Circuit EDA — KiCad compatible

Circuit EDA is a electronic design automation (EDA) suite for hardware engineers, electronics hobbyists, makers, students and IoT developers. It brings a modern, touch-friendly Flutter UI to the mature KiCad core, so you can open, inspect and design real PCB projects on your phone, tablet, laptop and desktop — using the very same files as KiCad.

100% KiCad file-format compatible

Circuit EDA reads and writes KiCad 9.x project files losslessly, including:

• Project files: .kicad_pro

• Schematics: .kicad_sch (hierarchical sheets supported)

• PCB layouts: .kicad_pcb (multi-layer, zones, stackup)

• Symbol libraries: .kicad_sym

• Footprint libraries: .kicad_mod / .pretty

• Design rules: .kicad_dru

• Drawing sheets: .kicad_wks

• Manufacturing data: Gerber (RS-274X) and Excellon drill files

You can move a project freely between Circuit EDA and desktop KiCad without conversion or data loss.

All KiCad sub-apps in one place

Circuit EDA mirrors the full KiCad workflow in a single, unified interface:

• Project Manager — open, create and browse .kicad_pro projects with a typed file tree, recent projects and quick actions

• Schematic Viewer & Editor — render full hierarchical schematics, with global search, ERC engine, BOM export and KiCad-format netlist export

• PCB Viewer & Editor — multi-layer rendering with zone fill, board stackup, multi-select, auxiliary origin, hover tooltips, ruler, layer visibility presets, custom layer colors, net length report and DRC

• Symbol Editor (MVP) and Footprint Editor (MVP)

• Symbol and Footprint Library Browsers — including a viewer for fp-lib-table / sym-lib-table

• Page Layout / Drawing Sheet Browser (PL Editor MVP)

• Gerber Viewer — RS-274X + Excellon drill overlay, KiCad-compatible z-ordering

• PCB Calculator — 7 KiCad-equivalent tools

• Pseudo-3D Board Preview

• Unified Export Hub — generate PDF, SVG, DXF, BOM, netlist, drill and pick-and-place files in one wizard

• Drill chart CSV, Pick & Place CSV with auxiliary-origin and Y-mirror support

• Settings — including a KiCad classic theme

Cross-platform from day one

The same project, the same files, on every device:

• Android phones and tablets — review designs on the go, share Gerbers with your fab

• iOS / iPadOS — touch-friendly viewing and lightweight editing

• Windows, macOS and Linux desktop

• Web

Built for performance

• GPU-accelerated rendering (Impeller / Skia)

• BVH-based hit-testing for fast selection on dense PCBs

• Engineered to keep large boards smooth while panning and zooming

Engineering-grade analysis

• ERC (Electrical Rules Check) engine, cross-sheet

• DRC (Design Rules Check) on PCB, with rules auto-injected from .kicad_dru and .kicad_pro net classes

• BOM engine, cross-sheet

• Net length report, ratsnest, and global Find (Ctrl+F) for both PCB and schematic

Command-line ready

A built-in CLI exposes the most common KiCad-style automation:

• check {drc,erc}

• nets {list,ratsnest}

• export {bom,svg,dxf,pdf,drill,netlist,pnp}

Great for CI pipelines, batch fabrication output and headless servers.

Open source & vendor-neutral

Circuit EDA is licensed under GPL-3.0-or-later, the same license as KiCad. There is no subscription, no closed plug-in store, and no lock-in. Your designs stay in open formats you can read, diff and version-control forever.

Note: Circuit EDA is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the KiCad project or the KiCad Services Corporation. "KiCad" is a trademark of its respective owners and is used here only to describe file-format and feature compatibility.