What is Trace?
Trace is a cutting-edge PCB design platform specifically designed for hardware teams, supporting them from the initial idea all the way to a fully manufactured board. It combines sophisticated schematic capture and PCB layout tools with intelligent agents that understand the nuances of hardware design. Users have the ability to express their project needs in natural language, allowing Trace to carry out extensive research, create intricate multi-sheet schematics, interpret datasheets, suggest components, check their real-time availability, organize parts, route complex multi-layer boards, optimize for matched-length signals, and conduct critical checks such as ERC and DRC along with design reviews. Featuring a robust library that includes over 30,000 symbols and footprints, the platform draws data from top electronic distributors to ensure accuracy and reliability. Furthermore, Plan Mode tackles detailed tasks, asks clarifying questions, formulates an action plan, and only begins execution once the user provides approval. In addition, TraceRules guarantees that user preferences concerning components, layout constraints, and manufacturing goals are upheld consistently throughout the process, which helps to create a more fluid design experience. This all-encompassing strategy not only boosts efficiency but also enhances teamwork and collaboration within hardware development groups, ultimately leading to more successful project outcomes.
Pricing
Price Starts At:
$20 one-time payment
Similar Software to Trace
Altium Develop is a collaborative electronics product development platform that helps organizations manage requirements, PCB design, engineering collaboration, and manufacturing readiness from a single workspace.
By connecting Requirements Portal, Altium Designer, and Altium 365, Altium Develop improves visibility across the product lifecycle and helps teams reduce delays caused by disconnected tools, manual processes, and siloed data.
Business Benefits:
•Improve cross-functional collaboration between engineering and operations teams
•Maintain traceability from requirements through delivery
•Accelerate PCB and hardware development projects
• Reduce errors and rework through centralized workflows
• Improve supply chain and BOM visibility
• Support distributed and global engineering teams
Altium Develop is a strong option for organizations comparing solutions such as Autodesk Fusion Electronics, KiCad, Cadence OrCAD, SOLIDWORKS PCB, and Siemens Xpedition, particularly when requirements management, collaboration, and hardware development process maturity are key evaluation criteria.
Best For
• Electronics manufacturers
• Hardware engineering teams
• Product development organizations
• Enterprise PCB design teams
• Requirements-driven hardware programs
Learn more
Adobe Firefly is an advanced AI-powered creative platform that transforms how users generate and edit digital content across images, videos, and audio. It enables users to create content using natural language prompts, making the creative process more intuitive and accessible. The platform offers a wide range of tools, including image generation, video editing, generative fill, and text-to-sound effects, all within a unified workspace. Users can work on an infinite canvas, allowing them to explore ideas freely and build complex compositions. Firefly also provides quick action tools such as background removal, cropping, resizing, and format conversion to streamline everyday tasks. The platform supports video editing features like trimming, arranging, and generating new content, enhancing creative flexibility. Users can draw inspiration from a community gallery and remix existing content to create unique outputs. Its user-friendly interface ensures that both beginners and experienced creators can use it effectively. Firefly leverages advanced AI models to deliver high-quality and visually compelling results. It simplifies traditionally complex workflows, reducing the time and effort required for content creation. The platform encourages experimentation and creativity by offering multiple ways to refine and customize outputs. It is suitable for creating content for social media, marketing, and personal projects. By combining powerful AI tools with an intuitive design, Firefly enhances productivity and creative expression. Ultimately, it enables users to bring their ideas to life بسرعة and with professional-quality results.
Learn more
KiCad EDA
The schematic editor enables users to create an unlimited number of designs without encountering any paywalls for additional features. With an integrated schematic editor and a comprehensive library of schematic symbols, you can quickly embark on your design projects. You can craft professional-grade PCB layouts featuring as many as 32 copper layers. KiCad now boasts a push-and-pull router capable of routing differential pairs while interactively adjusting trace lengths. Additionally, KiCad offers a 3D viewer that allows you to examine your design on an interactive canvas, giving you the ability to rotate and pan to observe details that may be challenging to discern in a 2D view. There are multiple rendering options available, allowing you to modify the board's appearance or selectively hide and reveal certain elements. The schematic capture process in KiCad is both rapid and effective, equipped with all necessary tools to facilitate this task. The user interface emphasizes productivity, making it easy to work efficiently. Furthermore, large designs can be organized into hierarchical subsheets, ensuring that complexity knows no bounds. This flexibility allows for the creation of intricate designs tailored to various needs.
Learn more
DipTrace
DipTrace is professional electronic design automation software for schematic capture and printed circuit board layout, developed by Novarm Ltd and in continuous development since 2004. More than 30,000 engineers in over 50 countries use it, including teams at companies working in aerospace, defense, medical device, automotive, and industrial electronics.
For organizations evaluating EDA tools, the licensing model is the main structural difference from most alternatives. DipTrace is sold under a perpetual license: purchased once, owned permanently, with no subscription, no annual maintenance fee, and no loss of access when a term expires. Five editions range from $75 to $995 per seat depending on pin count and layer requirements, and volume, network, academic, and non-profit pricing is available. Technical support is included for every user at no extra cost, including those on the free edition.
The software runs entirely offline on Windows, macOS, and Linux, with no cloud dependency and no design data leaving the workstation — a requirement for many defense and medical customers.
Functionally, DipTrace covers the complete design flow in a single environment: hierarchical schematic capture with electrical rule check and SPICE simulation, board layout with interactive push-and-shove editing, shape-based autorouting, differential pair and length-matched high-speed routing, real-time design rule checking, 3D preview with STEP export, and manufacturing output in Gerber X2, ODB++, IPC-2581, and NC Drill.
Version 5.3 introduced a native XML project format that works identically to the binary format, allowing designs to be managed in version control systems alongside firmware and mechanical files. Component sourcing integrates Mouser pricing data and SnapEDA libraries.
Migration paths exist from Altium, KiCad, Eagle, OrCAD, EasyEDA Pro, Pulsonix, and PADS.
Learn more
Screenshots and Video
Company Facts
Company Name:
Trace
Date Founded:
2025
Company Location:
United States
Company Website:
buildwithtrace.com
Product Details
Deployment
Windows
Training Options
Documentation Hub
Video Library
Support
Web-Based Support
Product Details
Target Company Sizes
Individual
1-10
11-50
51-200
201-500
501-1000
1001-5000
5001-10000
10001+
Target Organization Types
Mid Size Business
Small Business
Enterprise
Freelance
Nonprofit
Government
Startup
Supported Languages
English