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
Who chooses which
Share of each tool's companies in every segment. "Leans" marks a gap of more than two points.
| Segment | Altium Designer | share | KiCad | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employed | 40 | 2% | 22 | 4% | KiCad |
| 2-10 employees | 200 | 12% | 106 | 21% | KiCad |
| 11-50 employees | 253 | 15% | 107 | 21% | KiCad |
| 51-200 employees | 415 | 24% | 121 | 24% | even |
| 201-500 employees | 235 | 14% | 52 | 10% | Altium Designer |
| 501-1000 employees | 125 | 7% | 22 | 4% | Altium Designer |
| 1001-5000 employees | 209 | 12% | 36 | 7% | Altium Designer |
| 5001-10000 employees | 60 | 3% | 14 | 3% | even |
| 10,001+ employees | 180 | 10% | 27 | 5% | Altium Designer |
| Segment | Altium Designer | share | KiCad | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing & industry | 1,001 | 58% | 259 | 51% | Altium Designer |
| Technology & software | 224 | 13% | 86 | 17% | KiCad |
| Business & finance services | 185 | 11% | 51 | 10% | even |
| Automotive | 64 | 4% | 10 | 2% | even |
| Public, community & associations | 50 | 3% | 27 | 5% | KiCad |
| Utilities & infrastructure | 42 | 2% | 15 | 3% | even |
| Commerce & trade | 36 | 2% | 6 | 1% | even |
| Consumer services & leisure | 34 | 2% | 13 | 3% | even |
| Media & content | 24 | 1% | 14 | 3% | even |
| Transport, logistics & rental | 22 | 1% | 8 | 2% | even |
| Property & construction | 21 | 1% | 9 | 2% | even |
| Health care | 11 | 1% | 6 | 1% | even |
| Segment | Altium Designer | share | KiCad | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,046 | 61% | 295 | 58% | Altium Designer |
| Germany | 129 | 8% | 43 | 8% | even |
| United Kingdom | 85 | 5% | 18 | 4% | even |
| France | 58 | 3% | 23 | 5% | even |
| Canada | 43 | 3% | 16 | 3% | even |
| India | 40 | 2% | 17 | 3% | even |
| Sweden | 30 | 2% | 7 | 1% | even |
| Netherlands | 24 | 1% | 10 | 2% | even |
| Switzerland | 22 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Spain | 21 | 1% | 5 | 1% | even |
| Poland | 20 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Australia | 16 | 1% | 5 | 1% | even |
| Brazil | – | – | 4 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Czechia | – | – | 4 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Segment | Altium Designer | share | KiCad | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering (non-software) | 4,714 | 86% | 837 | 76% | Altium Designer |
| Software engineering | 233 | 4% | 51 | 5% | even |
| Sales | 57 | 1% | 3 | 0% | even |
| manufacturing and production | 50 | 1% | 1 | 0% | even |
| IT operations & business systems | 39 | 1% | 8 | 1% | even |
| skilled trades and field service | 36 | 1% | 15 | 1% | even |
| Quality, safety & environment | 22 | 0% | 6 | 1% | even |
| Unclassified | 17 | 0% | 6 | 1% | even |
| Product, program & project management | 15 | 0% | 4 | 0% | even |
| Design & UX | 10 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| research and science | 10 | 0% | 7 | 1% | even |
| Data & AI | 6 | 0% | 3 | 0% | even |
| Education & training | 6 | 0% | 38 | 3% | KiCad |
| Marketing & communications | 6 | 0% | 1 | 0% | even |
| arts media and entertainment | 4 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Customer service & success | 3 | 0% | 2 | 0% | even |
| construction and civil | 2 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Human resources | 2 | 0% | 1 | 0% | even |
| Administration & office | 1 | 0% | 2 | 0% | even |
| Business development & strategy | 1 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| logistics warehouse and transport | 1 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| procurement and purchasing | 1 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Travel, leisure & events | – | – | 4 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| healthcare clinical | – | – | 3 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| hospitality and food service | – | – | 3 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Finance & accounting | – | – | 1 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| General management & consulting | – | – | 1 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Legal, compliance & risk | – | – | 1 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| real estate and property | – | – | 1 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| social care and community | – | – | 1 | 0% | outside top 12 |
The companies behind each column
Companies using Altium Designer →
Companies using KiCad →
electrical pcb design ranked →
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)
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.
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.
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.