LTspice
Hacker ApprovedRanked 5 of 12 firmware emulators by recommenders
Free 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.
Free 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.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: 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: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Rigorous circuit simulator
“use LTspice as a rigorous simulator”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Diode – Build, program, and simulate hardware” “It's the best circuit simulator”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “SpiceCrypt: A Python library for decrypting LTspice encrypted model files”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Interface takes getting used to
“the user interface is an acquired taste”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “SpiceCrypt: A Python library for decrypting LTspice encrypted model files” “it's interface is less intuitive”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: What's the oldest software tool you still rely on every day?”
Other firmware emulators people recommend
The four most recommended other firmware emulators, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Velxio | 21 | 3 | 88% | 3 | — | — |
| Diode | 17 | 10 | 63% | 1 | — | — |
| Circuit Artist | 11 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Esp32sim | 11 | 1 | 92% | 1 | — | — |
| LTspiceThis page | 10 | 2 | 83% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
10 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's interface is less intuitive”
“a more modern Analog Devices LTSpice”
“LTspice cannot do symbolic transformations, so that places an upper limit to its utility.”
“It's a swiss army knife, but not very sharp.”
“the user interface is an acquired taste”
“It's the best circuit simulator”
“it is quick, easy enough to use, and someone has ported the model you need to it already”
“use LTspice as a rigorous simulator”
“That works perfectly as far as I can tell”
“LT Spice ... are your friends”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.