KiCad vs ProfiCAD

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.

ProfiCAD is desktop software for creating electrical and electronic diagrams, schematics, control circuits, and technical diagrams such as pneumatic and hydraulic drawings. It can produce bills of materials, wire lists, terminal lists, and cable lists. The program includes more than 2,000 symbols and an editor for custom symbols. Drawing features include automatic symbol numbering and insertion, symbol search, and cross-references between wires and component symbols. Users can adapt or create ISO 7200 title blocks. The desktop program is for Windows; the maker says it can run on Mac using Parallels. ProfiCAD Viewer lets Android users view drawings, but it does not display cross-references. Drawings can be transferred to the viewer through cloud storage or email. ProfiCAD works offline, and drawings stay on the user's computer. It is not intended for PCB layout, 3D modeling, complex CAD, or full DWG/DXF editing. The free Home edition permits up to three pages, with commercial use limited to opening, viewing, and printing third-party documents. A full-feature trial lasts 30 days without a credit card; paid licenses start at $277, excluding tax.