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CAD · head to head

Altium 365 vs Propel

Altium 365 logo

Altium 365

CAD

Cloud workspace for Altium Designer PCB projects, now inside Renesas

From
$1990/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Propel logo

Propel

Manufacturing

PLM, quality and product information management built on the Salesforce platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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Develop entry price is capped at five authors in total, so a growing team hits a forced migration to Agile Teams with unpublished pricing exactly when headcount is rising.; Propel your product data lives in a Salesforce org, so a future decision to leave Salesforce becomes a PLM migration as well as a CRM one, and the extraction is not trivial.
  • They diverge on capability: Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Propel covers Item and BOM management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Altium 365 and Propel actually diverge.

Attributes where Altium 365 and Propel differ
AttributeAltium 365Propel
Starting price$1990/yearOn request
Pricing modelPer user per yearquote
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Cloud, On-premiseWeb, iOS, Android, Cloud, API
CategoryCADManufacturing

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Propel

  • Item and BOM management
  • Change management
  • Quality management
  • Product information management
  • Supplier collaboration
  • Native Salesforce
  • Licence types

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 Propel
  • A team handing fabrication and assembly data to a contract manufacturer as a versioned release rather than a zip of Gerbersnot Propel
  • A company running board and enclosure design in parallel and needing bidirectional geometry exchange with mechanical CADnot Propel
  • A buyer checking component lifecycle and availability against the live BOM before a design is frozennot Propel

Propel

  • A medical device company needing linked design control and CAPA records for an ISO 13485 audit without an on-premise PLM programmenot Altium 365
  • A consumer products firm publishing the same product record to engineering, packaging and e-commerce teamsnot Altium 365
  • A company already standardised on Salesforce that wants product data governed with the same admin skills as the CRMnot Altium 365
  • A hardware manufacturer routing customer complaints straight to the part revision and supplier that caused themnot 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.

Propel

  • Your product data lives in a Salesforce org, so a future decision to leave Salesforce becomes a PLM migration as well as a CRM one, and the extraction is not trivial.
  • CAD data management is handled through connectors rather than natively; Propel manages metadata and files well but is not a substitute for a CAD vault on large assemblies.
  • The published cost bands are extremely wide, from 10,000 to 500,000 US dollars a year, and setup can approach the annual licence, so early budgeting without a scoped quote is close to meaningless.
  • Licence roles are split across Performance, Quality, Enrichment, Collaboration and Partner types, and buyers frequently discover mid-project that a user needs a more expensive role than budgeted.
  • Salesforce platform limits such as governor limits, API call ceilings and storage allowances apply, and organisations with very large BOMs or heavy integration traffic hit them in ways a purpose-built PLM would not surface.

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

Propel

On request
  • Propel$undefined/year
    • Annual user-based licensing in role types
    • Salesforce platform access included in each licence
    • Indicative small deployment band of 10,000 to 150,000 USD a year plus 10,000 to 25,000 setup

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.
Altium 365 review

Choose Propel if

  • You need item and bom management.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud, API.
  • You also want change management.
Propel review

Questions people ask

Is Altium 365 or Propel better?
Neither clearly leads. Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and Propel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Altium 365 or Propel?
Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and Propel at On request.
Does Altium 365 or Propel run on more platforms?
Altium 365 runs on Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise. Propel runs on Web, iOS, Android, Cloud, API.
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 Propel is typically brought in for.
What can Altium 365 do that Propel cannot?
Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Managed components, Browser review, Unlimited workspace users. Propel covers Item and BOM management, Change management, Quality management, Product information management.

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.

Propel: Do I need to buy Salesforce separately?

No. Each Propel licence includes Salesforce platform access, and end users do not need their own Salesforce licences or Salesforce expertise.

Altium 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.

Propel: Does being on Salesforce lock me in?

Practically, yes. The application, its configuration and your product data all sit in a Salesforce org, which is a real consideration at renewal.

Altium 365: Who owns Altium now?

Renesas Electronics completed its acquisition of Altium in 2024. Altium 365 is therefore a Renesas-owned platform.

Propel: What does it cost?

Propel publishes indicative bands rather than list prices: roughly 10,000 to 150,000 US dollars a year for a small deployment and 250,000 to 500,000 for a large one, plus setup.

Altium 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.

Propel: Is it suitable for regulated medical devices?

Yes, that is a core segment; the quality module covers CAPA, non-conformance, audits and training records with electronic signatures.

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