What is the best alternative to Proteus?

[ahsrabrifat]

Hello,
What is the best FREE alternative to Proteus for microcontroller-based circuit simulation?

 

[olivia_49]

Hello,
What is the best FREE alternative to Proteus for microcontroller-based circuit simulation?

If you’re looking for a free Proteus alternative, Tinkercad Circuits is probably the easiest for Arduino, and SimulIDE works well for simple MCU simulations. They’re limited compared to Proteus, but fine for basic testing.

 

[ahsrabrifat]

If you’re looking for a free Proteus alternative, Tinkercad Circuits is probably the easiest for Arduino, and SimulIDE works well for simple MCU simulations. They’re limited compared to Proteus, but fine for basic testing.

I have used tinkercad for arduino-based simulation. But can we use that for simulating ordinary MCUs like Atmega32? In proteus, we can upload the .hex file and simulate. Is it possible with tinkercad too?

 

[skylerbaggins]

Hello,
What is the best FREE alternative to Proteus for microcontroller-based Geometry Dash circuit simulation?

You can consider SimulIDE for basic AVR/PIC/Arduino emulation and Wokwi (web-based) for Arduino/ESP and other MCU projects, both of which let you test circuits and some code without a license.

 

[jj_parkar95]

There’s no single free tool that fully matches Proteus, but a common combination is Wokwi for accurate microcontroller logic simulation and LTspice for analog and power circuits. For Arduino-focused projects, SimulIDE is also a solid free option that supports basic MCU simulation with peripherals.

 

[olivia_49]

I have used tinkercad for arduino-based simulation. But can we use that for simulating ordinary MCUs like Atmega32? In proteus, we can upload the .hex file and simulate. Is it possible with tinkercad too?

No, Tinkercad is limited to its built-in Arduino boards and doesn’t support generic MCUs like the ATmega32 or loading raw .hex files. If you need that Proteus-style workflow, SimulIDE is a better free option, it supports AVR MCUs and running compiled firmware, though it’s still simpler than Proteus.