EasyEDA ?

[rpschultz13]

Long time Eagle user. I switched to EasyEDA about a year ago because of the Eagle EOL… and because it is so easy to smda through JLC.

But there isn’t a child forum area for it and not much chatter about it. Am I missing something? As a hobbiest, I find it fantastic, especially to prep JLC smda designs.

[gamerpaddy]

been using it exlusively (standard, not pro), definately earned its fair share. i used kicad before and havent since.
its just much quicker on every step, more intuitive.
i dont care if they steal my design as many have the concerns as its a chinese website, if i find my stuff on aliexpress im honoured.

[EEVblog]

If there enough posts here about it I can create a sub forum for it.

[pcprogrammer]

I have been using it for many years (~8 years) now and made the switch to the pro version when it was shown that the standard version was no longer maintained. I like it very much due to the simplicity and easy access from multiple computers.

But the pro version has some changes that I don't like and has gained some bugs.

The main change I dislike is the new bus setup, where the signals have to be structured with a name and a number, making it impossible to carry control signals with unique names on the same bus. To overcome this I use poly lines with a thickness of 3 and net labels to name the signals.

An annoying bug that appeared recently is when copying bits in the PCB editor a small popup appears with the text paste, and needs to be clicked or entered 3 times to have the copied bits being shown.

No idea if they actually copy the designs for their own use, and I don't care. Most of my stuff will end up as open hardware anyway.

[Smokey]

Why would the answer for free pcb cad software in 2026 be anything other than kicad?  Did it not essentially win the free cad wars?  Why get locked into jlcpcb when kicad exists?

[EEVblog]

Why would the answer for free pcb cad software in 2026 be anything other than kicad?  Did it not essentially win the free cad wars?  Why get locked into jlcpcb when kicad exists?

Because it's way easier if you aren't a serious designer. A web interface that is directly tied into PCB manufacture and assembly is very attractive for many people.

[Doctorandus_P]

A web interface that is directly tied into PCB manufacture and assembly is very attractive for many people.

For me it's very much the opposite. I've seen far to many products being discontinued after a number of years. When that happens you loose access to your projects, and all the time you invested in learning the software is also wasted.

What I've seen from easyeda, the libraries are also bad. It's very common to have symbols (such as a dual opamp) in a rectangular block with the pins in the order of the PCB footprint.

(Apparently you can download (your own?) easyeda designs, and KiCad can read the format, so that at least gives you a way to save your work. As a minimal precaution, I recommend you make local backups of all projects that are of any worth to you).

I can understand the attractiveness of the coupling between a PCB design program and an ordering system for the PCB (and even PnP). 20+ years back there already programs that were "free" to use, but you could only order the PCB's from the same vendor as the  software. I never found that an acceptable path for myself.

[gamerpaddy]

Why would the answer for free pcb cad software in 2026 be anything other than kicad?  Did it not essentially win the free cad wars?  Why get locked into jlcpcb when kicad exists?

i went from kicad to easyeda about 7 years ago after some youtube video showing it, didnt saw a reason to go back. if its gone someday, its gone. no backup no mercy, easyeda doesnt lock you into it like fusion360 once did when it disabled the exporting of f3d/step files.

kicad need to work on their ux still..  easyeda takes 100 less clicks to get something done.

I have been using it for many years (~8 years) now and made the switch to the pro version when it was shown that the standard version was no longer maintained. I like it very much due to the simplicity and easy access from multiple computers.

But the pro version has some changes that I don't like and has gained some bugs.

easyeda pro is too much of a hassle for simple projects. i keep using std edition as long as i can.  but that bga-fanout feature is nice tho

one thing they never got to work properly in standard is showing whats in stock and what not in their parts lists..  pro got that fixed.

[pcprogrammer]

Why would the answer for free pcb cad software in 2026 be anything other than kicad?  Did it not essentially win the free cad wars?  Why get locked into jlcpcb when kicad exists?

