KiCadRoutingTools
Ranked 6 of 6 PCB design software by recommenders
Free, easy-to-set-up autorouter for KiCad that makes sensible routes. Critics note routing runs take minutes and some layouts fail DRC spacing rules.
Free, easy-to-set-up autorouter for KiCad that makes sensible routes. Critics note routing runs take minutes and some layouts fail DRC spacing rules.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Fails DRC spacing, forces via-in-pad
“it failed a bunch of DRC spacing rules and insisted on via-in-pad to make it all work”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “This PCB is brought to you by Fable 5” Routing runs take minutes
“My routing runs are way slower though - on the order of minutes.”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “This PCB is brought to you by Fable 5”
Other PCB design software people recommend
The four most recommended other PCB design software, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KiCad | 99 | 20 | 83% | 12 | 5 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Altium Designer | 9 | 12 | 43% | 6 | — | — |
| EasyEDA | 8 | 4 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
| EAGLE PCB design software | 6 | 3 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
| KiCadRoutingToolsThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“does seem to create routes that make more sense”
“by leaning on KiCadRoutingTools, it looks like there's actually very little token usage at the routing stage”
“This KiCadRoutingTools code was super easy to set up in comparison.”
“Your post and the link to KiCadRoutingTools is going to result in me finishing a project”
“My first attempt on a low-speed not-dense board came out OK.”
“it failed a bunch of DRC spacing rules and insisted on via-in-pad to make it all work”
“That layout does not look very good”
“However checkout EDA tools”
“My routing runs are way slower though - on the order of minutes.”
“This is the one that I'm building on top of”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.