Simscuit vs Tinkercad Circuits
Tinkercad Circuits and Simscuit both let you build circuits on a virtual breadboard and run Arduino code in a browser. They are aimed at overlapping but different people. This page sets out what each does well, using Tinkercad’s own site and documentation for Tinkercad, so you can choose the right one, or use both.
Where Simscuit leads
Tinkercad Circuits is an excellent first step. Simscuit is built for what comes next: real text code on many more boards, real electrical results, and a project that keeps going after the breadboard.
- About 20 simulated boards with their own pin rules, from the Uno, Mega and Due to the ESP32, ESP32-S3, Nano ESP32, ESP8266, Pico W, STM32 Nucleo and Blue Pill, Teensy 4.1, micro:bit and Circuit Playground Express. Tinkercad Circuits offers Arduino and micro:bit.
- A longer list of supported Arduino libraries, including OLED and TFT displays, NeoPixels, DHT, BME280, MPU6050, RTClib, SD, MFRC522 and TinyGPSPlus.
- Real electrical consequences: parts pushed past the limits in their datasheet records glow, smoke and burn out, and the Problems panel shows the exact figure that was exceeded and the rating it broke. Hover over any pin or wire to read its voltage and current.
- The whole project in one browser tab: circuit, code, simulation, a two-layer PCB, a 3D-printable enclosure, a robot, a phone app (App Builder) and courses, all from the same project, with nothing to install. PCB layout is not among Tinkercad’s editors.
- Bench instruments on the canvas: multimeter, two-channel oscilloscope, logic analyser, function generator, bench power supply and more, adjustable live while the circuit runs.
- More than 1,000 components drawn at real size, each spec linked to its datasheet source or marked "no source yet", and parts without a simulation model honestly labelled Visual only.
- Python courses that run real CPython (Pyodide) and C++ courses that compile with real Clang, in the browser, with certificates.
- Free to start, runs on Chromebooks, tablets and phones, and works offline once installed as an app.
What Tinkercad Circuits is
Tinkercad is Autodesk’s free web app for 3D design, electronics and coding, and its site says it is trusted by more than 100 million people. Circuits is its electronics editor: you drag components onto a canvas, wire them, and press Start Simulation. Starter circuits (basic, Arduino, micro:bit and circuit assemblies) can be dragged in and remixed.
Arduino boards can be programmed with blocks, with blocks and the generated C++ side by side, or in a text editor with a set of built-in libraries; micro:bit can be programmed with blocks or Python. Code can be exported as an .ino file for a real board, and the Arduino editor has an error console and code breakpoints.
What Tinkercad does especially well
- Block coding that shows the matching C++ as you go: a gentle path from blocks to text.
- Teaching at scale: Tinkercad Classrooms, ready-made class activities and lesson plans aligned to NGSS and Common Core.
- Safety for young learners: ad-free, and kidSAFE COPPA certified according to its site.
- Interactive lessons that guide a student step by step through basic circuits and Arduino projects.
- A bridge to 3D design and to Autodesk Fusion for students aged 13 and over.
- Free, with no plans to compare.
