Altium

What Altium does

Altium is a global provider of electronics design software and cloud-based collaboration platforms, best known for its flagship Altium Designer PCB design tool, which unifies schematic capture, PCB layout and routing, SPICE simulation, and manufacturing file generation within a single environment with native 3D capabilities. The company extends this core with Altium 365, a cloud workspace enabling real-time collaboration, version control, and component lifecycle management, and with Octopart for component search and supply chain intelligence. The product portfolio is tiered across user segments: Altium Develop for independent designers and SMBs, Altium Agile Teams for structured multidisciplinary collaboration, and Altium Agile Enterprise for governed enterprise-scale development. MCAD CoDesigner plugins integrate bidirectionally with SOLIDWORKS, PTC Creo, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Fusion, and Siemens NX, and a newer integration extends the platform into PTC's cloud-native Onshape environment.

The company serves professional electronics engineers, PCB designers, enterprise R&D organizations in aerospace and defense, automotive, consumer electronics, and technology, and students at universities including MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Revenue is generated primarily through subscription-based licensing for professional and enterprise tiers, supplemented by professional training services and certification programs; pricing is quote-based with a 30-day free trial and free annual student licenses serving as a long-term pipeline for commercial conversion. Altium was acquired by Renesas Electronics Corporation in 2024 for approximately $5.9 billion and now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary, with the jointly developed Renesas 365 platform launched in March 2026 integrating Altium's design environment with Renesas' silicon and embedded software portfolio across more than 550 RA microcontroller variants.

Name

Altium

Legal name

Altium Pty. Ltd.

Website

https://altium.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Altium provides unified electronics design software and cloud-based collaboration platforms for PCB development, serving professional engineers, enterprise R&D teams, and students globally. It now operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation following a 2024 acquisition.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210), Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

EDA Software Platforms (Digital Implementation, Verification & Signoff) (HDAHAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

EDA Cloud/SaaS, Design Data Management & Collaboration (HDAHAFAJ), System-Level, Multi-Physics & Package/PCB Co-Design (EDA) (HDAHAFAD)

Keywords

• Electronic design automation
• PCB design software
• Electronics lifecycle management
• Circuit board layout
• MCAD collaboration

Headquarters

HQ city

La Jolla

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses and Subscriptions: Altium Designer is sold as a professional PCB design tool requiring paid licenses for independent professional designers. The software runs only on Windows and offers subscription-based licensing through Altium 365 platform. Students can obtain free one-year licenses.
2. Enterprise Platform Subscriptions: Altium Agile Enterprise and Altium Agile Teams are targeted at enterprise customers requiring structured collaboration and governed platforms, with subscription-based pricing.
3. Professional Training Services: Altium offers flexible on-demand and instructor-led training courses that help engineers build and advance their PCB design skills, providing an additional revenue stream alongside software licensing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Altium develops and sells electronic design automation (EDA) software, primarily Altium Designer, a unified PCB design tool combining schematic capture, PCB routing, SPICE simulation, and manufacturing file generation. Its Altium 365 cloud platform extends this with real-time collaboration, design data management, and lifecycle management, while Octopart provides component search and supply chain intelligence. The products are sold via subscription licenses to individual professional designers, design teams, and enterprise organizations.

Product overview

Altium offers a comprehensive electronics design platform consisting of Altium Designer as the core PCB design tool, combined with the Altium 365 cloud platform for collaboration and lifecycle management. The product portfolio includes Octopart for component search, Octopart Discover for AI-powered component discovery, Altium Develop for individual/small team use, Altium Agile Teams for structured team collaboration, and Altium Agile Enterprise for large-scale governed development. MCAD CoDesigner plugins enable integration with SOLIDWORKS, PTC Creo, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Fusion, and Siemens NX. Legacy products include CircuitMaker, CircuitStudio, Altium Concord Pro, and Altium NEXUS. The company was acquired by Renesas Electronics in 2024 and collaborates on the Renesas 365 embedded systems design platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Altium Designer: Flagship PCB design software tool — unified electronics development environment for modern engineers
• Altium 365
• Octopart
• Octopart Discover
• Altium Develop
• Altium Agile Teams
• Altium Agile Enterprise
• CircuitMaker
• CircuitStudio
• Altium Concord Pro
• Altium NEXUS

