Diode

What hackers pick instead

• LTspiceFree circuit simulator that is quick, easy to use, and often has the model you need already ported. Critics say the interface is an acquired taste.10recommend
• SPICEFree, open-source circuit simulator that electronics engineers use to model analog behaviour before building. Critics note weak security history and that it wasn't built for programmers.8recommend
• ngspiceFree circuit simulator that people use for real engineering work. Critics call its core code dated, say it assumes outdated systems, and find switching to xschem clumsy.5recommend

Every quote

The 25 most detailed of 30 comments. Each links to the original.

1. It's still clunky though. It's a great, cool thing that OP built but just not very practical.

   Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

2. Simulations like this are more approachable then schematics

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

3. the simulation aspect is the real killer feature though

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

4. This is actually very cool and predates vibe coding

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

5. Looks great, but pretty difficult to work with.

   Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

6. Love the 3d viewer they've done here.

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

7. Damn the 3D graphics look great

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

8. This is really terrific!!!

   Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

9. Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (see the browser console for more information).

   Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

10. it's stuck in an infinite request loop and pins my cpu for absolutely no reason

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

11. voltage around the LED slowly rises to infinity for some reason

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

12. lacks exception catching for when webgl is disabled

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

13. pretty terrible UI for electronic circuits

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

14. I shorted it and it crashed the page.

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

15. This is a great product for kids to experiment and then run it real life on their kits.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

16. this is the kind of tool that gets 10x more useful with LLM integration

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

17. I still see limited value in having a 3D breadboard.

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

18. Less for theory more visually "this wire goes here"

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

19. The upsides are the measurement tools built in.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

20. makes it harder to put stuff together

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

21. Don't add unnecessary complexity just because AIs are good at vibecoding threejs demos.

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

22. the fade-in animation when starting/stopping the simulation takes too long

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

23. A bit hard to do changes using a touch interface (example iPhone or iPad)

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware in the browser”

24. This is all the downsides with none of the upsides.

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”

25. it's yet another slopware of course

    Criticizes · Feb 2026 · in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware”