CircuitMaker alternative: simulate digital logic in your browser
CircuitMaker today is Altium's free schematic and PCB design software, built on Altium Designer technology. Altium's page lists up to 16 signal and 16 plane layers with no limits on board size, no non-commercial clause, and, from CircuitMaker 2.0, up to 5 private projects; the rest are shared with the CircuitMaker community, a website where makers publish, rate and fork each other's designs. It is a desktop application, and the community lives on circuitmaker.com. If you came here to draw and simulate logic circuits rather than lay out a board, digiwleea is a free browser alternative.
What CircuitMaker is good at
Professional-grade PCB design for free: a multi-sheet schematic editor, push-and-shove routing, a topological autorouter, native 3D and design-rule-checked manufacturing outputs, plus a large component library and a community of shared, forkable designs. For turning a circuit into a real board, it is one of the most capable free tools. (digiwleea is an independent project, not affiliated with Altium.)
How digiwleea is different
Altium's pages describe CircuitMaker as a design and layout tool and do not list a circuit simulator. digiwleea is the opposite kind of tool: a digital logic simulator with no PCB layout. In the browser you build NOT and NAND from CMOS transistors, watch every wire's value live, then build adders, latches, registers, RAM and an 8-bit CPU that runs a stored program, plus the assembly language behind it, through a 40+ level course where every part is checked against its truth table, with an AI tutor (Wleea). For analog simulation in the browser, Falstad's simulator is a free option.
| CircuitMaker | digiwleea | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Schematic capture and PCB layout | Simulating and learning digital logic |
| Simulation | Not listed among its features | Live switch-level logic: every wire is 0, 1 or floating |
| Runs on | A desktop app | Any modern browser, nothing to install |
| Community | Share, rate and fork PCB projects | Share or embed a circuit as a link |
| Price | Free (5 private projects; others public) | Free lab and Act I; Premium for the full course |
No sign-up is needed to start: open the lab and place your first transistor, or read the free theory course. The account (and the AI tutor) are optional.
More comparisons: Electronics and SPICE simulators
See for yourself: build a logic gate from transistors in the simulator, then follow the path from sand to an 8-bit CPU.
Open the digiwleea lab →Frequently asked
Is CircuitMaker free?
Yes. Altium offers it free, with up to 16 signal and 16 plane layers, no board size limit and no non-commercial clause. Since CircuitMaker 2.0 you get up to 5 private projects; other projects are shared with the community.
Can CircuitMaker simulate circuits?
Altium's CircuitMaker pages describe schematic and PCB design and do not list simulation. To simulate digital logic in the browser, digiwleea is free; for analog circuits, Falstad's simulator is free online.
What is a good free alternative to CircuitMaker for learning logic gates?
digiwleea: a free browser logic simulator with a guided course from transistors to an 8-bit CPU, with every circuit checked as you build it.