Comparison
Schema vs Flux
A browser-based PCB design tool built around real-time collaboration and an in-app AI assistant. Here is how the two differ, what Flux does better, and which one to pick.
Last updated
The short version
Choose Flux if…
You want browser-based, multi-player design with no installation, and collaboration matters more to you than local control.
Visit the Flux site ↗Choose Schema if…
You prefer a desktop tool with local files, and you want the AI to work through a command surface you can inspect and drive yourself.
At a glance
| Dimension | SchemaOurs | Flux |
|---|---|---|
| Licence / distribution | Proprietary desktop app. Free plan including a monthly allowance of agent credits; further credits sold in packs. | Proprietary, browser-delivered, with a free tier.Vendor's claim |
| Where it runs | Desktop — macOS on Apple Silicon, and Windows and Linux on x86-64 and arm64. | Browser — nothing to install, works from any OS. |
| Agent command surface | 74 documented commands across the schematic and PCB editors, identical for you and for the agent. | Not verified |
| AI assistance | A natural-language agent that drives the editor through those same commands, then checks its own work with DRC and ERC. | An in-app AI assistant for design help and part selection.Vendor's claim |
| Reads KiCad libraries | Yes — reads KiCad symbol and footprint libraries, and Altium schematic libraries. | Not verified |
| Fabrication output | Gerber RS-274X and Excellon drill, including plated and non-plated splits. | Gerber export.Vendor's claim |
What Schema does differently
- A desktop application, so large boards render and route locally and your project files stay on your machine.
- Every agent action is a documented command with a stated contract, and the agent verifies its work with DRC and ERC.
- Reads KiCad and Altium libraries directly.
What Flux does better
Every tool on this site has things it wins on. Here are theirs.
- Real-time multi-user collaboration in the browser, which Schema does not offer.
- Nothing to install, and no per-platform build to pick.
- A community library of shared, ready-made projects to start from.
The agent surface, specifically
This is the difference that is hardest to see from a feature list, so it is worth stating plainly.
Schema exposes 74 documented commands covering schematic capture and board layout — placing symbols, drawing wires, routing traces, filling zones, running checks, rendering the board, undoing. You issue them; the AI agent issues exactly the same ones.
That matters because it is what lets the agent work in a loop rather than in one shot: it can look at the design, make a change, run DRC or ERC, look at the result, and undo if it got it wrong. Every command reports what it actually did, and a command that cannot do what was asked refuses and changes nothing rather than doing something approximate.
You can read the whole vocabulary before installing anything — it is published in full in the command reference.
The commands behind the claim
Schema publishes its entire agent surface. Here are some of the 74 commands — the same ones you issue and the agent issues — so you can judge the claim rather than take it.
How this comparison was built
We make one of the tools on this page, so here is exactly what we did and did not check.
- Schema is our product. We build one of the tools on this page, and we say so at the top rather than in a footnote.
- Every claim about another tool is limited to durable, checkable properties — licence model, supported platforms, published file formats, documented automation interfaces.
- No page here states what another tool costs. Prices change without notice, and a stale price is the most common way a comparison page becomes wrong.
- Where we have not confirmed something, the table says "Not verified" instead of guessing. Vendor claims are labelled as vendor claims.
- Every comparison names what the other tool does better, including cases where we would tell you to pick it.
- Found a mistake? Tell us at corrections@getschema.dev and we will correct the page and update the date on it.
Last reviewed . Corrections: corrections@getschema.dev
Questions people ask
Is Schema a good Flux alternative?
You prefer a desktop tool with local files, and you want the AI to work through a command surface you can inspect and drive yourself. If instead you want browser-based, multi-player design with no installation, and collaboration matters more to you than local control. then Flux is the better choice, and we would tell you so.
What can Schema do that Flux does not?
A desktop application, so large boards render and route locally and your project files stay on your machine. Every agent action is a documented command with a stated contract, and the agent verifies its work with DRC and ERC. Reads KiCad and Altium libraries directly.
What does Flux do better than Schema?
Real-time multi-user collaboration in the browser, which Schema does not offer. Nothing to install, and no per-platform build to pick. A community library of shared, ready-made projects to start from.
Can I move my existing designs into Schema?
Schema reads KiCad symbol and footprint libraries and Altium schematic libraries directly, and can convert a KiCad schematic into a Schema project. Boards are exported as Gerber RS-274X and Excellon drill files, so the output goes to any fabricator.
Other comparisons
The same treatment, for the other tools you might be weighing up.
Try Schema alongside Flux
Free to start on macOS, Windows and Linux. It reads your existing KiCad and Altium libraries, so trying it does not mean rebuilding your parts.