Compare Altium Designer® vs PADS®
Provides advanced product design, collaboration, and PCB design tools required by large teams or professionals designing complex devices, yet easy to use for new designers and students.
PADS is an older commercial design program with a long track record of use by larger companies.
| Schemetic Capture | Altium Designer | PADS |
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Schematic sheet limits
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Unlimited
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999
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Hierarchical schematic capture with integrated analog mixed-signal simulation
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Built-in SPICE simulator with model library and migration support for LTSpice/PSpice
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| PCB Layout | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Board size limits
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100 in. by 100 in.
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Unlimited |
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Signal and plane layer limits
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32 signal + 16 plane + unlimited mechanical
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PADS Standard - 186 combined signal & plane +64 mechanical
PADS Professional - Unlimited |
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Rules-driven design for modern PCB (HDI, Rigid-flex, and Multiboard)
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Advanced interactive routing features with built-in signal integrity tools
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High speed design and rigid-flex design features included in standard license
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Requires PADS Professional Premium license
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Variant management tools for complex projects
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Realistic layer stacks and a modern field solver for accurate impedances
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Parts placement and routing in 3D
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Photo-realistic 3D viewer with real-time clearance checking
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Visual DC power distribution analysis in the PCB layout
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Requires additional Power Analyzer license
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Requires additional Siemens product (HyperLynx) |
| Library Managerment & Sourcing | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Built-in BOM management with real-time supply chain
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Unified libraries with symbols, footprints, simulation models, and distributor links
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Access to models, parameters, and lifecycle data for millions of components
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires PartQuest, may require additional license |
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Management of lifecycles, in-design validation, templates, and where-used for libraries
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Advanced component data from IHS Markit®
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Library health dashboard to monitor validity, quality, and risk issues
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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| Outputs & Manufacturing | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Built-in fabrication and assembly drawing generation tools
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Intuitive interface for manufacturing output creation
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Quickly generate ECOs, reports, and documentation
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Customizable document templates for drawings
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Requires additional Siemens product (Siemens NX) |
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Centralized management for manufacturing packages and communications
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires additional Siemens product (Teamcenter)
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Share and view Gerbers, ODB++ files, and assembly steps in a browser
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| Product Design | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Support for multi-board systems and assemblies
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Multi-board 3D product viewer from any web browser
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Multi-board mechanical integration for SOLIDWORKS® 2020, 2021, and 2022
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Built-in harness design tools
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires additional Siemens product (Solid Edge or VeSys)
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| Cloud Services | Altium Designer |
PADS
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View and share renders of design files on any device with a web browser
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Version control, templates, and component libraries stored in cloud
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires additional Siemens product (Connect) |
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Built-in task management and commenting for design files and BOMs
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires additional Siemens product (Teamcenter) |
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Managed design reuse for schematics, layer stacks, and design templates
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Project history for every change made to a design
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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| Platform Integrations | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Integration with MCAD applications including SOLIDWORKS®, PTC Creo® Parametric™, Autodesk Inventor®, Autodesk® Fusion 360™, and Siemens NX
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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SolidWorks, Catia and Creo |
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Advanced integration with SOLIDWORKS® for MCAD component placement, copper geometry, enclosure exchange, and multi-board/rigid-flex sync
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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PLM integration with Arena® PLM, PTC Windchill, Aras PLM, Oracle Agile PLM, and Teamcenter®
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires 3rd party solution |
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Multiple importer utilities to convert files from other ECAD platforms
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| Workflows & Processes | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Configurable lifecycle management for design data and components
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Managed workflows for part requests, design reviews, project creation/release, and lifecycle approvals
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires additional Siemens product (Teamcenter) |
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User, role, and group management with support for Single Sign-On (SSO)
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires additional Siemens product (Teamcenter) |
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Change notifications and change conflict prevention for design documents
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Centralized control over design environments, document templates, and output files for every team member
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Requires additional Siemens product (Teamcenter) |
| Maintenance & Support | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Current version
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Monthly releases since Nov 2021 (active since 2000, formerly Protel 1985-2000)
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16.0.1 (Released January 2022, active since 1992) |
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Backwards compatible with files from all previous releases
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On-demand training courses, knowledge base, and community forums
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Live chat and support tickets
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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Dedicated customer success manager check-ins and onboarding
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Requires an Altium Designer Subscription
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| Supported Platforms | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Windows 10 and newer
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MacOS 10.15 and newer
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Linux
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| Pricing | Altium Designer |
PADS
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Price
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Request for quote
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Starting at USD 2,999/year |
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Time-based subscription
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Perpetual License options
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Multiple Subscription options
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