Draft:LibrePCB

LibrePCB is an open-source Electronic Design Automation software suite to develop printed circuit boards. It features an integrated library management, schematic capture, PCB layout editor and is available for all major operating systems.

History
The project was started back in 2013 by its founder and lead developer Urban Bruhin. In 2018 the project was introduced at the FOSDEM conference, followed by the first stable release in November of the same year. A big milestone was reached in September 2023 with the release of version 1.0 which eliminates the lack of several important features.

Library management
The integrated library manager provides direct access to the part libraries available in the Internet. The list of available libraries is fetched through an open API and allows to install and update libraries without manual file operations.

LibrePCB uses UUIDs for cross-referencing library elements. Names are never used as references and can therefore be changed at any time without breaking cross-references.

Automatic forward annotation
LibrePCB features an automated forward annotation to guarantee the electrical circuit of the PCB is always in sync with the schematics. Whenever the schematics are modified, the board is automatically updated accordingly. In addition, the board editor does not allow to create electrical connections which don't exist in the schematic. Compared to manual forward annotation as implemented in other EDA tools, this concept aims to be easier to use.

Fabrication service
Beside the traditional production data export of Gerber files, Excellon files, BOM etc., LibrePCB features an integrated manufacturing service to order PCBs without any manual file handling involved. This service is provided as a cooperation between LibrePCB and the PCB manufacturing companies AISLER and PCBWay (as of May 2023 ).

Command-line interface
Although LibrePCB itself features a graphical user interface, there's also a command-line interface (CLI) provided. This allows to automate some tasks, for example running the design rule check (DRC) or generating production data as part of a continuous integration (CI) workflow.

Funding
The project relies mainly on donations to fund the development. The software does not contain any commercial, paid features.

Since April 2023, the LibrePCB project also receives financial support from the NGI0 Entrust Fund , a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet programme. A major outcome of this support was the LibrePCB 1.0 release