Because it is easy to use and no installing any software other than a web browser. Sure kicad now comes as an appimage, so no need to install anything, but for the projects I do it works quite well.

Because it's way easier if you aren't a serious designer. A web interface that is directly tied into PCB manufacture and assembly is very attractive for many people.

For the high end designer, I recon that kicad is also not enough.

EasyEDA allows for complex designs none the less, but one has to be willing to do some work. Make your own schematic symbols and pcb footprints is needed, and routing the pcb is best done yourself. The auto router did not strike me as any good.

I have made several more complex projects with it, even one that has gigabit ethernet on the board.

For me it's very much the opposite. I've seen far to many products being discontinued after a number of years. When that happens you loose access to your projects, and all the time you invested in learning the software is also wasted.

Not a lot of time is needed to get to work with EasyEDA, and one can download an offline version, so even when the web version is stopped, one can always access their own work, as long as one indeed makes local copies of the projects.

Plus your argument applies to every bit of software in existence, so I never see that as a reason not to make use of something.

What I've seen from easyeda, the libraries are also bad. It's very common to have symbols (such as a dual opamp) in a rectangular block with the pins in the order of the PCB footprint.

Yes the libraries are very bad, but making your own symbols and footprints is rather easy.

Based on some thread here on the forum, the libraries of multiple electronic design packages are not so good and people have been making their own, so again not a real limitation in my eyes.

EasyEDA does not limit one to make use of JLCPCB. Gerbers can be exported and send to other manufactures without a problem, but for me JLCPCB is the cheapest option and the boards are good. They survive a lot of beatings from my attempts to solder QFN packages. 

[EEVblog]

A web interface that is directly tied into PCB manufacture and assembly is very attractive for many people.

For me it's very much the opposite. I've seen far to many products being discontinued after a number of years. When that happens you loose access to your projects, and all the time you invested in learning the software is also wasted.

For many people that doesn't matter.

I can understand the attractiveness of the coupling between a PCB design program and an ordering system for the PCB (and even PnP). 20+ years back there already programs that were "free" to use, but you could only order the PCB's from the same vendor as the  software. I never found that an acceptable path for myself.

Then it's obviously not for you.
Just like KiCAD is not for some people.
The list goes on...

[rpschultz13]

OP here. I used Eagle for years, then briefly used kicad for a while. Never really got on with it, found it confusing. Started to learn EasyEDA, within weeks I was very comfortable, it’s very intuitive to learn.

I can see why “serious” designers might want kicad. But for the hobbiest it’s SO much easier than Eagle or Kicad. I have over a dozen designs in the past year, thru hole and smda, all printed and working.

I’m not trying to convince anyone..  just saying it’s very easy to learn and far more powerful than people give it credit for.

[racoonart]

If it hadn't been for EasyEDA I probably would never have bothered making my own PCBs. When I started I just wanted to make something quick for a project and after having watched some KiCAD tutorials I felt it was not worth the hassle. Luckily I tried out EasyEDA instead and got my stuff done in just hours without ever having touched any pcb design software previously.
It has its downsides, sure, but I think it's an absolute excellent piece of software for beginners and generally people who just need something simple that works. It's intuitive and doesn't have to be re-learned every other year or so when you actually need to design something. Can't overstate how important that is for me.

[tooki]

Why would the answer for free pcb cad software in 2026 be anything other than kicad?  Did it not essentially win the free cad wars?  Why get locked into jlcpcb when kicad exists?

Because it actually lives up to the “easy” in its name. IMHO EasyEDA is far more intuitive than KiCad. KiCad is more powerful, but it’s got a steeper learning curve.

And yes, for many users (especially education), being web-based is a huge advantage, since it doesn’t require fighting an intransigent IT department to install something (or even just allow it to run from a USB drive) — schools often run maddeningly locked-down systems.

[lichurbagan]

I hope there will be a dedicated subforum for easyeda. However, even without that, you can ask EasyEDA related question here and get answers from experts.