List of free electronics circuit simulators
List of free analog and digital electronic circuit simulators, available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and comparing against UC Berkeley SPICE. The following table is split into two groups based on whether it has a graphical visual interface or not. The later requires a separate program to provide that feature, such as Qucs-S,[1] Oregano,[2] or a PCB suite that supports external simulators, such as KiCad or gEDA.
| Simulator name | Business / Developer | Latest release year |
Currently developed? |
Source Code? |
O/S platforms | Analog? | Digital? | Digital languages? |
Visual editor? |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KTechLab[3] | n/a | 2020 | 
|
|
Linux |
|
|
|
|
Simulates a PIC microcontroller |
| Logisim-evolution[4][5] | Multiple Universities | 2023 (HC) |
|
|
Windows, macOS, Linux |
|
|
VHDL |
|
Fork of Logisim (whose development ended in 2011)[6] |
| LTspice | Analog Devices | 2024 |
|
|
Windows, macOS, POL |
|
|
|
|
Very popular, updated often.[7] Originally created at Linear Technology. |
| Micro-Cap | Spectrum Software | 2021 |
|
|
Windows |
|
|
PLD expressions |
|
End-of-life, no longer updated. Previously was commercial software. |
| QSPICE[8] | Qorvo | 2024 |
|
|
Windows |
|
|
Verilog |
|
Integrated support for digital blocks, C++, Verilog. Same author as LTspice. |
| Qucs | n/a | 2017 | Maybe |
|
Windows, macOS, Linux |
|
|
VHDL, Verilog (only pure digital simulations)[9] |
|
Qt GUI. Uses own SPICE-incompatible simulator Qucsator for analog. |
| Qucs-S[1] | various contributors | 2024 |
|
|
|
|
|
Fork of Qucs that supports SPICE-compatible simulator backends: Ngspice, Xyce, SpiceOpus, Qucsator. | ||
| SapWin | University of Florence | 2019 |
|
|
Windows |
|
|
|
|
|
| TINA–TI[10] | DesignSoft & TI | 2018 |
|
|
Windows, Wine |
|
|
|
|
Special version of TINA licensed to TI |
| PSPICE-FOR-TI[11] | Cadence & TI | 2023 |
|
|
Windows |
|
|
|
|
Special version of PSpice licensed to TI[12] |
| Gnucap[13] | n/a | 2006 |
|
|
Linux |
|
|
|
|
SPICE, Verilog, Spectre netlists. Plugins. |
| Ngspice | n/a | 2023 |
|
|
Windows, macOS, Linux |
|
|
|
|
Backend simulator for Altium Designer / Eagle / KiCad / Qucs-S.[14] |
| SPICE[15] | UC Berkeley | 1993 |
|
|
Source-only |
|
|
|
|
End-of-life, no longer updated. Historically important, because many analog simulators are based on this project. |
| Xyce[16] | Sandia National Laboratories | 2023 |
|
|
Windows, macOS, Linux |
|
* | * |
|
Backend simulator that supports parallel simulation on Linux and macOS, and capable of solving extremely large circuits. |
- Table notes
- Xyce - limited experimental support for Verilog and VHDL.[17]
See also[edit]
- List of HDL simulators for VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog, ...
- Espresso heuristic logic minimizer, such as Logic Friday
- Comparison of EDA software
- List of instruction set simulators
- List of electrical engineering software
References[edit]
- ^ a b Qucs-S.
- ^ Oregano v0.84.43 Release.
- ^ KTechLab v0.50.0 Release.
- ^ Logisim-evolution (Holy Cross Edition); College of the Holy Cross.
- ^ Logisim-evolution; Swiss Universities.
- ^ Logisim; Dr. Carl Burch.
- ^ "LTspice - Change Log". Analog Devices. Archived from the original on April 19, 2021.
- ^ QSPICE Simulator; Qorvo.
- ^ Kuznetsov, Vadim (2023-08-16). "Qucs-S: Getting started analog simulation with Ngspice backend" (PDF). pp. 10–11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
- ^ TINA-TI; Texas Instruments.
- ^ PSPICE-FOR-TI; Texas Instruments.
- ^ Getting started with the new PSpice for TI design and simulation tool; Texas Instruments.
- ^ http://gnucap.org
- ^ Tools that use ngspice as simulator; Ngspice.
- ^ SPICE 3f.5 Release; UC Berkeley.
- ^ "Sandia National Laboratories: Xyce Parallel Electronic Simulator (Xyce)".
- ^ Sholander, Richard L. Schiek, Peter; Schiek, Richard (2020). "Application Note: Mixed Signal Simulation with Xyce™ 7.1" (PDF). xyce.sandia.gov. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-05-08. Retrieved 2023-08-27.