KiCad vs PLECS
KiCad
kicad.orgPLECS
plexim.comSide by side
| Figure | KiCad | PLECS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 5 |
| Spec score · Electrical Design Software | 8.1 (#9) | 7.9 (#15) |
| Purpose | KiCad is an open-source electronic design automation suite for schematic capture and PCB layout. | PLECS models and simulates power electronic systems, including converters, motor drives and control algorithms. |
Plans
PLECS
- PLECS trial licenseFree
- PLECS Blockset Individual License (commercial)$8,000, paid once
- PLECS Standalone Individual License (commercial)$8,000, paid once
- PLECS Blockset Dongle License (commercial)$11,200, paid once
- PLECS Blockset Concurrent License (commercial)$16,000, paid once
In their own words
KiCad
KiCad is a free, open-source electronic design automation suite for schematic capture and PCB layout. Its electrical rules checker flags schematic connection issues such as output-pin conflicts, missing drivers, and unconnected pins. For board routing, the PCB editor offers collision-highlight, shove, and walkaround modes that respect design rules. An integrated 3D viewer displays board designs with a library of 3D models and supports ray tracing. Schematic netlists can be exported as Pspice, Cadstar, PcbNew, or generic XML. KiCad can import schematic work from Altium tools, CADSTAR, EAGLE, EasyEDA, and LTSpice, as well as PCB designs from a wider range that includes Allegro, Fabmaster, P-CAD 200x ASCII, and SolidWorks. The project aims to serve professional designers while staying approachable to new users. Downloads are listed for Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus Docker; the stable Linux release is an x86-64 AppImage. Most source code uses GNU GPL version 3 or greater, and libraries use CC-BY-SA 4.0. KiCad was first released in 1992 and is managed by the KiCad Development Team.