Feature by feature
| Simscuit | Tinkercad Circuits | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free to start; paid Plus, Pro and Institution plans | Free |
| Platform | Web browser on a computer, tablet or phone; installable as an app | Web browser, on any computer with an internet connection |
| Boards | About 20 boards: Arduino Uno, Uno R4 WiFi, Nano, Nano ESP32, Nano 33 BLE Sense, Mega, Leonardo, Due, MKR WiFi 1010, ESP32 DevKit, ESP32-S3, XIAO ESP32C3, NodeMCU ESP8266, Raspberry Pi Pico W, XIAO RP2040, STM32 Nucleo and Blue Pill, Teensy 4.1, micro:bit, Circuit Playground Express, plus bare ATmega and ATtiny chips | Arduino and BBC micro:bit |
| Code | Arduino C++ in a text editor with a Serial Monitor | Blocks, blocks with C++ or Python, or text; Serial Monitor |
| Simulation approach | Works out the circuit’s voltages and currents (nodal analysis with Newton iteration); sketches run in Simscuit’s own Arduino interpreter | Simulates the circuit and the Arduino or micro:bit code together in the browser |
| PCB design | Two-layer PCB Design Studio: autorouter, live design rule checks, Gerber X2, Excellon, BOM and placement files, KiCad 7 export | Not offered: Tinkercad’s editors are 3D Design, Circuits and Codeblocks |
| 3D design | 3D Design Studio: parametric CAD, assemblies, engineering drawings, STL, 3MF and OpenSCAD export | Tinkercad 3D Design, with a path to Autodesk Fusion |
| Robotics | Robotics simulator: rovers, arms, walkers, drones and an underwater ROV programmed with Arduino sketches | Robotics lesson plans for teachers |
| Courses and lessons | Free Python and C++ for Beginners courses with certificates, games, quizzes and a 3D Explorer | Interactive lessons, class activities and standards-aligned lesson plans |
| Offline use | Installable app with offline support; work is kept on the device and, when signed in, in the account | Needs an internet connection |
| Accounts | Free account; organisation workspaces with student accounts made by administrators | Sign in to design; Tinkercad Classrooms for teachers and students |
| What each lacks | No interrupts, classes, structs, pointers or other #include libraries in sketches yet; no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth simulation; compiling and uploading to a board are not available yet; parts without a model are Visual only | No PCB layout; Arduino text code limited to the built-in libraries (its help suggests pasting other library code in, with no promise it works); boards limited to Arduino and micro:bit |
What Simscuit does not do yet
- Sketches run in Simscuit’s own Arduino interpreter, which covers the common Arduino functions and a documented list of libraries; interrupts, classes, structs, pointers and other #include libraries are not supported yet.
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are not simulated.
- Compiling and uploading to a physical board are not available yet; sketches are exported as .ino files for the Arduino IDE.
- Parts without a simulation model can be placed and wired but are marked Visual only and left out of the simulation.
- There is no SPICE netlist, AC analysis or custom SPICE model import.
Verdict: who should pick which
- Pick Simscuit when students write Arduino code in text, need an ESP32, Pico, STM32 or any of about 20 boards, should see the exact current that burns a part out, or will take the circuit on to a PCB, an enclosure, a robot or an app. It is the stronger choice once students move past their first circuits.
- Pick Tinkercad Circuits for younger students, block coding, a class that already uses Tinkercad 3D Design, or when you want a completely free tool with mature classroom management.
- Use both if you like: start in Tinkercad’s blocks, and move to Simscuit when the projects grow.
Moving a project from Tinkercad to Simscuit
- In Tinkercad, open the circuit’s code panel and download the sketch as an .ino file (switch to Text first if it is in Blocks).
- In Simscuit, start a new project, choose the same board and paste the sketch into the code editor.
- Rebuild the circuit from Tinkercad’s component list. Wiring does not transfer between the two, so take a screenshot to work from.
- Check the libraries: Servo, LiquidCrystal, LiquidCrystal I2C, Keypad, NeoPixel (Adafruit_NeoPixel), SoftwareSerial, Wire, SPI, SD, IRremote and Stepper are supported in Simscuit; EEPROM and the Adafruit LED Backpack library are not yet.
- Press Run Simulation and compare the Serial Monitor output with Tinkercad’s.
Sources
Checked 6 November 2026. Products change: follow the links for the current details, and tell us if anything here is out of date.
Questions
Is Simscuit a Tinkercad Circuits alternative?
Yes, for breadboard circuits and Arduino code in a browser. Simscuit adds more boards, PCB and 3D design and robotics; Tinkercad has block coding, Tinkercad Classrooms and is entirely free.
Can I open a Tinkercad circuit in Simscuit?
Not directly. Export the sketch from Tinkercad as an .ino file and paste it into Simscuit, then rebuild the circuit; the wiring does not transfer.