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Altium Develop vs. National Instruments LabVIEW

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Altium Develop

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/AAltium Develop is a platform that unifies multidisciplinary teams across engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing to support seamless co-creation. It provides real-time visibility into designs, requirements, and supply chain data, enabling contributors to work together concurrently rather than in silos.

    $995

    per year per seat

    LabVIEW

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/ANational Instruments headquartered in Austin offers LabVIEW, a systems engineering software platform and toolkit.

    $407

    per year

    Pricing
    Altium DevelopLabVIEW
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    LabView Base
    $407
    per year
    LabView Full
    3,206
    per year
    LabView Professional
    5,344
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Altium DevelopLabVIEW
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Altium DevelopLabVIEW
    Computer-Aided Design Software
    Comparison of Computer-Aided Design Software features of Altium Develop and National Instruments LabVIEW
    Feature
    Altium Develop
    -
    Ratings
    National Instruments LabVIEW
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Rendering and Visualization00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Parametric Design00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Collaboration and Sharing00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Compatibility with other software and formats00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Assembly Design00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Simulation and Analysis00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Documentation and Annotation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Customization and Extensions00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
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    Altium DevelopLabVIEW
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    Onshape
    Score10 out of 10
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    Onshape
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    Enterprises
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    User Ratings
    Altium DevelopLabVIEW
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (27 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.4
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    7.4
    (25 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.6
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.7
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    2.7
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Altium DevelopLabVIEW
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Altium
    For general PCB design, rigid flex PCB design, and multi-layer PCB design, Altium Designer is the best software to use on the market. The simple movement between board layers and easy component placement are what sets it apart from other similar software. When designing our PCBs for industry, it is easily capable of suiting all of our needs.
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    LabView is a great tool to connect your sensors to your data aquisition hardware. It makes it really easy to set-up a data acquisition routine that meets your individual requirements. I, as an engine researcher, find it very well suited for engine experimentation. For any other programming needs, i.e. not data acquisition, I would not recommend using LabView because of its graphical programming architecture. The architecture makes it a great tool for Data Aquisition but puts at a disadvantage when it comes to other computational tasks, e.g. making a thermodynamic engine model. For those applications having text-based programming is better suited
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Altium
    • BOM management - with just a little bit of extra care any designer produces a usable bom along with their pcb design ready to be ordered
    • 365 - being able to view and review (placing comments) projects without the need to have the software installed locally
    • Multi-pcb projects
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    • Being a graphical programming language, it is a little easier for a layperson to understand than text based programming languages.
    • The program has very good debugging features.
    • Support is good.
    • There are a variety of tutorials which make it easier to do something that you aren't sure about.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Altium
    • The tools organization section has too many tools that are easy to lose.
    • Save settings for multi-projects and reuse settings from other projects in new ones.
    • Better import final designs into multiple formats (details are often lost when imported into CAD formats).
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    NI (National Instruments)
    • improve the management of pc resources to use the minimum amount of resources
    • add a utility for zooming in the block diagram window
    • Improve management of complementary applications, such as real time module or dsc
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Altium
    ALTIUM DESIGNER is the reference tool in the electronic circuit design sector, its use is widespread worldwide. Although there are other alternatives, some of them free do not rival ALTIUM DESIGNER in terms of features and reliability. It is also very practical to request quotes with ALTIUM DESIGNER BOM reports since all suppliers are accustomed to using the tool.
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Altium
    For beginners, Altium 365 is extremely accessible because of its friendly UI and thorough documentation regarding how the software should be used. For professional engineers, Altium 365 lays out all advanced features that could ever be needed in a PCB project. Thus, Altium 365 makes it easy to transition from other ECAD software to this one.
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Altium
    Not very stable. Sudden lack of functionality when the license expires is not indicated clearly and can lead to loss of work.
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Altium
    I use the educational Program. And so far is the best technical support. Every time that I need one or I have a question. They respond so far and with excellent advice.
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Altium
    easy to follow, Good technical materials. good videos The platform is easy to use.
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Altium
    Some times it is slow down PC due to polygons
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Altium
    Altium offers much better features and usability over Proteus. Proteus also has certain limitations in what it can achieve, so that leaves it behind. Same with KiCad, while it is easier to use, and quite an amazing software for a freeware, it lacks certain features which makes it harder for us to use. OrCAD offers a lot of features, great focus on signal integrity, but the ease of use is non-existent
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    We chose LabVIEW over MATLAB due to the integration with hardware and the graphical programming interface. Also, the ability to use LabVIEW with FPGAs and real-time processors without having to make large changes to the code base or swapping to a separate programming environment was a big benefit since we don't know what hardware will be suitable for each customer application.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Altium
    Because, in my opinion, usage for small organization is poor, it is difficult to set up initial configuration to support scaling.
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Altium
    • I can only guess, but I think the investment, at least for real industry, is a no-brainer. The labor savings are obvious and far over the outlay.
    • To be more specific, the time saved on component selection/procurement is phenomenal. I will no longer waste days poring over catalogs and websites.
    • The biggest downside I know of is the time spent explaining the above to the accounts department because, let's face it, it's still pretty spendy.
    Incentivized
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    NI (National Instruments)
    • We use NI's data acquisition hardware as well which has made it possible to get whatever experimental data we need to get for our studies.
    • LabView has made it possible for us to post-process and tailor the raw data to our specific needs.
    • With a responsive customer support team, NI allows us to expand our data acquisition and post-processing capabilities to carry out the kind of research projects that we would want.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Altium Develop Screenshots

    Screenshot of the 3D View Editor in Altium Develop that transforms the standard 2D PCB workspace into a fully interactive, three‑dimensional design environment. Users can toggle between 2D and 3D modes, then zoom, pan, and rotate the board freely using tools like a directional sphere for precise pivot control and adjust display settings (such as transparency or coloring) via the View Configuration panel to visually explore and inspect PCB layouts in realistic detail.Screenshot of Project History in Altium Develop, which provides a browser-based, visually chronological timeline of a project's key events such as: creation, commits, releases, clones, and MCAD exchanges offering version control transparency directly within workspace.Screenshot of Altium Develop's unified design environment built on a single data model. From schematic capture to PCB layout, routing, and assembly preparation, every step flows seamlessly. Smart placement and routing features make complex designs faster, easier, and more reliable.Screenshot of ActiveBOM, which is a dynamic, table-based Bill of Materials (BOM) editor integrated into Altium Develop that elevates component management to a real-time, design-aware process. It automatically aggregates supply chain data such as pricing, stock, lifecycle status, and lead times - from sources like Octopart and IHS Markit, enabling parts selection, alternates, cost calculation, rule-based verification, and traceability - within the same environment as the schematic and PCB design.Screenshot of BOM Portal, which is a cloud-native, procurement-focused tool within Altium Develop that transforms traditional Excel-like Bill of Materials (BOM) workflows by integrating live supply chain, compliance, and pricing data. It enables collaboration between engineering and procurement, helps identify supply risks like obsolescence or shortages, supports BOM consolidation and alternates, and ensures thorough version control and traceability bridging design to manufacturing with real-time visibility and control.Screenshot of Workspace Projects, which provide a cloud-native, version-controlled hub within Altium Develop that simplifies electronic project management with centralized storage, collaboration, and built-in Git-based version control. This interface enables real-time design navigation (including schematic, 2D/3D PCB, BOM, and Draftsman views), task tracking, release and manufacturing management, historical timeline review, and sharing.