Comparison
Schema vs ProtoFlow
An AI-first EDA tool that generates editable schematics from natural-language prompts and exports a KiCad project. Here is how the two differ, what ProtoFlow does better, and which one to pick.
Last updated
The short version
Choose ProtoFlow if…
Prompt-to-schematic with distributor part numbers is the whole of what you need, and you will finish the board elsewhere.
Visit the ProtoFlow site ↗Choose Schema if…
You want capture, layout, routing, checking and fabrication output in one tool, driven by a command surface you can read.
At a glance
| Dimension | SchemaOurs | ProtoFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Licence / distribution | Proprietary desktop app. Free plan including a monthly allowance of agent credits; further credits sold in packs. | Free to start.Vendor's claim |
| Where it runs | Desktop — macOS on Apple Silicon, and Windows and Linux on x86-64 and arm64. | Desktop — macOS, Windows and Linux.Vendor's claim |
| 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. | Turns plain-English prompts into editable schematics using catalogue parts, and runs DRC and ERC.Vendor's claim |
| Reads KiCad libraries | Yes — reads KiCad symbol and footprint libraries, and Altium schematic libraries. | Exports a KiCad project.Vendor's claim |
| Fabrication output | Gerber RS-274X and Excellon drill, including plated and non-plated splits. | Not verified |
What Schema does differently
- Schema publishes its full agent command surface — every verb, its arguments and its failure behaviour — so you can see exactly what the agent is able to do.
- Board layout, interactive routing, copper pours and Gerber output are part of the same tool as capture.
- Reads Altium schematic libraries as well as KiCad ones.
What ProtoFlow does better
Every tool on this site has things it wins on. Here are theirs.
- A substantially larger published body of guides and comparison material.
- Parts selection wired directly to distributor catalogues.
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 ProtoFlow alternative?
You want capture, layout, routing, checking and fabrication output in one tool, driven by a command surface you can read. If instead prompt-to-schematic with distributor part numbers is the whole of what you need, and you will finish the board elsewhere. then ProtoFlow is the better choice, and we would tell you so.
What can Schema do that ProtoFlow does not?
Schema publishes its full agent command surface — every verb, its arguments and its failure behaviour — so you can see exactly what the agent is able to do. Board layout, interactive routing, copper pours and Gerber output are part of the same tool as capture. Reads Altium schematic libraries as well as KiCad ones.
What does ProtoFlow do better than Schema?
A substantially larger published body of guides and comparison material. Parts selection wired directly to distributor catalogues.
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 ProtoFlow
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.