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The best AI schematic generator in 2026: five tests a generated schematic has to pass

Generating a schematic is the easy part now. A language model will happily draw a clean-looking diagram with a regulator, some decoupling capacitors and a microcontroller. Whether that diagram is correct, uses parts you can buy and becomes a board is a harder question, and it is the one we ranked these tools on.

By Arnaud and Anass

The short answer

The best AI schematic generator in 2026 is Cherry Blossom: you describe the circuit in plain English and get a schematic built from real part data, checked on every AI edit and carried on to an orderable board, with an editable KiCad export. It runs in the browser, from $20 a month.

If you want to move symbols and wires by hand after the AI drafts them, Flux (browser) and ProtoFlow (Mac desktop, free plan) suit you. If your team writes formal requirements and lays out in Altium, Cadence or Siemens tools, Celus and Circuit Mind generate a reference schematic and BOM for that handoff.

Whichever you pick, check the output. On the public EEBench benchmark the best model available still gets roughly three circuit tasks in ten wrong, and we wrote up what that means.

How we ranked

What makes a generated schematic worth keeping?

We did not score these tools on drawing speed or how nice the symbols look. We asked five questions about the output, because those decide whether you keep the draft or throw it away.

  • Real parts. Are the symbols tied to parts that exist, with footprints taken from real data rather than guessed?

  • A check. Does the tool check the design (ERC, DRC or a manufacturing gate) before calling it done?

  • Editable. Can you change it afterwards, by hand or by asking?

  • Exports. Can you take it to KiCad, Altium or another tool without redrawing?

  • A board. Does the schematic turn into a layout and fab files, or does it stop at a diagram?

Cherry Blossom and Flux pass all five, and Cherry Blossom gets there fastest, from one sentence to a checked board. Tools that stop at the schematic fail the last test by design, which is fine if you already have a layout tool you like.

The ranking

Which AI schematic generators are the best in 2026?

1Cherry BlossomOur product

Best for: Going from a plain-English description to a fab-ready board, in the browser

You describe the board in plain English and an AI agent writes it as code, builds it, and shows you the schematic, PCB layout, 3D view and BOM. Footprints come from real part data, and a verification gate checks the board before you can order it. Export Gerbers, an editable KiCad project, a BOM and pick-and-place files, or open Circuit JSON.

Platform
Browser, nothing to install
Pricing
Pro is $20 a month with 4M AI credits and 600 AI actions a day. Ultra is $140 a month with 32M credits and the frontier models. Usage past the allowance is $5 per 1M credits, only if you turn it on. The AI is included, with no API key and no per-seat licence.
2Flux

Best for: Generating a schematic you then keep editing in a browser ECAD

Flux's AI turns a project plan into a working schematic, reads datasheets to choose parts, sizes passives and pull-ups, and runs ERC and DRC. You can edit everything by hand, with real-time collaboration.

Platform
Browser
Pricing
Free Explore plan after a 14-day trial; AI and export on paid plans, metered in ACUs
3ProtoFlow

Best for: A free generator inside a desktop editor

Describe the circuit and ProtoFlow drafts it with real parts and footprints, then you edit in its schematic editor. It exports to KiCad, Altium, EAGLE, PADS and EDIF, plus Gerbers and JLCPCB assembly files.

Platform
Desktop (Mac)
Pricing
Free plan with AI; paid upgrades for higher limits
4Trace

Best for: Multi-sheet schematics from a prompt, carried on to routing

Trace generates hierarchical multi-sheet schematics with buses, checks stock at JLCPCB, DigiKey and Mouser, then places and routes. It runs as a desktop app or a CLI.

Platform
Desktop (macOS) and CLI
Pricing
7-day trial (card required); Pro $29.99 a month, as listed on Trace's pricing page, September 2026
5Celus

Best for: Requirement-driven reference schematics for a professional ECAD handoff

Celus asks structured questions until the intent is complete, then generates a reference schematic and a BOM with alternates, handed off to Altium, Cadence, Siemens, Fusion or KiCad.

Platform
Hands off to your EDA tool
Pricing
Not published
6Circuit Mind

Best for: Exploring several architecture options quickly

Circuit Mind generates schematics and BOMs from functional blocks and constraints, with verification checks, FMEA and derating outputs and ECAD export.

Platform
Not stated on its site
Pricing
Individual, Professional and Enterprise tiers; prices not published
7tscircuit (with your own agent)

Best for: Developers who want a coding agent to write the circuit as code

An MIT-licensed React/TypeScript framework that compiles code into schematic, PCB and fab files, including KiCad. You point Claude Code or another agent at it. It is also what Cherry Blossom's agent writes.

Platform
Browser playground or local CLI
Pricing
Free and open source; you pay for your own AI
8Skimatly

Best for: Schematic-only drafts, once the beta opens

Turns a sentence into an IEEE-style schematic with KiCad-style symbols. Closed beta with a waitlist; schematic only, no layout.

