Using KiCad, your engineers position parts and route every board manually. With Flux, you supply a requirement, and the AI engineer selects parts, creates the schematic, and routes the board.
Flux acts as an autonomous hardware engineer for your team. Give it a requirement. The AI plans the project, selects parts, drafts the schematic, and routes the board. It also models the mechanical parts and creates the firmware. The system verifies its output using simulation and design rule checks. Finally, it delivers manufacturing files to your engineers.
KiCad is an open-source software suite for electronic design automation. It handles schematic capture and PCB layout, with Gerber and IPC-2581 output.[1]
KiCad runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS, and is licensed under the GNU GPL v3.[1]
KiCad is free to use, and its source code is open under the GNU GPL v3.[1]
The KiCad router has push-and-shove, walkaround, and collision highlight modes, and routes differential pairs.[3]
KiCad integrates the open-source ngspice simulator into its schematic editor.[2]
Flux selects from 734,000+ public parts using real-time pricing and availability data. It drafts the schematic, positions the parts, and routes the board like a seasoned layout specialist. The AI verifies the design against each datasheet, runs circuit and full-wave electromagnetic simulation, and provides manufacturing files. Every part lives in a unified library complete with footprints, 3D models, and datasheets, eliminating library management. Your engineers evaluate the result, modify it, and share the project via a link.
| Feature | Flux | KiCad |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements and specification | The AI engineer turns your idea into requirements and a product specification, and checks the design against them. | Not in KiCad[1] |
| What it is | AI hardware engineer featuring integrated design tools | Open-source PCB design software[1] |
| Where it runs | Inside your web browser. You install nothing. Your projects remain in the cloud. | Desktop software for Windows, Linux, and macOS that you install on your computer[1] |
| Who does the design work | The Flux AI. Your engineers review and modify. | Your engineers[1] |
| Schematic and parts | Integrated. Selects from 734,000+ public parts. | Built in, with symbol libraries that you manage[4] |
| Board layout and routing | Built in | The PCB Editor provides a board-layout workspace.[3] |
| Placement and routing | The AI engineer positions the parts and routes the board similar to a senior designer. Your engineers review and modify. | Interactive push-and-shove routing that your engineers drive[3] |
| High-speed design | The AI engineer plans DDR topology and timing budgets, routes differential pairs and length-matched buses, tunes length and skew, fans out BGAs with blind, buried, and microvias, and sets trace impedance from your stackup. It checks the routed board with S-parameters, TDR, eye diagrams, crosstalk analysis, and a signal integrity, power integrity, and EMC review. Your engineers review and edit. | Routes differential pairs and tunes track length and skew.[3] |
| Flex and rigid-flex boards | Built in. Named stackups for rigid and flex areas, coverlay and stiffeners, hatched flex pours, bending lines with a folded 3D view and folded STEP files, flex design checks, and Gerber, ODB++, and IPC-2581 files. The AI engineer routes each area on its own layers. | No flex or rigid-flex stackups. For a flexible circuit, the docs suggest hatched zone fills that your engineers set up by hand.[3] |
| Parts and sourcing | 734,000+ public parts, with live prices and stock from distributors | Manages schematic symbols and PCB footprints in libraries.[3] |
| Simulation and design rule checks | SPICE, power delivery network simulation, full-wave electromagnetic and signal integrity simulation, thermal simulation, and mechanical simulation, with design rule checks. | SPICE simulation with ngspice[2] |
| Firmware | Writes firmware for the board it designed | Not in KiCad[1] |
| Wiring harnesses | Built in. Flux designs the wiring harnesses between the boards: connectors, pinouts, and wires, in the same project. | Not in KiCad[1] |
| Manufacturing files | Flux can check the files before you order. Checks cover copper gaps, silkscreen, board outline, BOM, and pick-and-place files; exports include Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, bill of materials, pick-and-place, and more. | Gerber and IPC-2581 files[1] |
| Quotes and orders | Quotes and orders for boards, 3D printing, CNC machining, and wire harnesses, from the project. | Not in KiCad[1] |
