CAD · head to head
Altium 365 vs Arnold
Altium 365
CAD
Cloud workspace for Altium Designer PCB projects, now inside Renesas
- From
- $1990/year
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Altium 365 the 1,990 US dollar Altium Develop entry price is capped at five authors in total, so a growing team hits a forced migration to Agile Teams with unpublished pricing exactly when headcount is rising.; Arnold the Internet Archive's capture of Autodesk's Arnold overview page on 30 December 2022 stated a subscription can be installed on up to 3 computers or devices, though only the named user may run it on one machine at a time, and includes access to the 3 previous major versions.
- They diverge on capability: Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Arnold covers Ray tracing.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Altium 365 and Arnold actually diverge.
| Attribute | Altium 365 | Arnold |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $1990/year | $29/month |
| Pricing model | Per user per year | subscription |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise | Windows, MacOS, Linux |
| Founded | Unknown | 1998 |
Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (CAD).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Altium 365
- Shared workspace
- Managed components
- Browser review
- Unlimited workspace users
- MCAD CoDesigner
- Manufacturing portal
- Requirements Portal
- BOM Portal
Only in Arnold
- Ray tracing
- GPU rendering
- Production shading
- OSL
- Denoising
- Maya
- 3ds Max
- Cinema 4D
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Altium 365
- A hardware startup where two engineers draw boards but eight people need to review them, avoiding eight CAD seatsnot Arnold
- A team handing fabrication and assembly data to a contract manufacturer as a versioned release rather than a zip of Gerbersnot Arnold
- A company running board and enclosure design in parallel and needing bidirectional geometry exchange with mechanical CADnot Arnold
- A buyer checking component lifecycle and availability against the live BOM before a design is frozennot Arnold
Arnold
- Film productionnot Altium 365
- Animationnot Altium 365
- VFXnot Altium 365
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Altium 365
- The 1,990 US dollar Altium Develop entry price is capped at five authors in total, so a growing team hits a forced migration to Agile Teams with unpublished pricing exactly when headcount is rising.
- Add-on portals are expensive per seat; BOM Portal has been quoted at around 1,999 US dollars per user per year and MCAD CoDesigner at around 499, so the real cost of a working configuration is well above the headline.
- It is tied to Altium Designer; there is no meaningful use of the platform for teams designing in KiCad, OrCAD or Allegro, which makes it a lock-in decision rather than a tooling one.
- Renesas acquired Altium in 2024, and a semiconductor manufacturer owning the design tool used to select competing semiconductors is a conflict some buyers will want addressed in writing before uploading a library.
- Repeated repackaging, from Altium 365 Standard and Pro tiers to Altium Develop and Agile Teams, has made renewal comparisons difficult and customers have found their previous tier no longer maps to anything on the price list.
Arnold
- The Internet Archive's capture of Autodesk's Arnold overview page on 30 December 2022 stated a subscription can be installed on up to 3 computers or devices, though only the named user may run it on one machine at a time, and includes access to the 3 previous major versions.
Pricing, plan by plan
Altium 365
$1990/year- Altium Develop$1990/year
- One Altium Designer author licence
- One workspace for shared projects and libraries
- Unlimited workspace users for review, comment, tasks and BOM access
- Altium Agile Teams$undefined/year
- For teams beyond five ECAD authors
- Extended workspace governance and administration
- Quoted, no published price
- Enterprise$undefined/year
- On-premise or private cloud workspace server
- Formal ECO and lifecycle governance
- Quoted, no published price
Arnold
$29/month- Arnold$360/month
- Standalone renderer
Which should you pick?
Choose Altium 365 if
- You need shared workspace.
- You work on Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise.
- You also want managed components.
Choose Arnold if
- You need ray tracing.
- You work on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
- You also want gpu rendering.
Questions people ask
- Is Altium 365 or Arnold better?
- Neither clearly leads. Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and Arnold at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Altium 365 or Arnold?
- Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and Arnold at $29/month.
- Does Altium 365 or Arnold run on more platforms?
- Altium 365 runs on Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise. Arnold runs on Windows, MacOS, Linux.
- What is Altium 365 best used for?
- Altium 365 is most often used for a hardware startup where two engineers draw boards but eight people need to review them, avoiding eight cad seats, a team handing fabrication and assembly data to a contract manufacturer as a versioned release rather than a zip of gerbers, a company running board and enclosure design in parallel and needing bidirectional geometry exchange with mechanical cad, a buyer checking component lifecycle and availability against the live bom before a design is frozen. Of those, a hardware startup where two engineers draw boards but eight people need to review them, avoiding eight cad seats and a team handing fabrication and assembly data to a contract manufacturer as a versioned release rather than a zip of gerbers are not what Arnold is typically brought in for.
- What can Altium 365 do that Arnold cannot?
- Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Managed components, Browser review, Unlimited workspace users. Arnold covers Ray tracing, GPU rendering, Production shading, OSL.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Altium 365: Is Altium 365 free with Altium Designer?
A workspace is included with a current subscription, but the higher tiers, extra authors and the add-on portals are chargeable. The unlimited non-author users are genuinely included.
Arnold: How much does Autodesk Arnold cost?
Autodesk Arnold pricing is not published on the vendor website. Arnold is available through Autodesk subscription plans or standalone licensing. Customers should contact Autodesk directly for pricing quotes.
SourceAltium 365: What does it cost?
Altium Develop starts at about 1,990 US dollars a year for one author plus a workspace, with extra authors at 995 US dollars each up to four more. Larger teams are quoted.
Arnold: Is Arnold free for educational use?
Yes, Autodesk provides free educational licenses for Arnold to students and educators. Educational access allows learning of professional rendering capabilities at no cost.
SourceAltium 365: Who owns Altium now?
Renesas Electronics completed its acquisition of Altium in 2024. Altium 365 is therefore a Renesas-owned platform.
Arnold: What does Arnold render?
Autodesk Arnold is an industry-standard photorealistic rendering engine used for visual effects, animation, and design visualization. It supports GPU and CPU rendering with advanced features for film, television, and product design.
SourceAltium 365: Can I keep design data on my own servers?
Yes, through the Enterprise on-premise workspace server, but that is a quoted product and most of the newer portal features assume the hosted platform.
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