Altium Designer vs ETAP
Altium Designer
altium.com
ETAP
etap.comSide by side
| Figure | Altium Designer | ETAP |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $460/mo | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Electrical Design Software | 8.4 (#4) | 8.7 (#2) |
| Collaboration | Paired with Altium 365 applications, Altium Designer supports collaboration and simultaneous work on different parts of one PCB. | NetPM supports multi-user model creation, concurrent studies, change management, and role-based user access management. |
| Purpose | Altium Designer is an integrated electronics design tool covering schematic capture, PCB layout, simulation, and analysis. | ETAP provides software and hardware solutions for electrical systems across design, engineering, operations, and maintenance. |
| Support | Altium lists documentation, a knowledge base, ticketed support cases, training, and community forums as support resources. | Power Simulator subscriptions include dedicated priority support, according to ETAP. |
Plans
ETAP
- ETAP Power Simulator GrowPriced on request
- ETAP Power Simulator LaunchPriced on request
In their own words
Altium Designer
Altium Designer has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
ETAP
ETAP provides software and hardware for electrical systems across design, engineering, operations, and maintenance. Its modular energy management platform centers on a unified electrical digital twin for power system design, analysis, operations, and automation. ETAP 2026 includes analysis for renewable integration, feeder hosting capacity, Volt-VAR optimization, battery energy storage, and grid-code studies. Power Simulator is designed to predict system behavior, optimize grid performance, and run offline or real-time predictive simulations. DataX exchanges information across GIS, BIM, CAD, and legacy tools, with interfaces for products including Revit, AutoCAD, Excel, AVEVA, and ArcGIS. NetPM supports multi-user model creation, concurrent studies, change management, and role-based access. Grid Intelligence lists Modbus TCP, BACnet/IP, and REST protocols and integrations with systems such as SCADA, GIS, and OMS. ETAP serves utilities, infrastructure, industries, and buildings. Design and analysis products list supported 64-bit Windows systems; etapAPP is available for iOS, Windows, and Android tablets. Pricing is by customized quote, with a free 30-day demo and no free plan.