Beyond the editor: workspaces / #1
BoardRepo
The best workspace around a KiCad editor: versions, browser review, sharing and AI access in one place, free to start.
28/35Ranked #1 in beyond the editor: workspaces
Last reviewed
- Who it is for
- KiCad users who want a home for their boards: individuals and open-hardware makers who share publicly, and teams that need private boards, roles and review without making everyone install CAD.
- Made by
- BoardRepo
- Runs on
- Browser; continue editing in desktop KiCad
- Cost
- Free plan at $0 a month for individuals, side projects and open hardware. Team and Enterprise plans have custom pricing on request.
- Poor fit for
- Teams that need merged parallel edits or pull-request style review, and teams whose boards are all in a tool other than KiCad.
Strengths
- Schematic, PCB, 3D view and BOM open in any browser, with no CAD installed.
- Saved versions with visual comparison of what changed between them.
- Share publicly, by link only, or with a password; team plans add member roles and board-level access.
- Remote MCP server lets assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor read schematics, nets, BOMs and files, and save new versions only with your explicit permission.
- A public library of more than 9,000 open-hardware boards, searchable by component.
- Keeps your KiCad project files, so you can download a version and continue in desktop KiCad.
Limits
- It is not a design editor: you still design in KiCad.
- KiCad has the most complete support; Altium sources are kept and converted for viewing only.
- It does not merge simultaneous CAD edits, and has no pull requests.
- Uploads do not always render fully.
Scores and the reasons for them
| Criterion | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cost and licensing | 5/5 | Free plan with public and private boards, browser viewing, versions, sharing, KiCad sync and AI connections; Team and Enterprise by quote. |
| Learning curve | 5/5 | Opens in a browser; reviewers need no CAD and no training. |
| Library and part support | 4/5 | BOM view per board and a public library of more than 9,000 boards searchable by component. |
| Board complexity | 3/5 | Shows schematic, PCB and 3D for KiCad projects; some uploads do not render fully. |
| Output for fabrication | 2/5 | Keeps the exact source of each saved version for download; fabrication outputs still come from KiCad. |
| File portability | 5/5 | Stores your KiCad project as it is; download any version and continue in desktop KiCad. |
| Collaboration | 4/5 | Versions, visual comparison, link and password sharing, roles and board-level access; no merging of simultaneous edits and no pull requests. |
Where it is our pick
Public boards you can open on BoardRepo
- HackRF One by Great Scott Gadgets (GPL-2.0)
- Glasgow Interface Explorer by Glasgow Embedded (0BSD)
- Corne keyboard (crkbd) by foostan (CC BY 4.0)
- SmartKnob by Scott Bezek (Apache 2.0 (electronics, software, documentation) and CC BY 4.0 (mechanical))
- b-parasite by rbaron (CC BY-SA 4.0 (hardware and design files); MIT (code))
- DeskHop by hrvach (GPL-3.0)
- OtterCastAudioV2 by Ottercast (MIT)
- The Open Book by Joey Castillo (CC BY-SA 4.0)