AutoTRAX PCB Design Express (DEX) is a competitor for KiCAD because, although not free, it’s cheap enough for hobbyists and non-professionals to afford.
I’ve played about with it in the past, and was impressed by the high degree of integration between the different functions (KiCAD still feels like a suite of separate apps) and the clear, modern UI. To me it felt more polished than KiCAD.
The reason I never pursued it seriously is because the simulation features were an absolute joke - the author (I believe the whole thing is the work of one person) seems quite proud of the simulation facility, but I found it to be buggy, laggy, and with the feel of something thrown together to tick a box. Last time I checked (three of four years ago) it was the one area of DEX that felt unfinished and unpolished.
Does anyone have an opinion on how DEX and KiCAD compare?
MS Windows only for a start.
Our developers put a huge effort is keeping KiCad cross platform. Dealing with the dependency oddities of various Linux distributions and Apples moving target explains a lot of why KiCads user interface is not as good as some would like
On the contrary, these are signs of healthy software) without glitches and curvature, which has not been corrected for years) there is competition there)
Yes, it’s strange. I suspect the user base is pretty small, although presumably big enough to keep the developer in sandwiches.
I say “strange” because it seems like an impressive piece of work, and I don’t suppose the brain dead simulation feature would put many people off.
davidsrsb’s comments about “Windows only” are interesting; perhaps lots of PCB designers prefer Linux, or even Apple.
Claudio says the open-source principle is important to him, although I wouldn’t have thought that’s a big factor for most people. I expect for most users it’s about the combination of functionality and price, rather than the license.
nickmBY writes “I’m old enough to make my own decisions”, but I’m afraid I’ve no idea what that means.
I note that several DEX users report an unsatisfactory relationship with the developer (that includes me, when I tried to discuss the simulation feature), and I suspect that is probably a big factor in putting PCB designers off DEX.
Based on the available information I would forget DEX. It may or may not be technically adequate but practically it’s just not justifiable. If you need help for it you are out of luck. It’s hard to find anybody who uses it. If you want to share your design it’s no good. If you want a job it’s not a merit. You can do your own designs with it but that’s it. And you have to pay even though it wouldn’t be much. If KiCad doesn’t feel good for you, at least find some well known popular alternative. That’s my honest opinion.
Thanks, eelik, I appreciate your thoughts. I am committed to using KiCAD, but I like to keep an eye on possible alternatives: I don’t religiously commit to any particular software product. DEX creates a good first impression, but the lack of support, the tiny user base, and its almost invisible profile render it a dead end for me.
All this can be said about kicad… There is also an easyeda that is developing and is falling in China… Today, if you want to find a good job or are guaranteed to make a complex project, then you need to study altium… If this is not necessary and you, as an amateur, then you can use everything you like… This applies to other cad solid autocad and TDs.
Well, it can be a great tool, the number of users is not a measurement of the quality.
Anyway this is a forum of Kicad users helping Kicad users. I do not need to compare it with any other tool. Good luck to DEX, Easyeda, Altium, Eagle, Horizon, FreePCB, Cadstar, OrCad and all the tools out there.
Are you serious? KiCad has huge user base and you can find help for it easily. As for a merit for a job: of course it’s not a serious contender to Altium or other big boys. But as an anecdote, I have worked in three companies related to technology and in two of them we used KiCad. In the third our team had nothing to do with PCB design.
At least here in Finland almost everybody who knows PCB design at least knows KiCad exists, and it’s used in many small companies. It’s used in educational institutions. I wouldn’t say the same about DEX.