| Import from other tools | Imports complete projects from Altium, OrCAD and Allegro, KiCad, PADS and Xpedition, CADSTAR, Eagle, Fusion Electronics, EasyEDA, DipTrace, and SOLIDWORKS PCB. Flux imports Labcenter Proteus SDF netlists with Specctra board exports. IPC-2581 revision B and C files become board projects with reusable footprint parts. IDF 2.0 and 3.0 board files become board projects with the outline, cutouts, drilled and mounting holes, part placements, and 3D part heights. | Imports Altium, CADSTAR, Eagle, EasyEDA, Fabmaster, PADS, and more.[6] |
| Versions, branches, and merges | Full change history. The AI engineer forks a design into a second version, keeps both, and merges the changes that you pick. | Integrates with Git for project version control.[5] |
| Who reviews the work | The whole team, in one live project in the browser: electrical, layout, mechanical, and firmware engineers | Your engineers review the design in the desktop app.[1] |
| Product images, videos, and documents | Product images, product videos, datasheets, and regulatory documents, made from the design in the project. | KiCad's 3D Viewer exports images of the board design.[7] |
| Plus the mechanical parts too | ||
| Mechanical CAD | Integrated natively, kernel independent. From an enclosure to a complete robot arm. | Exports a 3D model of the board as STEP for a separate mechanical CAD tool[3] |
| Mechanical simulation | Finite-element stress, thermal, and airflow simulation | Not in KiCad[1] |
| Mechanical manufacturing | STEP, STL, and 3MF files, plus quotes for 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal, and laser cutting | Not in KiCad[1] |
| CNC toolpaths and G-code | The AI engineer writes the toolpaths, the G-code, a toolpath preview, and a setup sheet for the parts that it designed. | Not in KiCad[1] |
Start a Flux project free and describe the device you want to build.
Flux positions the parts and routes the board similar to a seasoned layout engineer. It completely obeys your design intent and layout rules.
Flux selects from 734,000+ public parts. The system verifies real-time pricing and inventory levels across distributors before adding a part to the board.
Flux verifies every board against your layout rules and the capabilities of your fabricator.
Flux analyzes the datasheet for each part to verify the design against its pinouts, ratings, and limits.
Upload your current KiCad project. Instruct the AI to modify the layout. Finally, proceed to production: Flux delivers the files your fabricator requires.
Example request
“Swap the linear regulator for a buck converter with parts in stock, then reroute the power traces.”
Altium Designer 
OrCAD and Allegro 
KiCad 
PADS, Xpedition, and NX 
CADSTAR 
Eagle and Fusion 
EasyEDA 
SolidWorks 
CATIA 
Creo 
Onshape Transfer entire hardware projects, part libraries, and 3D models. The system imports schematics, parts, part placement, and routing from most formats.
You can edit imported designs immediately. Ask to "move the USB cutout 3 cm left" or "make the enclosure tighter", and Flux completes the task.
Flux provides the files required by your manufacturer: Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, bill of materials, and pick-and-place for the board, plus STEP, STL, or 3MF for the mechanical parts.
Orchestration
Submit a complete product to Flux. The lead AI engineer divides it into workflows, starts parallel tasks across projects, manages their progress, and reports back.
Every workflow operates within an independent AI process. The main board, daughterboards, and enclosure develop simultaneously.
The lead AI engineer starts work in other projects and tracks all progress from one location.
The AI tracks every active process, steers work that deviates from the requirement, and gathers the results.
Modifications that move an interface or resize a board wait for your approval.
Flux creates a requirement for every board, defining its outline, mounting holes, connectors, and corresponding enclosure openings. Each board receives an independent project and a dedicated AI engineer to complete the designs simultaneously. Flux then inserts the completed boards into the main assembly to verify clearances and connector alignment in millimeters.
Verification lab
Flux goes beyond creating hardware layouts. The AI engineer simulates and evaluates its output using industrial-grade solvers, then displays the results for you.
SPICE simulation for analog, power, and mixed-signal circuits, run and analyzed by the AI engineer.
