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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Altair Inspire

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AAltair Inspire, developed by SolidThinking which was acquired by Altair, is software for Generative Design/Topology Optimization, and rapid simulation solution for design engineers. It is designed to enhance the concept development process by enabling simulation-driven design to increase a product’s efficiency, strength and manufacturability. This can lead to reduced costs, development time, material consumption, and product weight.N/A

    KiCad EDA

    Score7.8 out of 10
    N/AKiCad EDA is a Cross Platform and Open Source Electronics Design Automation Suite. KiCad's PCB Editor is built to be approachable enough to make the first PCB design easy, and powerful enough for complex modern designs. Its interactive router and improved visualization and selection tools make layout tasks easier.N/A
    Pricing
    Altair InspireKiCad EDA
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Altair InspireKiCad EDA
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    Altair InspireKiCad EDA
    Small Businesses
    Onshape
    Score9.9 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Onshape
    Score9.9 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    PTC Creo
    Score5.5 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Altair InspireKiCad EDA
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Altair InspireKiCad EDA
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Altair Engineering, Inc.
    This software is incredibly intuitive and really does provide a great finished product. The software runs relatively quickly and will usually throw an error right away, which is a nice feature. I didn't use the geometry editing parts of the software, but it looks promising to be able to edit files directly in the program.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    KiCad is great for learning and getting started with Hardware design because its open source and easy to work with. Besides this its interface is simple and easy to understand. I have used KiCad personally for simple projects as more complex projects are harder to do in KiCad. The simplicity allows to me to do my work quick
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Altair Engineering, Inc.
    • Defining the actuators, pin joints, sliding joints is very easy.
    • Defining a motion sequence is straightforward.
    • The UI tends to make you follow a sequence of steps to be successful in doing a motion simulation and finite element analysis study on a design.
    • The motion simulation results are automatically transferred to the FEA solver.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • User Interface
    • Open source
    • Component import
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Altair Engineering, Inc.
    • I think the tools to create CAD are a bit difficult to use. Consequently, it is now easier to develop the part in other software, which is bad since we need to use more than one tool at a time.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • Design rules
    • Limited libraries
    • Large custom libraries
    • Version control
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Altair Engineering, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Open Source
    KiCad is great for learning and getting started with Hardware design because its open source and easy to work with. Besides this its interface is simple and easy to understand. I have used KiCad personally for simple projects as more complex projects are harder to do in KiCad. The simplicity allows to me to do my work quick.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Altair Engineering, Inc.
    When I needed clarification on how do use a feature or best way to define the constraints for a design problem, the response was quick and solved my needs.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Altair Engineering, Inc.
    Working Model, MathCad, Dynamic Designer, Algor, and Mathlab had poor UI's and poor ways to define actuator and motor motion profiles. The force results and vectors were not easy to input into the FEA software. SOLIDWORKS Motion does not have an excellent way to define a linear actuator or its motion profile. Altair provides a UI that guides you through defining your linear actuator or motor's motion profile quickly.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    I use nowadays mainly ALTIUM because of its advanced features for complex projects. Altium has many more benefits but on the other hand it depends on the complexity. For simple project I recommend KiCad because its open-source, easy to learn and work with. Therefore I would recommend KiCad is more then sufficient for easy less complex projects
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Altair Engineering, Inc.
    • In my personal opinion, we think that this product does not have any negative aspect that makes us feel very uncomfortable.
    Incentivized
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    Open Source
    • PCB Client Projects
    • More Electronic designers
    • Open source
    • Missing advanced features for complex projects
    Incentivized
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