This page is intended to help users to chose between pcb-rnd and KiCad by providing an objective comparison on various properties.
Major features
property | pcb-rnd | KiCad |
---|---|---|
scope | printed circuit board editor | printed circuit board editor, schematics editor |
data model: footprint with no restriction | yes (subcircuits) - footprint can host anything a board can | no - (e.g. silk or paste polygon in footprint) |
data model: layer concept | flexible layer setup with type/location and positive/negative configured | somewhat hardwired layer stack |
native file format versions | loads and saves any old version; user is in full control of the file format and version on save | loads old versions, saves latest version, may require manual assistance on v4 -> v5 conversion |
ability to load/save other EDA file formats | kicad, eagle (xml and binary), PADS, protel/autotrax, geda/pcb, etc. | from version 5: eagle xml import |
Flexible Design Rule Checker (DRC) | yes - modular, user scriptable with dedicated, stable API, DRC scripts are easy to share; DRC rules from netlist import | partly - python scripts that rely extensively on KiCad APIs |
community and support | active, helpful, small but growing | large, the web is full of tutorials and resources |
import netlist formats | tEDAx (works with sch-rnd, xschem, gschem, lepton) and more than a 10+ other formats (e.g. orcad, protel, pads, accel, tinycad, ...) | its own netlist file format (from eeschema) |
footprint formats | various common footprint formats (including BXL, eagle xml/binary and geda/pcb), transparent format detection and load | from version 5: eagle xml import |
GUI support | gtk4+gl, gtk2+gl, gtk2+gdk, lesstif - runtime selectable, dynamic loadable plugins (does not require opengl) works down to 800x600 | requires opengl 2.1 requires at least 1280x1024 |
scripting | embedded scripting in 10 different languages (awk, lua, python, ruby, javascript, etc.) | python |
portability | Linux, BSD, windows and any UNIX system with motif (C89, no GNU dependency) | Linux, BSD, windows (no official support for anything else) |
license | GPL2+ | GPL3 |
Minor features
property | pcb-rnd | KiCad |
---|---|---|
translations | English only | multiple languages |
installation size (data from Debian buster) | small (below 10 megabytes) | large (60..80 megbaytes for the base package, 70 megabytes of footprints, 4500 megabytes of 3d models) |
hardware requirements | takes a few 10 megabytes of disk space, runs fine on a PI board with 512 megabytes of ram, no gfx card requirement | up to 10GB disk space, <=1GB ram, gfx card version requirements per card vendor |
software requirements | a C compiler; optional: gtk or motif for GUI, libxml2 for eagle | C++ compiler, vxwidgets, libgl*, python, boost |