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CAD · head to head

Altium 365 vs SolveSpace

Altium 365 logo

Altium 365

CAD

Cloud workspace for Altium Designer PCB projects, now inside Renesas

From
$1990/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
S

SolveSpace

CAD

Open source parametric CAD with a constraint solver in a few megabytes

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only SolveSpace has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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Develop entry price is capped at five authors in total, so a growing team hits a forced migration to Agile Teams with unpublished pricing exactly when headcount is rising.; SolveSpace the in-house geometry kernel fails on complex boolean operations and fillets, and the failure is sometimes silent bad geometry rather than an error message, so models must be checked before export or manufacture.
  • They diverge on capability: Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, SolveSpace covers Constraint solver.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Altium 365 and SolveSpace differ
AttributeAltium 365SolveSpace
Starting price$1990/yearFree
Pricing modelPer user per yearOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Cloud, On-premiseWindows, macOS, Linux

Identical on both: 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 SolveSpace

  • Constraint solver
  • Solid modelling
  • Assemblies
  • Export formats
  • Cross-platform
  • Small footprint

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

SolveSpace

  • Designing 3D printed parts on a machine that cannot run mainstream CADnot Altium 365
  • Teaching constraint-based parametric modelling without buying licences for a classroomnot Altium 365
  • Checking that a mechanical linkage moves as intended before cutting metalnot Altium 365
  • Producing dimensionally accurate STEP or STL output from a small open source toolchainnot 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.

SolveSpace

  • The in-house geometry kernel fails on complex boolean operations and fillets, and the failure is sometimes silent bad geometry rather than an error message, so models must be checked before export or manufacture.
  • There is no proper drawing and dimensioning workflow, so manufacturing documentation has to be produced in another application.
  • Development is volunteer-led and intermittent; long gaps between releases are normal and there is no support contract available at any price.
  • Assembly-level import of external CAD is very limited, so it does not fit a supply chain that exchanges native or assembly-level models with suppliers.
  • The interface follows its own conventions rather than mainstream CAD ones, so existing SolidWorks or Fusion users spend time unlearning habits for a tool with a lower ceiling.

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

SolveSpace

Free
  • SolveSpaceFree
    • Full application under the GPL
    • No seat limit
    • Windows, macOS and Linux builds

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 SolveSpace if

  • You need constraint solver.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want solid modelling.
SolveSpace review

Questions people ask

Is Altium 365 or SolveSpace better?
Neither clearly leads. Altium 365 starts at $1990/year and SolveSpace at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Altium 365 or SolveSpace?
SolveSpace has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $1990/year for Altium 365 and Free for SolveSpace.
Does Altium 365 or SolveSpace run on more platforms?
Altium 365 runs on Web, Windows, Cloud, On-premise. SolveSpace runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Can I use SolveSpace for free?
Yes. SolveSpace has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Altium 365 starts at $1990/year.
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 SolveSpace is typically brought in for.
What can Altium 365 do that SolveSpace cannot?
Altium 365 covers Shared workspace, Managed components, Browser review, Unlimited workspace users. SolveSpace covers Constraint solver, Solid modelling, Assemblies, Export formats.

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.

SolveSpace: Is it really free for commercial work?

Yes. It is released under the GPL with no licence fee and no seat limit. Support is community only.

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.

SolveSpace: Can it replace Fusion 360 or SolidWorks?

No. It handles parts and simple assemblies well. Complex geometry, drawings and supply chain interoperability are outside its range.

Altium 365: Who owns Altium now?

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

SolveSpace: What hardware does it need?

Very little. It runs on old laptops and small Linux machines where mainstream CAD will not start.

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.

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