Can your Altium board move to KiCad? Scan it and get evidence.
A compatibility matrix tells you what a standard Altium → KiCad migration usually drops. A scan tells you what it drops in your board. Crosspad checks your actual board — nets, rules, fills, keepouts and layers — against its source, and returns evidence of what a migration keeps, repairs and flags. You see it before you pay. Nothing disappears in silence.
A matrix tells you what usually breaks. A scan tells you what breaks in yours.
The compatibility matrix is the general truth: here's what a standard Altium → KiCad migration silently drops, documented in KiCad's own docs and issue tracker. But your board isn't the general case. Whether a net-class membership, a copper fill, a keepout or a layer mapping actually survives depends on what's on your board. The scan reads your specific file, migrates the design, and checks the result back against the source — so the answer to "can this move?" is about your board, with evidence, not a generic warning.
The matrix is the rule. The scan is your board.
Every place a standard migration can quietly drop something — checked against your source.
Each of these is a documented way a standard Altium → KiCad migration can lose data — sourced to KiCad's own import docs and public issue tracker, several of them version-specific (documented against KiCad 10.0.6, 2026-08-29). The scan checks every one against your actual board, and reports it verified, repaired, or flagged.
Every net, and whether it still belongs to the class that constrains it — membership can be dropped so the rules bind nothing.
Clearances, widths and via rules — present, but only meaningful if their net-class membership came across with them.
Every zone's fill and clearance — a wrong clearance means a routine refill can silently disconnect copper.
Each keepout region — a polygon cutout can arrive as an over-broad keepout and throw false DRC errors on copper that was fine.
Every layer mapping and the Edge.Cuts outline — a layer with no clean equivalent can be remapped, and an invalid layer name has dropped the outline itself.
Whether your board is in a supported form at all — an older ASCII or pre-V6 board can import as nothing, with no error to tell you; the scan converts the ASCII text form and reconciles it, and names a pre-V6 board instead of guessing.
Schematic migration is not part of the launch scope — the analysis reads one .PcbDoc board file.
See what an Altium → KiCad schematic migration changesFailure modes the scan checks for reflect a standard Altium → KiCad migration as of KiCad 10.0.6 (2026-08-29). Behavior changes most releases; version-specific items (e.g. shared-member bus connectivity, dropped in ≤10.0.4 and fixed in 10.0.5, KiCad #20707) are noted, and this page is updated per release.
A verdict for your project — with the evidence behind it.
| OBJECT | SOURCE | TARGET | REPORTED AS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nets & pin connectivity | every net read | every net matched | VerifiedVERIFIED |
| Net-class membership | membership read | restored, then revalidated | Fixed and re-checkedREPAIRED_AND_REVALIDATED |
| Design rules | rule set read | mapped where a KiCad rule exists | Expressed differently in KiCadTRANSLATED_EQUIVALENTLY |
| Copper zones | net, layer, clearance read | restored with net, revalidated | Fixed and re-checkedREPAIRED_AND_REVALIDATED |
| Keepouts | regions read | regions matched | VerifiedVERIFIED |
| Layers / outline | layer roles read | mapped; the mapping is stated | Expressed differently in KiCadTRANSLATED_EQUIVALENTLY |
| Board outline (Edge.Cuts) | outline read | outline matched | VerifiedVERIFIED |
| Differential pairs | pairs and intent read | intent not provable in the target | Needs your callENGINEERING_DECISION_REQUIRED |
| Legacy layer (Eco1) | present | no KiCad equivalent — confirm a mapping | Needs your answerACTION_REQUIRED |
Machine-checked evidence — not a manual eyeball.
Free viewers can show you the file. What none of them tells you is what a migration changed. The scan is built to answer that, honestly, for your project.
- It checks, it doesn't just show.
The scan compares your migrated result back to the source semantically — every net, rule and zone — instead of leaving you to eyeball a 3D render.
- It's about your board, not a category.
A generic "usually works" isn't an answer you can ship a board on. The verdict is your own board.
- No paywall in front of the evidence.
The evidence for your board is the product, not the lead magnet — you sign in with your email and read the full verdict before anything is charged.
- Neutral by design.
Crosspad doesn't sell you a viewer or a fab. The verdict is only as good as the evidence behind it — and the method is public.
Run the scan on your board.
The scan is the analysis that opens every Crosspad migration. Drop one .PcbDoc at /migrate, sign in with your email, and read the per-object verdict for your own board. Nothing is charged until you decide to unlock the migration; a failed or unsupported analysis never costs anything. Files are processed as described in our Security policy.
The scan is free. You see the evidence before you pay.
Scanning your board and reading its evidence costs nothing — the paywall is the migration itself, priced per board, not per seat. You decide whether to migrate after you've seen what a standard migration would keep, repair and flag on your own board.
Frequently asked questions.
Can my Altium board move to KiCad?
That depends on what's on it — which is exactly what the scan answers. It reads your board, migrates the design, checks the result against the source, and returns a per-object verdict: what's verified, what it repaired, and what needs an engineering decision. A general matrix can't tell you that about your board; your own file can. At launch the analysis takes one .PcbDoc board file, up to 4 MB, or a .zip holding exactly one such board — the board inside it is read; the .SchDoc, .PrjPcb and library files that came with it are not.
What does the Altium → KiCad compatibility scan check?
Your board's nets and net-class membership, design rules, copper fills and zones, keepouts, layer mapping and the board outline, and whether the file is in a supported form at all. Each is a place a standard migration can silently drop something, documented in KiCad's own docs and issue tracker. Schematic migration is out of scope at launch.
Is the scan available now?
Yes — the analysis is the free first step of a migration at /migrate. You sign in with your email, and nothing is charged until you unlock the migration.
Do I have to give my email to see the result?
You sign in with your email to run the analysis. An address that already has a Crosspad account is asked for a six-digit code emailed to it; an address we have never seen is signed in on the spot. Either way the verdict is shown in full before anything is charged — there is no sales call and no paywall in front of the evidence.
How is this different from a PCB viewer?
A viewer shows you the file; it can't tell you what a migration changed. The scan compares the migrated result back to your source and reports the differences — machine-checked, not eyeballed.
Does a passing scan mean my migration is perfect?
No one honestly can promise that. A scan tells you nothing critical was lost in silence: everything is detected, repaired where it can be proven safe, or clearly flagged for a decision. Where equivalence can't be proven, it says so instead of guessing.
See whether your Altium board can move — with evidence, before you pay.
Point Crosspad at your Altium board and get a per-object verdict of what a KiCad migration keeps, repairs and flags. Free, before any paywall.
Free analysis on your own board — one .PcbDoc board file, up to 4 MB. Sign in with your email; nothing is charged until you unlock a migration. Files are processed as described in our Security policy.