Full-wave simulation of the routed board for impedance, S-parameters, crosstalk, and antennas.
Electrical and manufacturing rule checks applied to all schematics and boards.
Processes the datasheet for all parts to validate the design against its pinouts, ratings, and limits.
Heat and airflow simulation for boards and enclosures before you build them.
Airflow and cooling simulation through the enclosure ensures vents, fans, and heat sinks function before the first prototype.
Finite-element stress analysis applied to brackets, enclosures, and mounts.
Sourcing
Flux connects directly with leading distributors for electronic and mechanical parts. The AI engineer chooses chips, connectors, screws, and standoffs that have active inventory, evaluates costs among different distributors, and substitutes end of life parts before production begins.
Digi-Key 
LCSC 
Mouser 
Arrow 
Verical 
TME 
HQonline 
McMaster-Carr 
MISUMI 
JLCMC Manufacturing
Flux retrieves pricing directly from fabricators for circuit boards and assembly, plastic and metal 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal, laser cutting, injection molding, casting, and wiring harnesses. The AI engineer evaluates cost versus delivery time, verifies the design against each fabricator's rules, and updates the estimate automatically as the design changes.
JLCPCB 
PCBWay 
OSH Park 
AISLER 
Craftcloud JLC 3D printing PCBWay 3D printing 
Shapeways 
OSH Cut 
SendCutSend 
MiniProto Your board, mechanical parts, and firmware exist in a single project. The AI can modify both the board and the mechanical parts simultaneously. You avoid transferring files among an electronics application, a mechanical program, and a code editor.
You skip installations and avoid managing a license server. Flux operates on any machine running a modern web browser.
Distribute a project using a link. Multiple users can modify it concurrently. Engineers stop emailing files or questioning which revision is current.
Additional features and new AI models appear automatically. You avoid installing a new version or migrating your projects.
The Flux library contains 734,000+ public parts. You skip building a part library before you start.
Invite engineers using a link. Single sign-on and project-level permissions manage who sees what.
One platform
Flux operates differently than isolated CAD programs. It functions as a unified AI-native engineering platform where all technical disciplines access a single project, identical data, and one AI engineer.
Design parametric brackets, mounts, and enclosures that fit the physical board's connectors and mounting holes. Import your own STEP models. A single parts library works for the entire product. It holds chips and connectors, mechanical hardware like standoffs and screws, and devices not located on the board.
Firmware for the board Flux designed, running on platforms like Arm Cortex-M, RISC-V, AVR, or Pico, then compiled, analyzed, and unit tested.
Model-agnostic AI
Flux connects frontier AI models to a modern AI architecture designed for CAD and EDA. The models provide reasoning. Flux supplies the engineering tools, project context, and workflows that convert this reasoning into functional hardware.
Adaptive divides each engineering assignment into tasks and assigns every task to the most cost-effective model. Complex design decisions route to frontier models. Routine work routes to quick, inexpensive models. Independent tasks operate simultaneously, so complete devices finish faster. Your team interacts with a single AI engineer, while Flux manages the task assignment internally.
Work with the frontier models your team currently trusts, inside Flux.
Each model accesses Flux's specialized engineering tools, project context, and workflows.
When a more capable model releases, your team accesses it without changing engineering platforms.
Prevent reliance on a single model provider to supply your engineering capacity.
The adaptive process pairs every engineering phase with the most capable model, from complex design choices to basic checks.
For learning and evaluation, with light AI usage and unlimited manual editing.
For active hardware projects, with included AI usage and additional usage available.
For larger projects and heavier AI usage, with hands-on support from experienced electrical engineers.
For teams on shared projects, with pooled AI usage, member seats, and priority support.
Eligible individual plans include a free trial. Teams subscriptions start paid; trial and pricing terms depend on your current offer. See all plans
Not ready to pick a plan? Start for free
Choose KiCad if your engineers prefer designing each board manually using free, open-source desktop software. Select Flux if you prefer an AI engineer to handle the design work while your engineers review the results.
Review individual plan options, or schedule a demo with our team.
