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Head-to-head · Electrical Design Software

Altium Designer vs LTspice

  • Updated Sep 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 4 checks side by side
Higher score Altium Designer #6 in Electrical Design Software 7.3/10 30-day trial ✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Altium
LTspice #8 in Electrical Design Software 6.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 4 features Visit LTspice

Altium Designer leads on 1 check, LTspice on 1, and 2 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 4 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreAltium Designer · 7.3/10
  • Free planonly LTspice
  • Most featuresAltium Designer · 3 of 4

Altium Designer scores higher on our rubric for electrical design software: 7.3 against 6.7 out of 10; our editors rank them #6 and #8.

LTspice offers free plan; Altium Designer doesn't. Altium Designer offers mcad integration; LTspice doesn't publish it. On deployment, Altium Designer gives you Hybrid where LTspice offers Desktop.

Altium Designer is the better fit for end-to-end PCB electrical design. LTspice is the better fit for free analog circuit simulation.

  • Altium Designer fits best

    End-to-end PCB electrical design

  • LTspice fits best

    Free analog circuit simulation

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. We may earn a commission when you click some links. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Altium Designer 7.3/10 Visit ↗ LTspice 6.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 7.3 6.7
Ranking #6 in Electrical Design Software #8 in Electrical Design Software
Best for End-to-end PCB electrical design Free analog circuit simulation
Pricing model Paid Free
Starting price Not published Not published
Free plan — ✓ (best)
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Desktop Desktop
Platforms Web, Windows Windows, macOS
Support Live chat, Tickets, Community, Docs Community
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Altium Designer 3/4 · LTspice 2/4
Schematic capture ✓ ✓
Panel design Not published Not published
Standards libraries ✓ ✓
MCAD integration ✓ (best) Not published
Specs
Electrical simulation Basic Basic
Deployment Hybrid Desktop
Our review
Pros
  • Combines schematic capture, PCB layout, SPICE simulation, and 3D validation
  • Supports ECAD-MCAD synchronization with major CAD platforms
  • Covers libraries, constraints, BOMs, and manufacturing releases
  • Free and unlimited analog SPICE simulation
  • Graphical schematic capture with waveform viewing
  • Analog Devices models, demos, tutorials, and third-party model support
Cons
  • Paid product with no permanent free plan
  • The listed desktop platform is Windows
  • Electrical simulation is categorized as basic
  • Limited to Windows and macOS
  • Focused on analog circuits rather than broader drafting
  • No broader integration ecosystem is specified
Our verdict

Altium Designer is a Windows-based electronic and PCB design environment for engineers and hardware teams. It brings hierarchical and multi-channel schematic capture, interactive PCB routing, SPICE simulation, design-rule management,…

Read the review →

LTspice is a free desktop application from Analog Devices for designing and analyzing analog circuits. It combines graphical schematic capture, SPICE simulation, and waveform viewing in one workflow. The software is aimed at engineers,…

Read the review →
  1. Altium DesignerElectrical Design Software 7.330-day trial
  2. LTspiceElectrical Design Software 6.7Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Altium Designer — where it wins

    • Combines schematic capture, PCB layout, SPICE simulation, and 3D validation
    • Supports ECAD-MCAD synchronization with major CAD platforms
    • Covers libraries, constraints, BOMs, and manufacturing releases

    Where it doesn't

    • Paid product with no permanent free plan
    • The listed desktop platform is Windows
    • Electrical simulation is categorized as basic

  • LTspice — where it wins

    • Free and unlimited analog SPICE simulation
    • Graphical schematic capture with waveform viewing
    • Analog Devices models, demos, tutorials, and third-party model support

    Where it doesn't

    • Limited to Windows and macOS
    • Focused on analog circuits rather than broader drafting
    • No broader integration ecosystem is specified
  • Altium Designer7.3/10 · 30-day trial

    A broad PCB design environment for teams that need connected electrical and mechanical workflows.

    Visit AltiumFull verdict →
  • LTspice6.7/10 · Free plan

    A focused, free desktop tool for simulating and analyzing analog circuits.

    Visit LTspiceFull verdict →

More comparisons

All electrical design software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Sep 2026

Last updated · How we research and update