Start for free
Compared

The best circuit simulation software in 2026, and how to turn a simulation into a board

A schematic shows what you connected. Simulation shows what it will do: whether the regulator is stable, whether the filter rolls off where you want, whether the op-amp clips. Almost every serious simulator is SPICE underneath, so they differ mainly in the part models they ship, the interface around the engine, and the price. Then there is the step after simulation, turning the circuit into a board you can order, which is where Cherry Blossom comes in.

By Arnaud and Anass

The short answer

The best circuit simulation software pick in 2026 is Cherry Blossom paired with LTspice: you prove the circuit in LTspice, then describe it to Cherry Blossom and get a checked schematic, layout and fab files for a real board. Cherry Blossom does not simulate; it is the tool that turns a simulated circuit into hardware.

LTspice is free from Analog Devices and ships models for most ADI regulators and amplifiers. If you design in KiCad, its built-in ngspice simulator saves drawing the schematic twice. For switching power supplies, pair Cherry Blossom with SIMetrix/SIMPLIS; for RF, Qucs-S; for Texas Instruments parts, PSpice for TI or TINA-TI.

How we chose

How did we pick these tools?

We ranked on how well each tool gets a hardware engineer or maker from a circuit idea to a working board-level design: analog, power and mixed-signal, not IC design. That puts the tool that turns a proven circuit into an orderable board first, then the simulators that are still maintained, that an individual can actually get (free or with a published way to buy), and that are good at something specific. Every claim about other tools comes from the vendor's own site or docs, fetched in September 2026.

The list

Which circuit simulation tools are worth using in 2026?

1Cherry BlossomOur product

Best for: Turning a circuit you simulated into a real, checked board

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
The Free plan is the full editor, by hand, with no AI. Pro adds the AI for $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. There is no API key to connect and no per-seat licence.
2LTspice

Best for: Analog and power circuits, for free

Analog Devices describes it as a fast, free SPICE simulator with schematic capture and a waveform viewer. It includes macromodels for most ADI switching regulators, linear regulators and amplifiers, plus a general device library, and demo circuits for many ADI parts.

Platform
Windows and macOS
Pricing
Free
3KiCad (ngspice built in)

Best for: Simulating the same schematic you lay out

KiCad's schematic editor includes circuit simulation using ngspice, with a model editor per symbol and the option to exclude parts from simulation. You have no second schematic to keep in sync.

Platform
Inside KiCad's schematic editor
Pricing
Free, open source
4ngspice

Best for: Scripting, automation and mixed-signal work

The open-source SPICE engine behind KiCad's simulator and others. It covers analog, event-driven digital and mixed-signal circuits and reads HSPICE libraries from foundry PDKs. Its site is clear that it has no schematic entry: input is a netlist, from the command line or a file.

Platform
Command line, or inside front ends such as KiCad and Qucs-S
Pricing
Free, modified BSD licence
5Qucs-S

Best for: Open-source RF and S-parameter simulation

A graphical front end that drives several simulation backends: ngspice (recommended), Xyce, QucsatorRF and SpiceOpus. With QucsatorRF or Xyce it adds S-parameter and harmonic balance analysis, plus models for microstrip lines and waveguides.

Platform
Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, macOS (Homebrew)
Pricing
Free, GPL-2.0
6NI Multisim

Best for: Teaching and university labs

NI describes it as SPICE simulation and circuit design for analog, digital and power electronics in education and research, with an interactive schematic. Multisim Live runs in the browser on any device, and the Circuit Design Suite pairs Multisim with Ultiboard for layout.

Platform
Desktop, plus Multisim Live in the browser
Pricing
Subscription or perpetual licence; editions for education and designers
7PSpice for TI

Best for: Designs built around TI analog and power parts

A free edition of Cadence PSpice from Texas Instruments, based on the OrCAD Capture framework, with a large model library for TI's analog and power portfolio. It is focused on TI devices.

Platform
Desktop
Pricing
Free
8SIMetrix/SIMPLIS

Best for: Switching power supply design

Two simulators in one environment: SIMetrix for analog electronics and SIMPLIS for switching power circuits. The vendor stresses reliable convergence and professional support. SIMetrix/SIMPLIS Elements is a free version to try.

