlBom
openscopeproject
Generates an interactive HTML bill of materials that highlights where each part sits on the board — a great aid for hand assembly.
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KiCad
KiCad Development Team
Open-source PCB design suite, from schematic to fabrication files, with no limit on layers or board area.
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KLayout
Matthias Köfferlein
Viewer and editor for chip mask layouts (GDS2, OASIS) — fast even on huge files, with DRC, LVS and scripting.
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LibrePCB
LibrePCB
Modern PCB design with a unified component library — schematic, layout and fabrication files.
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Logisim-evolution
Logisim-evolution Team
Design and simulate digital logic circuits interactively.
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LTspice
Analog Devices
Fast SPICE simulator with no component limit, unusually strong on switching converters and power circuits.
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Magic VLSI
Tim Edwards (Open Circuit Design)
A veteran chip layout editor with real-time design-rule checking, parasitic extraction and GDS and LEF/DEF support.
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Ngspice
Ngspice Project
Open-source SPICE simulator — DC, AC, transient and noise. The engine behind KiCad simulation.
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OpenPLC
Autonomy Logic
Open IEC 61131-3 PLC editor and runtime — ladder, FBD and ST, with a built-in simulator and deployment to Raspberry Pi and Arduino.
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PlatformIO
PlatformIO Labs
Open-source embedded development environment: build, upload, debugging and tests for thousands of boards — Arduino, ESP32, STM32 and more.
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