Products and services

• Altium Designer Flagship unified PCB design software for professional electronics engineers, providing schematic capture, PCB layout and routing, SPICE simulation, native 3D PCB capabilities, and manufacturing file generation within a single environment.
• Altium 365 Cloud-based collaborative platform that connects ECAD and MCAD teams for real-time design sharing, revision control, lifecycle management, and integration with Altium Designer. Targeted at multidisciplinary electronics development teams.
• Altium Develop Workspace platform providing advanced PCB design with cloud-enabled coordination, designed for independent designers and small teams to keep work, reviews, feedback, sourcing data, and releases aligned.
• Altium Agile Teams Collaboration platform providing structured collaboration for multidisciplinary electronics development teams, with workflows and controls for team-based PCB design.
• Altium Agile Enterprise Enterprise-level electronics development platform providing a governed, extensible, intelligent environment for large organizations to manage digital threads, teams, systems, data, and workflows at scale.
• Octopart Component search and management platform providing engineers with access to electronic component inventory, pricing, and datasheets, integrated with the Altium design environment for supply chain visibility.
• Octopart Discover Next-generation component search platform that shifts the discovery process from part-number search to system design requirements, helping engineers identify architecturally compatible components earlier in the development cycle. Operates as an open ecosystem integrating solution intelligence from partners.
• CircuitMaker Community PCB design software built on Altium Designer technology, providing a streamlined interface for schematic and PCB design targeted at hobbyists and independent designers.
• CircuitStudio Professional PCB design tool built for modern engineers, providing a balance of usability and capability for challenging design requirements.
• Altium Concord Pro Enterprise PCB design data management solution providing server-based component and design data management for organizations (legacy product being superseded by Altium 365).
• Altium NEXUS Team-based PCB design solution with client-server architecture for collaborative electronics development (legacy product being phased out in favor of Altium 365).

Quantifiable outcome

• Altium's first-quarter 2026 annual recurring revenue grew 8% year-over-year
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PTCcoreTechnology or Integration · 14 May 2026PTC announced integration between its cloud-native Onshape CAD platform and Altium, creating the Onshape Altium Connector. The connector brings PCB designs directly into Onshape, enabling real-time change tracking, built-in version control, and earlier identification of design problems such as boards that do not fit correctly within enclosures. Supports PTC's Intelligent Product Lifecycle vision.
• PTCcoreTechnology or Integration · 12 May 2026Direct integration between PTC's cloud-native Onshape CAD/PDM platform and Altium enables electrical and mechanical engineering teams to collaborate by bringing PCB designs directly into Onshape with real-time synchronization. Eliminates file-based data exchange, allowing teams to assess fit early, track changes automatically, and work entirely in the cloud without manual transfers or version mismatches.
• IPCminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Altium partnered with IPC to launch the first joint PCB design certifications, providing industry-recognized credentials for electronics designers using Altium tools.
• Renesas Electronics CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Renesas acquired Altium in 2024 for $5.9 billion to combine Altium's cloud-based hardware design capabilities with Renesas' silicon and embedded software expertise. The acquisition enables continuity across the entire product lifecycle from ideation to deployment. Renesas 365 platform was launched as a unified cloud-based embedded systems design platform integrating Altium's capabilities with Renesas' microcontroller portfolio.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Cadence Design Systems: Cadence is a leading EDA vendor whose Allegro PCB design suite directly competes with Altium Designer. Both target electronics engineers and enterprise customers with schematic capture, PCB layout, and signal integrity tools, making Cadence Altium's most significant direct competitor in the PCB EDA segment.
• Siemens EDA (formerly Mentor Graphics): Siemens EDA offers the Xpedition and PADS PCB design platforms that compete head-to-head with Altium Designer for mid-market and enterprise electronics teams. Both vendors sell subscription-based PCB EDA tools with strong enterprise footprints and MCAD collaboration capabilities.
• Zuken: Zuken's CR-8000 and eCADSTAR PCB design platforms directly compete with Altium Designer, particularly in automotive and aerospace in Japan and Europe. Both companies target professional electronics engineers with subscription-based PCB and electrical design tools.

Broad incumbents

• Synopsys: Synopsys is the broadest EDA incumbent covering digital, analog, and verification, and recently announced a $35B acquisition of Ansys. While primarily focused on chip-level design rather than PCB, its expanded scope post-Ansys makes it a formidable broad incumbent competitor across the electronics design stack.

Emerging players

• Ansys: Ansys is a multiphysics simulation leader with whom Altium has an existing collaboration on electronic design tools. Post its announced acquisition by Synopsys, Ansys's simulation capabilities increasingly overlap with Altium's verification roadmap, making it a converging competitor in electronics design.
• Autodesk (Fusion 360 Electronics): Autodesk Fusion 360 includes integrated PCB design capabilities (formerly Eagle) and competes with Altium in the hobbyist, maker, and SMB segments. While not yet at Altium's enterprise scale, Autodesk's cross-platform MCAD/ECAD strategy positions it as an emerging full-stack competitor.
• DipTrace: DipTrace provides schematic and PCB design software with a strong following among independent designers and small teams. It is a lower-cost alternative to Altium Designer and competes for the same hobbyist-to-professional-adjacent segment of the market.
• EasyEDA: EasyEDA is a free, browser-based PCB design tool with a large user base, particularly in the maker and education communities. It overlaps with Altium's lower-tier CircuitMaker positioning and represents a cloud-native, cross-platform alternative.

Others

• PTC (Onshape): PTC is a strategic partner through the Onshape Altium Connector rather than a direct competitor, but its cloud-native CAD/PDM strategy and broader PLM portfolio make it an adjacent player. PTC's ecosystem reach influences Altium's enterprise positioning and collaboration roadmap.
• Renesas Electronics: Renesas is Altium's parent company following the 2024 acquisition and the co-developer of the Renesas 365 platform. As the silicon vendor backing Altium, Renesas both enables Altium's bundled go-to-market and constrains its ability to serve competing silicon customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/altium
• Facebookfacebook.com/AltiumOfficial
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/altium

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A17 records

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Altium