Platform
Desktop
Pricing
Free Elements version; paid Classic, Pro and Elite tiers
9TINA-TI

Best for: Quick analog checks with TI models

A SPICE-based analog simulator from TI with DC, transient and frequency-domain analysis. TI calls it a fully functional complimentary version of TINA that leaves out some features of the full product.

Platform
Desktop
Pricing
Free
10Falstad Circuit Simulator

Best for: Learning how circuits behave, visually

A free JavaScript simulator that runs in the browser. Voltages are shown in colour and current as moving yellow dots, and switches can be clicked while it runs. It includes a library of example circuits and offline versions.

Platform
Browser, with offline versions
Pricing
Free

Limits to know. 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.

Side by side

How do the circuit simulation tools compare?

  • Cherry Blossom

    Engine

    None; pair with a simulator

    Strongest at

    Turning a simulated circuit into a checked board

    Runs on

    Browser

    Cost

    Free editor; AI from $20/mo Pro, $140/mo Ultra

  • LTspice

    Engine

    SPICE

    Strongest at

    Analog, power, ADI parts

    Runs on

    Windows, macOS

    Cost

    Free

  • KiCad

    Engine

    ngspice

    Strongest at

    Board designs already in KiCad

    Runs on

    Inside KiCad

    Cost

    Free

  • ngspice

    Engine

    ngspice

    Strongest at

    Scripts, mixed-signal, PDK models

    Runs on

    Command line

    Cost

    Free

  • Qucs-S

    Engine

    ngspice, Xyce, QucsatorRF

    Strongest at

    RF, S-parameters

    Runs on

    Linux, Windows, macOS

    Cost

    Free

  • Multisim

    Engine

    SPICE

    Strongest at

    Teaching

    Runs on

    Desktop and browser

    Cost

    Subscription or perpetual

  • PSpice for TI

    Engine

    Cadence PSpice

    Strongest at

    TI parts

    Runs on

    Desktop

    Cost

    Free

  • SIMetrix/SIMPLIS

    Engine

    SIMetrix and SIMPLIS

    Strongest at

    Switching power

    Runs on

    Desktop

    Cost

    Free Elements; paid tiers

  • TINA-TI

    Engine

    SPICE

    Strongest at

    Quick analog, TI parts

    Runs on

    Desktop

    Cost

    Free

  • Falstad

    Engine

    Built-in, in JavaScript

    Strongest at

    Intuition, teaching

    Runs on

    Browser

    Cost

    Free

From each vendor's site or docs, September 2026. None of the other paid vendors print their prices on the pages we read, so we have not quoted any.

Matching the job

Which tool should you use for which job?

  • Turning a proven circuit into a board you can order: Cherry Blossom, after any of the simulators below.

  • Power supplies: LTspice for ADI regulators; SIMetrix/SIMPLIS when switching behaviour and convergence matter most; PSpice for TI or TINA-TI when the controller is a TI part.

  • Analog signal chains: LTspice, or the simulator from whichever vendor makes your op-amps, because the vendor's models are the ones you can trust.

  • RF and transmission lines: Qucs-S with QucsatorRF or Xyce for S-parameters and harmonic balance.

  • A board you are already drawing in KiCad: the built-in ngspice simulator, so the simulated circuit is the one you build.

  • Automation and regression tests: ngspice from the command line, driven by scripts.

  • Learning and teaching: Falstad for intuition, Multisim for structured coursework.

We built one

What would you still simulate on a board an AI agent built?

load cell analog front end schematic, sheet 2 of 2: Schematic
A load cell front end: bridge input, RFI filter, INA333 amplifier, RC anti-alias filter and ADS1232 ADC, drawn left to right.

We had an AI agent build a precision front end for a 4-wire load cell with tscircuit, the open-source engine Cherry Blossom runs on, using the same tscircuit version and the same review tool Cherry Blossom's agent uses, on our own machine. A REF5025 excites the bridge, an INA333 amplifies it by 201.4, and a 1 kΩ and 100 nF C0G filter in front of the ADS1232 ADC puts the corner at 758 Hz, about 40 dB down at the ADC's 76.8 kHz modulator rate. It has not been fabricated or tested on a bench.

