CAD · head to head
Altium 365 vs Siemens NX
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Develop entry price is capped at five authors in total, so a growing team hits a forced migration to Agile Teams with unpublished pricing exactly when headcount is rising.; Siemens NX siemens NX offers only a 30-day free trial with no published subscription or perpetual license price; buyers must go through a sales process to get pricing, per the vendor's own product page.
- They diverge on capability: Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Siemens NX covers Advanced CAD.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Altium 365 and Siemens NX actually diverge.
| Attribute | Altium 365 | Siemens NX |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $1990/year | $29/month |
| Pricing model | Per user per year | subscription |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise | Windows, Linux |
| Founded | Unknown | 1963 |
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 Siemens NX
- Advanced CAD
- CAM programming
- CAE simulation
- Additive manufacturing
- Sheet metal
- Mold design
- Industrial machinery
- Teamcenter PLM
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 Siemens NX
- A team handing fabrication and assembly data to a contract manufacturer as a versioned release rather than a zip of Gerbersnot Siemens NX
- A company running board and enclosure design in parallel and needing bidirectional geometry exchange with mechanical CADnot Siemens NX
- A buyer checking component lifecycle and availability against the live BOM before a design is frozennot Siemens NX
Siemens NX
- Enterprise product designnot Altium 365
- Manufacturingnot Altium 365
- Simulationnot 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.
Siemens NX
- Siemens NX offers only a 30-day free trial with no published subscription or perpetual license price; buyers must go through a sales process to get pricing, per the vendor's own product page.
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
Siemens NX
$29/month- NX Design$4500/month
- CAD design
- Core modeling
- NX CAM$5500/month
- Manufacturing programming
- NX Complete$8500/month
- Full suite
- CAD/CAM/CAE
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 Siemens NX if
- You need advanced cad.
- You work on Windows, Linux.
- You also want cam programming.
Questions people ask
- Is Altium 365 or Siemens NX better?
- Neither clearly leads. Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and Siemens NX at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Altium 365 or Siemens NX?
- Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and Siemens NX at $29/month.
- Does Altium 365 or Siemens NX run on more platforms?
- Altium 365 runs on Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise. Siemens NX runs on Windows, 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 Siemens NX is typically brought in for.
- What can Altium 365 do that Siemens NX cannot?
- Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Managed components, Browser review, Unlimited workspace users. Siemens NX covers Advanced CAD, CAM programming, CAE simulation, Additive manufacturing.
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.
Siemens NX: Does Siemens NX offer a free trial?
Yes, Siemens offers a 30-day free trial of both Designcenter CAD and NX CAM software that is fully functional. Users can get a hands-on feel for the software without any financial commitment before purchasing.
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.
Siemens NX: Is NX free for students?
Yes, Siemens offers free CAD/CAM Student Edition access to Designcenter and NX for students and educators. Academic offerings are available for those in educational institutions.
SourceAltium 365: Who owns Altium now?
Renesas Electronics completed its acquisition of Altium in 2024. Altium 365 is therefore a Renesas-owned platform.
Siemens NX: What licensing options does NX provide for different business sizes?
Siemens offers scalable licensing for startups, mid-size companies, and multinational corporations. Designcenter and NX CAM support flexible team-based licensing to match organizational size and manufacturing needs.
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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