News

It is that time of year again! The KiCad project is excited to announce our 2023 end of year funding drive. With the release of KiCad version 8.0 just around the corner, we are looking forward to the next year of development. Our supporters' contributions have done more to build the features of version 8 than any other source of funding. With your help, we can make version 9 better than ever!

The KiCad team has become aware of an unknown actor running Google Ads pointing to a clone of the official kicad.org site. This site serves an unknown payload targeting Windows when the Download button on the front page is clicked. Unforunately, due to the nature of this attack, the options for action by the KiCad team remain limited. We advise users to remain diligent on the internet. In particular it is best to never click Sponsored Links in Google Search results as the KiCad team does not spend money on advertising.

CERN has recently announced a change in their support of the KiCad project. They are stopping the KiCad donations program and are now paying for KiCad support contracts directly with KiCad Services Corporation. The full announcement is available on the CERN & Society Foundation website. The KiCad project would like thank CERN for all of their contributions. Their generosity has allowed the KiCad project rapidly progress to where it is today.

The KiCad project is excited to announce the first annual KiCad Asia Conference (KiCon Asia) in Shenzhen, China on Sunday November 12th. The conference will be held at the Aliyun Innovation Center. This conference is geared towards KiCad users in Asia. There will be talks from users of all skill levels as well as members of the KiCad Lead Development Team. The conference keynote talk will be given by Wayne Stambaugh, the KiCad project leader.

The KiCad project is excited to announce that HQ NextPCB has upgraded their sponsorship level from silver to platinum. HQ NextPCB has been generously providing user forum support for KiCad users in China. They have also greatly improved the Chinese translation of KiCad as well as our user documentation. They are also in the process of providing developer support for the KiCad project. The KiCad project would like to thank HQ NextPCB and their customers who use KiCad to design their boards for their support of the KiCad project.

The KiCad project is excited to announce the second annual KiCad Conference (KiCon) in A Coruña, Spain from Sept 9th through the 10th, 2023. The conference will be held at the Palexco Conference Center. This conference is geared towards KiCad users. There will be talks from users of all skill levels as well as members of the KiCad Lead Development Team. The conference keynote talk will be given by Wayne Stambaugh, the KiCad project leader.

It’s that time of year to prepare for our annual end of year funding drive. With the next stable release (7) just around the corner (January 31st, 2023), it’s time to start thinking about building version 8. Our supporters' contributions have done more to build the features of version 7 than any other source of funding. With your help, we can make version 8 better than ever! Our year end donation campaign with begin December 1st and run through January 15th.

The KiCad project is excited to announce that it has been awarded a 50K Euro grant by the NLnet Foundation. This grant will fund the development of the SPICE simulation improvements, design import/migration wizard, CADSTAR library importer, database symbol libraries, footprint and 3D model wizard, flat schematics, and more. Many of the features funded by this grant will be available in the version 7.0 release of KiCad. A detailed list of the features and their development status can be found on the KiCad Developer’s Wiki.