Compare · electrical pcb design

Altium Designer VS KiCad_

As of 4 November 2026, KiCad is named by 507 companies and Altium Designer by 1,717; Altium Designer skews to companies under 200 people (51% vs 66%), KiCad to companies over 1,000 (15% vs 26%).

As of 4 November 2026 · refreshed daily · counts move as websites, DNS and career sites are re-read.

The website-and-DNS footprint is not comparable between a marketing suite and a CRM: Altium Designer's script and mail records show on hundreds of thousands of small sites, KiCad rarely leaves a trace outside its own apps. Compare on the job-posting numbers; use the footprint for reach.

Altium Designer: 2–200 employees
51%
KiCad: 2–200 employees
66%
Altium Designer: 1,000+ employees
26%
KiCad: 1,000+ employees
15%
Postings per company, 90 days
2.5 · 1.6
Website or DNS footprint
0 · 0
1,717companies name Altium Designer
507companies name KiCad
491name both
4,294 · 825postings in 90 days, Altium Designer · KiCad
02 — Side by side

Who chooses which

Share of each tool's companies in every segment. "Leans" marks a gap of more than two points.

By company size
SegmentAltium DesignershareKiCadshareLeans
Self-employed402%224%KiCad
2-10 employees20012%10621%KiCad
11-50 employees25315%10721%KiCad
51-200 employees41524%12124%even
201-500 employees23514%5210%Altium Designer
501-1000 employees1257%224%Altium Designer
1001-5000 employees20912%367%Altium Designer
5001-10000 employees603%143%even
10,001+ employees18010%275%Altium Designer
By industry
SegmentAltium DesignershareKiCadshareLeans
Manufacturing & industry1,00158%25951%Altium Designer
Technology & software22413%8617%KiCad
Business & finance services18511%5110%even
Automotive644%102%even
Public, community & associations503%275%KiCad
Utilities & infrastructure422%153%even
Commerce & trade362%61%even
Consumer services & leisure342%133%even
Media & content241%143%even
Transport, logistics & rental221%82%even
Property & construction211%92%even
Health care111%61%even
By country
SegmentAltium DesignershareKiCadshareLeans
United States1,04661%29558%Altium Designer
Germany1298%438%even
United Kingdom855%184%even
France583%235%even
Canada433%163%even
India402%173%even
Sweden302%71%even
Netherlands241%102%even
Switzerland221%––outside top 12
Spain211%51%even
Poland201%––outside top 12
Australia161%51%even
Brazil––41%outside top 12
Czechia––41%outside top 12
Postings by team (share of each tool's postings)
SegmentAltium DesignershareKiCadshareLeans
Engineering (non-software)4,71486%83776%Altium Designer
Software engineering2334%515%even
Sales571%30%even
manufacturing and production501%10%even
IT operations & business systems391%81%even
skilled trades and field service361%151%even
Quality, safety & environment220%61%even
Unclassified170%61%even
Product, program & project management150%40%even
Design & UX100%––outside top 12
research and science100%71%even
Data & AI60%30%even
Education & training60%383%KiCad
Marketing & communications60%10%even
arts media and entertainment40%––outside top 12
Customer service & success30%20%even
construction and civil20%––outside top 12
Human resources20%10%even
Administration & office10%20%even
Business development & strategy10%––outside top 12
logistics warehouse and transport10%––outside top 12
procurement and purchasing10%––outside top 12
Travel, leisure & events––40%outside top 12
healthcare clinical––30%outside top 12
hospitality and food service––30%outside top 12
Finance & accounting––10%outside top 12
General management & consulting––10%outside top 12
Legal, compliance & risk––10%outside top 12
real estate and property––10%outside top 12
social care and community––10%outside top 12
Cite this

Quote the sentence with the date and the link. The numbers change daily; the link always shows the current ones.

KiCad is named by 507 companies in job postings and Altium Designer by 1,717; 491 name both. (Breaknorm, 4 November 2026, https://breaknorm.co/compare/altium-designer-vs-kicad)
How we know

Read from the source, not self-reported

Every number on this page can be traced to a page we crawled or a posting we read. Full methodology →

  • Job postingsRead hourly from career sites. A tool counts when the employer's own text names it as the team's system; both tools can count for one company.
  • Website and DNSScripts and embeds on the company's pages, plus SPF, DKIM, MX and CNAME records of its domain that point at the vendor.
  • SegmentsCountry, size and industry from the company profile built from its website.
  • Not a reviewNo ratings, prices or feature claims. For those, read the vendors.
FAQ

Altium Designer vs KiCad: questions

Which is more used, Altium Designer or KiCad?

By companies naming it in their own job postings, Altium Designer (1,717) over KiCad (507). By website-and-DNS footprint, KiCad (0 vs 0), because its scripts and mail records sit on many small company sites.

Who chooses Altium Designer?

51% of Altium Designer companies have 2 to 200 employees, against 66% for KiCad. 26% of Altium Designer companies have over 1,000 employees, against 15% for KiCad.

Do companies run both?

491 companies name both in their postings, usually Altium Designer in marketing and KiCad in sales, or during a migration.

Where do these numbers come from?

From the employer's own text in job postings read hourly from career sites, and from scripts found on company websites in our crawl. No vendor data, no surveys.

Companies and people

Get either list your way

The same data as a search, over MCP and the API, as bulk files, or pushed to you as it changes.

Every company on either tool,
with the person who owns it

Filter on Altium Designer or KiCad, and get 1,000 records free.

  1. 01Sign up, no card
  2. 02Connect Claude, ChatGPT or an API key
  3. 03Ask for your market, 1,000 records free