Every one of those numbers came from datasheet equations, not from a simulator. The checks on the final build were structural: tsci build passed with 0 DRC errors, tsci check netlist reported 0 errors and 0 warnings, the schematic review found 0 problems on either sheet, and tsci check shorts found no shorts. That shows the parts are connected the way the design says. It does not show that the filter rolls off where the math says, or how quiet the amplifier really is. The first build reached 86 out of 100 on our rubric after three rounds. An outside review of the circuit then scored it 75, and 87 after one round of fixes; the redone layout scored 86.

The ADC is a TI part, so PSpice for TI or TINA-TI from the list above is a natural place to start. What we would check before ordering:

  • The RFI filter at the amplifier inputs and the anti-alias filter in front of the ADC, to confirm the 758 Hz corner and the attenuation at 76.8 kHz.

  • Plugging in the power live. The outside review worked out by hand that 5 V arriving through about 100 nH of jumper wire into a 1 µF input capacitor would ring to 7.5 to 8.5 V, past the regulator's 6 V absolute maximum. The capacitor is now 10 µF, which the same math puts at about 5 % overshoot, and a transient simulation is a cheap way to confirm it.

  • Noise. Our review flagged that the ADS1232's own gain of 128 is quieter (17 nV rms at 10 SPS, per its datasheet) than any external INA333 stage. The amplifier is there because the design brief asked for it.

  • The cable. A 4-wire cell has no sense lines, so resistance in the excitation wires shows up as a gain error that the shared 2.5 V reference (it drives both the bridge and the ADC) cannot remove.

The bigger picture

Where does simulation fit in designing a board?

Simulation checks the circuit, not the board. It can tell you the loop is stable and the filter is right, but it says nothing about whether the footprints are correct, the traces are wide enough or the fab can build it. The usual order is to simulate the parts of the circuit you are unsure about, then capture the schematic, lay out the board, and run DRC and the fab's DFM check.

Cherry Blossom covers everything after the simulator. You describe the circuit you proved in plain English, and it produces the schematic, layout and Gerbers, with footprints from real part data and a verification gate on every AI edit before you can order boards. It does not simulate, so the simulator is still where you check that the circuit works. Our roundup of AI PCB design tools covers the rest of that side.

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 from the Pro plan up.

Start for free

Questions

The best circuit simulation software for most people in 2026 is LTspice paired with Cherry Blossom: LTspice proves the circuit works, and Cherry Blossom turns it into a real, checked board. LTspice is free from Analog Devices, runs on Windows and macOS, and ships macromodels for most ADI regulators and amplifiers. Cherry Blossom does not simulate. You describe the circuit you proved in plain English, and it produces the schematic, layout, Gerbers and an editable KiCad project, with a verification gate before you can order. If you design boards in KiCad, its built-in ngspice simulator lets you simulate the same schematic you lay out. For switching power supplies, SIMetrix/SIMPLIS is purpose-built and has a free Elements version. For RF and S-parameters, use Qucs-S. PSpice for TI and TINA-TI are free and include TI's models, and Falstad runs in the browser for learning.

Yes. LTspice, ngspice, KiCad's built-in simulator, Qucs-S, PSpice for TI, TINA-TI and the Falstad simulator are all free. SIMetrix/SIMPLIS has a free Elements version alongside paid tiers, and Multisim is sold by subscription or perpetual licence.

Yes. The Falstad circuit simulator runs in the browser for free and animates voltages and current. NI's Multisim Live is a browser version of Multisim that works on any device.

Yes. KiCad's schematic editor includes circuit simulation using ngspice. You assign a SPICE model to each symbol and can exclude parts that should not be simulated, such as connectors.

No. Cherry Blossom is the step after simulation: it turns a circuit you have proven in a simulator such as LTspice into a checked schematic, PCB layout and fab files, and exports an editable KiCad project.

LTspice is a complete desktop application from Analog Devices with its own schematic editor, waveform viewer and ADI part models. ngspice is an open-source SPICE engine with no schematic entry of its own. You feed it a netlist, or use it through a front end such as KiCad or Qucs-S.

Describe a board. See what comes back.

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

Start for free
Talk to us