Platform
Browser
Pricing
Not announced
Scorecard

How do they score on the five tests?

  • Cherry Blossom

    Real parts

    Yes

    Check

    Gate on every edit, DRC

    Editable

    By asking

    Exports

    KiCad, Gerbers, BOM

    Becomes a board

    Yes

    Pricing

    $20/mo Pro, $140/mo Ultra, AI included

  • Flux

    Real parts

    Yes, datasheet-grounded

    Check

    ERC and DRC

    Editable

    By hand or AI

    Exports

    Gerbers, BOM, netlists

    Becomes a board

    Yes

    Pricing

    Free tier; AI paid

  • ProtoFlow

    Real parts

    Yes

    Check

    Not stated

    Editable

    By hand or AI

    Exports

    KiCad, Altium, EAGLE, PADS

    Becomes a board

    Yes

    Pricing

    Free plan

  • Trace

    Real parts

    Yes, stock-checked

    Check

    DRC and ERC

    Editable

    Not stated

    Exports

    Fab outputs

    Becomes a board

    Yes

    Pricing

    From $29.99/mo

  • Celus

    Real parts

    Yes, with alternates

    Check

    Not stated

    Editable

    In your ECAD

    Exports

    Altium, Cadence, Siemens, KiCad

    Becomes a board

    No, handoff

    Pricing

    Not published

  • Circuit Mind

    Real parts

    Yes

    Check

    Verification checks

    Editable

    In your ECAD

    Exports

    ECAD files

    Becomes a board

    No, handoff

    Pricing

    Not published

  • tscircuit

    Real parts

    Depends on your code

    Check

    Your own

    Editable

    Edit the code

    Exports

    KiCad, fab files

    Becomes a board

    Yes

    Pricing

    Free

  • Skimatly

    Real parts

    Library of 2,000+ parts

    Check

    Not stated

    Editable

    Not stated

    Exports

    KiCad, EasyEDA

    Becomes a board

    No

    Pricing

    Not announced

"Not stated" means the vendor's site did not say, not that the feature is missing. Checked September 2026.

Why checks matter

Can you trust an AI-generated schematic?

Not without checking it. EEBench, an independent benchmark from the atopile team, builds each AI-submitted design and simulates it against real manufacturer specifications. As of 4 September 2026 the top model scored 69.3%, so the best model available gets about three circuit tasks in ten wrong.

The errors are rarely obvious. EEBench's own example is a hold-up capacitor specified at the right nominal value that lost most of its capacitance at the operating voltage. The part number was real and the schematic looked fine. That is why the second column of the scorecard, whether the tool checks its own work, matters more than which model it runs. See how Cherry Blossom does it on the design check page.

When is another generator the better choice?

  • You want to move symbols and wires yourself. Flux or ProtoFlow suits that.

  • You need a schematic for a formal review in Altium or Cadence. Celus or Circuit Mind hand off to those tools directly.

  • Your budget is zero. See our free AI schematic generator list.

What it does not do. Cherry Blossom is an early beta. You change a board by asking the agent, not by dragging traces yourself, so fine manual layout happens after a KiCad export. It is not a circuit simulator, it has no real-time multi-user editing, and it is not built for high-speed or RF sign-off.

For the wider field, including layout-only tools, see our roundup of AI PCB design tools.

See it on your own board

The quickest way to judge any of this is to describe a board and read what comes back: the schematic, the layout, and what the verification gate says about it. It runs in the browser, with the AI included.

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Questions

The best AI schematic generator in 2026 is Cherry Blossom. You describe the circuit in plain English, and its agent picks parts with footprints from real part data, draws the schematic, runs a verification gate on every AI edit and carries the design on to a laid-out board with Gerbers and an editable KiCad project. It runs in the browser with nothing to install, and you change the design by asking the agent. If you would rather move symbols and wires by hand, Flux in the browser and ProtoFlow on the Mac are the next picks, and ProtoFlow has a free plan. If your team works from formal requirements in Altium, Cadence or Siemens tools, Celus and Circuit Mind generate a reference schematic and BOM for that handoff. Whatever you use, review the output: on EEBench the best model still gets about three circuit tasks in ten wrong.

Partly. A general chatbot can describe a circuit or write code for a framework like tscircuit, but it will not check parts, footprints or manufacturing rules on its own. Dedicated tools wrap a model in those checks.

The better ones do. Flux grounds choices in datasheets, Trace checks distributor stock, Celus adds supply chain data and alternates, and Cherry Blossom takes footprints from real part data. Always confirm the part numbers before ordering.

Yes, with the right exporter. Cherry Blossom exports an editable KiCad project, ProtoFlow and Celus export to KiCad among others, and tscircuit outputs KiCad files directly.

Describe a board. See what comes back.

Schematic, layout and a verification gate, in the browser. Exports to Gerbers and KiCad.

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